Long ago, I bought a bed, at Costco, which was simply a metal adjustable rail with wheels, a bedspring mattress, and a top mattress.
I'm happy with that, but the one thing I don't like is that the top mattress is not reversible.
I have a relative staying for a few months, so, I'm buying only the second bed in my life, and I wonder if you have advice so I don't screw up again?
Boris:
My sister bought one of those memory foam mattresses that are supposed to be so good. It was heavy as sin, and she found she just didn't like it because it gave her back aches in the morning. Also, she found that she sank into it and it was hard for her to turn over. We all get aches and pains laying in the same position for too long, and a natural reaction is to turn over. Memory foam mattresses make that hard to do because you feel like you're trying to roll uphill out of a hole.
So far as I know, mattresses only come in about 5 standard sizes, and as long a you buy a mattress that's the same size as your box spring, you should be fine.
Evidently she had the wrong type of memory foam. They come in softer and harder varieties and we chose the firmer style with gel.. Yes, they are a bit harder to turn in, but I sleep better in the same position longer and no longer have a sore back in the morning.
We had a king size for years and like it. My wife has surgery last year so I gave away the king size and bought two twins that are motorized. Wow, they are fantastic. You can put your head or feet up as desired. When she had to stay in bed I hated staying with her to watch TV or even read in the old bed. Now, at the touch of a button, the head and feet come up and I'm as comfortable as a recliner. At sleep time, just push the button and it goes flat.
Taste varies, but we love the memory foam beds. This is ours.
Thanks for the 'heads up' on that memory mattress.
I recently bought a few sets of twin bed size for daybeds and guests. I went to a reputable outlet having sales and wheedled away but am happy bought simple frames and those THICK mattresses that put you almost 3 feet in the air. Warmer on cold days and feels luxurious, sitting up so high.
An important note, Ever since the banning of DDT, be sure to buy the 'bedbug' proof wrapper that goes on your mattress, else you can be in for one piece of hell, and not your fault, or even that much a fault of your relative. I mean the high quality wrapper, not the cheap one. In my case I got the wraps all free. ...I told you a lot of wheedling.
Keep in mind that for older people it is recommended that beds be not more than 18 inches high.
Bill
Why is that?
My thought would have been that for older people, higher beds make it easier for them to both get into and out of bed, just like a higher toilet seat makes it easier for them to both sit down and get up. Ditto for chairs and sofas. The lower the chair or sofa seat, the harder it is to get out of that seat.
This old person seconds your opinion ;)
Might add that older friend has a memory foam mattress. Said he got a firm one, he likes it, but it does feel a little funny when changing position. Personally, I would not get one.
I think it is to keep them from being hurt if they roll out of bed.
Bill
Bingo. If they're likely to get up on their own and fall down, or roll out in their sleep, the only options are active restraints (tying them into the bed) passive restraints (side bars on the bed) or lowering the bed to near floor level. Since restraints tend to make people struggle to get out even more, lowering the bed is a better solution. Not optimum, since getting up and on their feet is then a problem, but at least they haven't got far to fall if they do roll over and off the mattress.
There's a potential gold mine for the designer of a bed frame with pressure sensors that would automatically lower itself when the occupant reclines and raises itself when the occupant gets off the mattress. Best of both worlds then - easy to get in, hard to fall out of.
Depends on how tall you are. My 5'3" wife uses a step stool to get into bed. It is also higher if yhou tend to fall out of bed.
Hi, Our pillow top mattress been good for us. IMO, in bedding, you definitely get what you pay for. Here in town there is even a shop who custom makes mattress.
Huh? No, that can't be the reason.
My mother is 94 years old. She doesn't fall out of bed.
Not when she's sober, which is a good part of the time.
Besides, there is a paralysis that occurs in people when they're asleep that prevents them from moving in their sleep. People having dreams about being chased or attacked experience that paralysis in that they find they are unable to move no matter how hard they try. Some psychologist believe that this paralysis is the result of our ape ancestors sleeping in caves or in trees to prevent being attacked by wild animals in their sleep. That defence mechanism evolved because if a person moved in their sleep as a result of a dream, they could end up falling out of a tree or falling off a cliff. I just don't know what that sleep paralysis is called, but I know it exists.
It seems to me that that sleep paralysis would keep us from falling out of bed just as it kept our distant ancestors from falling out of trees.
nestork posted for all of us...
To add to this I had 5 of Tempur-Pedic under warranty and they are junk. I weight too much but they insist that wasn't the problem. I now have a conventional mattress and it is fine.
Better than a water bed!!!
You've obviously never shared a bed with my wife!!! She's never fallen out of bed, but she definitely moves in her sleep and in her dreams.
Is that how you get your kicks?
Clare :
There are different kinds of sleep. My understanding is that paralysis only occurs in what's called "deep sleep", which is the most restful sleep where you dream the most.
Your wife may very well be suffering from a variety of sleep disorders, some of which I suffer from myself. I took part in a sleep disorders study earlier this year with about 20 other insomniacs. They hooked up about 20 electrodes to my face, head, arms and legs to monitor my breathing, my arm and leg movements, my eye movements and everything else you can think of. Up until then I had been a terrible insomniac and had to take prescription drugs to get to sleep.
They found that I moved my leg while I was trying to get to sleep as a result of a disorder called RLS, or Restless Leg Syndrome, which is actually very common amongs insomniacs. It's where you just have to move your leg at and below the knee, and the compulsion to do that keeps people awake while they're trying to get to sleep.
They also found that I had Sleep Apnea, which is where your breathing passageway collapses to block off your breathing channel. So, I would continuously be waking up as a result of my suffocating for air, and then breathing normally for a few minutes before the air passage collapsed again, so that I'd wake up again, and this would go on all night long.
As a result of that sleep disorder study, I was put on something called a "CPAP machine" which stands for "Constant Positive Air Pressure machine". It's basically an air pump that inflates my breathing air channel so that it stays inflated and open so that sleep apnea doesn't occur.
Since I started using that CPAP machine I sleep like a baby. I go to bed, and it seems like two minutes later I'm waking up in the morning, and I very seldom ever remember my dreams anymore. All of those are good indications of a night of deep and restful sleep. The not remembering dreams part is because I come out of deep sleep properly. You typically only remember your dreams if you're awaken for some reason during deep sleep. Everything is still in your short term memory banks, and you remember what you were thinking. If you come out of deep sleep normally, your brain throws out all that stuff before you regain consiousness.
You should tell your wife that moving during sleep is an indication that she's not enjoying deep sleep, and that a CPAP machine might help her as much as it's helped me. Here in Manitoba it's covered by our Provincial Medicare program, so I expect it would be covered by whatever health plan you and your wife are under too. Certainly, she should speak to a sleep clinic doctor and be tested because most people don't realize how much their sleep can be corrected if they're willing to be tested for sleep disorders.
But, definitely, movement during sleep is a sign that she's not getting truly restful sleep.
After 35 year of using one, Nothing is better than a water bed. No bedbugs, no dust mites, great body support, never needs to be turned, perfect temperature year-round.
Burp it when the bedding is laundered, 8 oz of algicide yearly - no further maintenance required.
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