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Best Mattress for Your Back?

070607memoryfoam.jpgOur same friend that bought CB2's city block bed (we blogged about it yesterday) also purchased a memory foam mattress from IKEA, after doing a ton of research and in-person testing. We hope to soon embark on a similar quest for improving our sleep, and so we'd like imput from all of you on the best mattress for longevity, price, and of course, our back!

OR...do we keep what we've got an add a memory foam mattress pad on top? We always go back to this great thread from AT:NY about foam mattress pads (which Maxwell then followed up with a top ten list). Anything to add? Best recommedations?

Image of "The Sundance" via Rocky Mountain Mattress

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Comments (13)

The Sonno mattress from DWR is all that it claims to be. We have the firm one and I cannot say enough good about it. I used to wake up with backaches and don't anymore. I have a much deeper sleep overall. I'm no longer aware of my husband's tossing and turning at night, and when he gets in bed very late, I'm not disturbed by the movement of the mattress. It's one of the best things we've purchased.

posted by BB on 2007-07-06 12:15:31
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W Hotel Mattress, with or without pillowtop. Very good. Perfect firmness, through pillowtop makes it a little too mushy. Check fatwallet.com for latest W Hotel Store discount codes or if you're Starwood Elite you can get 30%off. You can almost always get 20% off. DialaMattress delivers it free if you use the right code.

We also use IKEA's foam mattress in our weekend house, cant remember the name of it but it was their most expensive (500 bucks for a queen), and I wish I had it at home as well. (Added benefit is it will fit in your car trunk). Holds up well, VERY comfortable (similar to DWR Sonno IMO). THey sell various foam toppers; we use the mid-priced one and it makes it slightly less firm.

posted by greeps on 2007-07-06 12:23:46
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My king size Dormia ( http://www.dormia.com/ ) memory foam bed is the most comfortable bed I have slept on in my life. My husband and I sleep through the night every single night with no tossing or turning. I will never own a traditional mattress again.

posted by Monica on 2007-07-06 13:26:39
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Another strong recommendation for DWR's Sonno mattress!!
And I wasn't even in the market for a new mattress until I read all of the overwhelming endorsements from the AT crowd.

My brother raves about his Tempurpedic, but I found it to be too squooshy. Same for the foam mattress at Room & Board.

I ended up with the "medium" and I'm totally satisified with it. The AT'ers seemed to favor the "firm", but the salesperson I worked with at the North Ave store told me that the "medium" outsells the firm by a large margin. She mentioned that, in her experience, a few customers have exchanged the firm for the medium, no one has ever exchanged the medium for the firm.

posted by Kathryn on 2007-07-06 13:32:44
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another DWR Sonno owner here, I've got the medium and I just can't say enough good things about it. My husband has no more back aches and my hip no longer hurts.

posted by Ana on 2007-07-06 13:44:24
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I used to have back problems when I slept. In 1998, I bought the Select Comfort mattress (now called the Sleep Number bed). I absolutely love it! You don't have to flip it. Also, when you move (I've moved four times in the last 10 years, it's easy to deflate, pack up, and move).

posted by david on 2007-07-06 14:43:22
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Does anyone have experience with Sealy Posturepedic True Form mattresses? I've seen them online for fairly cheap--700-900 range. I like the DWR one, but it's just so expensive now. Also, do the memory foam work with platform beds where a box srping should not be used? I feel like it wouldn't be supported enough. Experiences?

posted by BtotheB on 2007-07-06 14:45:19
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The Tempurpedic was blissful for about a year then the part where I slept was no longer comfortable, but the part where I didn't was still firm. I started waking up with a sore back. A year's worth of sleep for for such a big expenditure is not worth it! Call me the portly princess with the pea under her mattress but I even felt a depression from my my husband's weight on the other side of the bed. I have come to the realization that mattresses must be replaced every few years, so the Ikea sounds good to me.

posted by Bo Placebo on 2007-07-06 17:13:05
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Sonno Versa is where its at.
I bought the Versa mattress from DWR. It has two separate peices of foam, which makes it easy to move, but you don't feel the seam when you're sleeping or lying down. I have had this for about 2 years, and I still look forward to it each night. My (very traditional) parents even bought one, and they *love* it.

posted by pushbutton on 2007-07-06 17:37:42
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"OR...do we keep what we've got an add a memory foam mattress pad on top?"
Yes, that's what you do. I did that on top of an Ikea mattress/box spring, and it is sooooo comfortable. My boyfriend keeps asking why is my bed so much nicer, and his sleep so much better, at my place - when he bought a really pricey mattress combo at Macy's? It's been three years that I've had this mattress pad combination, and I don't notice a bit of wear. (I do, however, regularly vacuum and rotate the thing.)

posted by Sea on 2007-07-06 18:09:59
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Maybe it was the fact that my foam mattress pad needed to be replaced because it was a few years old, but I got rid of mine and went back to a new traditional mattress and we slept so much better! We tested them out by switching back and forth for a few days and I was completely surprised how much better I slept and how much better my body felt in the morning. My boyfriend was skeptical and he 100% agreed. We threw out the mattress pad and I would never go back.

One thing people don't realize - foam mattresses are really "hot". So if you are a hot sleeper or don't use/have air, it's not a good option.

posted by MC on 2007-07-09 09:17:52
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Haven't we covered this topic here before? I swear it was just 6 months ago or so. If you want my two cents, I buy whatever mattress I can afford. I certainly can't afford a mattress from DWR. I represent the average person, but obviously this site tends to cater to the upper class.

posted by Brian Everett on 2007-07-09 14:18:12
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Hubby and I bought a Tempur Memory Foam mattress and a new divan base a few months ago to replace our old sprung mattress and wooden frame. Admittedly, it was pricey but is guaranteed for its lifetime (15 years) and so far, touch wood, every night has been blissful. My husband gets up very early for work 6 days a week and I am no longer disturbed - there is no movement in the mattress when he rises for work - similarly, I don't wake my husband up when I come to bed late (I work in the evenings at home on my laptop). So all in all, it's been worth every penny. We recently bought our 6 year old daughter a single size memory foam mattress online (not Tempur, another make, since Tempur don't do one in the 2ft 6in small single size) and so far she's waking up far less often than she used to.

posted by Pip on 2007-07-17 18:45:31
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