Reader Help: I Need a New Mattress

by Elizabeth

Just in case my scintillating blog title didn't give it away already, the thing is, I need a new mattress. 

And I have no idea how to pick a good one. We picked out the one we have now by lying on mattresses in a mattress show room. It seemed fine at the time, but seven years later, it's pretty awful -- there are two giant divots in the spots where my husband and I sleep, and I wake up every morning with terrible lower back pain.  So needless to say, I'm not sure I really think that going into a mattress store and lying on mattresses is the way to go. 

After some fairly cursory googling of what kind of mattress you should buy if you have terrible lower back pain, I think I'm fairly sold on memory foam, but I want to know what you think of it. I'd like to spend less than $1000 and I'd like to be able to use the sheets I already have. I've always been a fan of foam mattresses in the past, so I was thinking of ordering the PacBed Original from Bed In A Box. They get great customer service reviews, they have a 90-day return policy, and all the reviews I've read online have been incredibly positive. The platform bed I already have is one that is sold on their site and can be used with a memory foam mattress, so I don't need to buy a box spring, and I can use the sheets I already have because it's the same dimensions as the mattress I have now. 

There's also an option to add a gel layer to this mattress, I think because traditionally memory foam mattresses make people hot and the gel helps with that, so I am leaning towards yes on the gel layer. (I am a cool sleeper but it gets really hot here in the summer, so I feel like that evens out.) It adds $100 to the mattress, but it still brings my total to $749, which I think is a pretty good price for a mattress considering I paid $799 seven years ago for a mattress that hurts my back and has two giant divots in it now. 

Does anyone else have any good or bad experiences with memory foam mattresses? Any horror stories or words of wisdom? For what it's worth, I should probably also add that I have a very arched lower back -- if I lie on the floor flat on my back, I can stick both of my hands in the arch that my lower back makes. Ideally someone with this same body type will now comment and tell me that yes, this is the exact mattress that I should be purchasing, and it will solve all my problems and also scrub my bathtub for me. 

{Image credit: www.bedinabox.com}

Comments

[Elissa]

We have this memory foam mattress from Coscto: http://www.costco.com/Ara-13%22-Queen-Memory-Foam-Mattress-100%25-Visco-Foam.product.100003911.html. It's a little over your budget but they do go on sale, and Costco has great customer service and easy returns if you decide you don't like it. We've had ours for almost three years and have been very happy with it.

[nicole in sd]

Sleep number. I have the same problem so I pump my side up a lot... hubby is a side sleeper so he has his side on the number he likes. We don't bug each other when we flop around anymore. It's a great investment.

[Lisa]

Sleep Number! We got ours in July and have been sleeping happily ever since. Turned out to be comparable price wise to memory foam.

[Em]

I have a sleep number bed as well and love it. It is also nice to have the option to adjust it in case your preferences change or you realize you need a softer/firmer matress.

[Steph]

Oh man, the arched back thing. I spent years trying to relax my back enough to where it would touch the floor until I realized that, no, that is just how my back IS! Anyway, I have lower back pain, arched back, and I always feel hot when I sleep. I actually got Ikea's memory foam version and it was made of latex, so it keeps you cool when you sleep. I got it in extra firm. (In case you're worried about it like I was, the latex one doesn't smell like OTHER things latex is usually known for! I'm sure one one else is worried about that though) I've had it for about 2 years and I still am in love with it.

[craftyashley]

My parents have had a Sleep Number bed for like... ever. At least 10+ yrs. and they swear by it. They've never had any problems with it, which I kind of find amazing. Anyway, that's my two cents.

[Roz]

LOVE my memory foam mattress and I've had it for 5+ years

[Jessica]

I have a regular mattress, a pillowtop, I think? And we have a memory foam topper that I love. We just took out the box springs and switched to a platform bed and I noticed a little difference but not much. I don't know how different a memory foam bed is versus the topper, but I certainly like ours.

[Brandi]

We have a sleep number bed because our apartment stairwell would allow for that or a futon and I refused to own a futon for my bed. Fast forward seven years - we hate it. Seriously hate it. I feel like it never gets to the right "number" and constantly needs fiddling. We have felt this way for about 6.5 years and can't wait to buy a new bed.