So we’re thinking about getting a new mattress. Every morning I wake up stiff, and so does the spouse. I’m pretty much a mouse potato and don’t get a lot of exercise so I’m sure that’s most of it for me (the spouse is in good shape but he has back issues). I’ve heard good things about the Tempur-Pedic mattresses, but they’re pretty expensive and I don’t want to pay that much money for a mattress that’s only going to make us wake up stiff and in debt. And realistically we’re not going to “try one out” by having it delivered and sleeping on it for a month. Maybe you’re allowed to do that, but it’s more trouble than it’s worth to us. So no.
So…for those who have them–what do you think of them? Are they really as miraculous as they’re supposed to be? Our current mattress is just your typical pillow top, pretty good quality but about 10 years old. I’ve heard that the real Tempur-pedics are better than their competitors (something about patented materials), so if we get one we’ll get the real thing.
The best night sleep I ever had in my life was in a bed and breakfast in England, where they put us in a big fluffy feather bed where we sank down so far I thought I was going to smother in the night. I thought I’d hate it, but it was wonderful. Not sure how practical that would be ongoing, though, and I doubt that the spouse, though he liked the feather bed (not as much as I did) would go for getting one of those.
While I’m at it, anyone have one of those Sleep Number beds? Do they live up to the hype?
Got one, slept on it for a month, sent it back. They’re hard as rocks. Given what you said about the best sleep you’ve gotten was on a very soft bed, I would not recommend a Tempur-Pedic to you.
Like you, I prefer a soft bed. After sending back the Temper-Pedic, we went and bought the softest high-end pillowtop we could afford, and we’ve never looked back.
Well, if you like ultrasoft sinking mattresses, I don’t think you’de like TempurPedic. It’s actually quite firm (designed to resist ultrahigh Gforces), yes you sink into it but not the way you’re describing – it molds around you and holds you in place. My one friend who tried it and didn’t like it, didn’t like that you can’t really turn and move very easily. it holds you still by virtue of the way the material contours to your body. OTOH, that could be a big benefit for some, like say if you’re supposed to sleep on your back, but turn over in the night.
We are going to try a Sleep Number. From what I’ve looked into, the biggest advantages are for people who either have really different firmness preference from their spouse/sleeping partner, or else aren’t sure what level of softness/hardness would improve their back pain or other pain condition. Sleep Number lets you experiment, which is what we need to do right now.
If you KNOW you’d both prefer an ultrasoft bed, buy that. I don’t think either Tempurpedic or Sleep Number holds a lot of advantage for you.
My neighbors have a sleep number bed and the husband’s side won’t hold air. They have it fixed, and like it when it’s working.
I have a pillow top and I sink in too much. Ours is only about two years old and it seems to be getting indentations from our body. Also, both my husband and I sit on the sides when we get up (I have low blood pressure and find it better to get up in stages, and he has arthritis and also gets up in stages) and the sides have really collapsed. The point of that story is that I was thinking of Tempur-Pedic because it was firm and am also anxious to hear what others say.
I don’t have a tempur-pedic, I have a simmons comforpedic (which is also a foam). There are several varieties of foam mattresses on the market. The tempur-pedic was the first but you can also get an iComfort, comforpedic, Sealy Comfort, etc.
My comforpedic is ok, but I don’t know if it was worth what I paid for it. One feature that I do like is that it supports me w/o putting pressure on me. On my old innerspring the mattress would push back while it was supporting me. This mattress seems to support my frame w/o putting pressure on my shoulders. As a result the numbness in my arms is not ‘as’ bad. but I still get it, which sucks.
But even if you do get a different mattress than the tempur-pedic there are tons of varieties. Tempur-pedic alone has 10 different kinds of mattresses.
Here is a good place to start researching.
FWIW, if you liked the featherbed effect and want a memory foam, I would look into the iComfort. you sink pretty deep into those.
I highly advise you to try one out at your local Mattress Factory or whatever store. I don’t think you really need to sleep on one for a month to decide if you like it…just lay on it for a few minutes.
I really like firm mattresses and I recently bought a Sealy posturepedic ultra firm and I love it, but it sounds like you want something significantly softer than a Tempurpedic or what I have.
My ex had one that I slept on a few times, and I feel confident that they’re not worth the money. I also like soft and sinky mattresses, and the Tempur pedic is not as soft as I prefer. I could still sleep comfortably enough on it (he had a down pillowtop on top which added to the softness), but it just didn’t feel like I was sleeping on several thousand dollars.
Expensive mattresses are, frankly, a marketing scam. I sleep better on my $400 Walmart bed than I’ve slept on any other bed in my life.
Bullshit. It might not make a difference for you but it does for many people. If you prefer memory foam, you can’t get something comparable, in my experience, inexpensively.
We have a Tempur-Pedic. It took a while for it to break in and for me to get used to it, but I’m quite happy with it. I sleep well, wake up feeling fine, and don’t think about the mattress.
I favor a firm mattress, and in the store it felt nicely firm. However, after some time at home (~two weeks) I noticed the top foam was softening as it broke in. I had some anxiety at the end of the 30-day trial as I wasn’t sure if I was going to be comfortable on this thing. After a couple of months, though, I came to realize that I had stopped noticing anything about it and was indeed sleeping comfortably.
As a bonus we’re instructed not to turn it. One less awkward chore.
Do you have any overheating issues with it? A common complaint I hear about those is that the foam traps body heat and can make the sleeper uncomfortably warm.
Yeah, I’d be interested in knowing that too. It’s not an issue for me, but the spouse has issues with overheating so he wouldn’t want something that had a problem like that.
Also, compounding our problem is that I asked him about it this morning and he said he actually likes a firm mattress (though honestly I’m not sure how he’s come to this conclusion. I know he didn’t like the featherbed as much as I did, but most of the other mattresses we’ve slept on have been pretty hard.) And reading reviews of the Sleep Number bed does not fill me with warm fuzzies–a lot of people seem to be complaining that it has problems, needs a lot of fixing, and is just generally not worth the effort.
I think I’d still like to try the Tempur-pedic just to see how it feels. Maybe we’ll go to one of the stores and give it a shot. Or I wonder if they make soft mattress-top featherbeds that only cover one side…
We’ve had a tempurpedic for 5 years. I love, love, love the mattress! For me, it’s comfort & durability can’t be beat. I’d go on, but, just watch the infomercial, lol. IMO, it’s all true.
I do recommend it highly & trying it out is low risk, anyway. There’s a free “trial” period - you can return it penalty-free if you don’t like it.
I have a memory foam mattress and maintain it is the most comfortable mattress I’ve ever been on. Sometimes when my joints are aching too much, I go lie down on it just for the comfort.
The downside though, is that I tend to get too warm on it. I have not yet figured out what to do about that.
I have a SelectComfort Sleep Number bed and it works great for me. Because of weight issues, a regular bed can be hard on my lower back. I can get the right firmness/softness with a Sleep Number and sleep comfortably. I highly recommend it.
We were thinking of getting a Tempur-pedic because of various shoulder and hip problems I have, but it seemed like a big investment to make without knowing if we’d like it, so I picked up a different brand of memory foam mattress topper -this Therapedic Deluxe - and I love it. I want a firm bed with something soft on top to sink into (but not very far), and this is perfect. Best $300 we ever spent.
It is definitely hotter than a normal mattress, but if the room temperature is cool it’s fine.
My old thread. Several tempur-pedic owners confirmed sex isn’t quite the same when your partner sinks a few inches down in the mattress. But, it’s only a minor hindrance. With enough motivation anything is possible.
And realistically we’re not going to “try one out” by having it delivered and sleeping on it for a month. Maybe you’re allowed to do that, but it’s more trouble than it’s worth to us. So no.
One less awkward chore.
But, it’s only a minor hindrance. With enough motivation anything is possible.