What's behind our mattress Ratings? and provide valuable feedback to other members and our testers. You should think about buying a new mattress if you wake up tired or achy, you tend to sleep better at hotels than at home, your mattress looks saggy or lumpy, you're over 40, or your mattress is at least five to seven years old. Use this mattress guide to help with your purchase. CO & smoke alarmsThe Best Mattress for a Better Night's Sleep Buying a new mattress? Here are tips for finding the right mattress for you. You spend about a third of every day in bed. Whether that time is spent blissfully slumbering -- or tossing and turning -- depends a lot on your mattress. "A mattress can impact a person's sleep," says Michael Decker, PhD, RN, associate professor at Georgia State University and spokesman for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. One way that your mattress affects your sleep has to do with the network of fine blood vessels, called capillaries, that runs underneath your skin.
"When you lie on any part of your body for an extended period of time, the weight of it reduces the flow of blood through those blood vessels, which deprives the skin of oxygen and nutrients," Decker says. This causes nerve cells and pain sensors in your skin to send a message to your brain for you to roll over. Rolling over restores blood flow to the area, but it also briefly interrupts your sleep. Ideally, a mattress that reduces the pressure points on your body should give you a better night's sleep, Decker says. Yet the ideal mattress is different for each person. Which Mattress Is Right for You? Finding the right mattress isn't about searching out the highest-tech brand or spending the most money. "A much more expensive mattress doesn't necessarily mean it's better," Decker says. A high price tag is a product of both the materials that go into the mattress, and the marketing that helps sell it. Instead of focusing on price and brand name, think about what you want in a mattress.
"Selecting a mattress is very personal," Decker says. Some people prefer a firmer mattress; others favor a softer style. Although there isn't a lot of scientific evidence to prove that one type of mattress will help you sleep better than another, people with certain medical conditions do seem to rest easier on a particular mattress style. Anyone with back or neck pain should take a Goldilocks approach to mattress buying: not too hard, and not too soft. "If you're on too soft [of] a mattress, you'll start to sink down to the bottom. But on too hard of a mattress you have too much pressure on the sacrum, and on the shoulders, and on the back of the head," says Howard Levy, MD, an Emory University assistant professor of orthopaedics, physical medicine, and rehabilitation. A medium-firm mattress, or a firm mattress with a softer pillow top, will give your spine that "just-right" balance of support and cushioning. An adjustable bed can be a good buy if you need to sleep with your head raised.
Doctors sometimes recommend elevating the head to help people with COPD breathe easier, or to prevent nighttime heartburn from GERD. These beds can also allow you to adjust your knees and hips to a 90-degree angle, relieving some of the pressure on sore joints, Levy says. If you have allergies or asthma, you might have considered buying a bed labeled "hypoallergenic." "There are a lot of claims made by mattress manufacturers that their mattresses are hypoallergenic or don't support the growth of dust mites, but I don't know of scientific evidence to support these claims," says Paul V. Williams, MD, a pediatrics professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine and an allergist at Northwest Allergy and Asthma Center in Washington state. Williams says dust mites will live anywhere there's food -- and that food is your dead skin cells. Instead of investing in an allergy-free mattress, slip on a washable mattress encasing. It will form a barrier that prevents dust mites from getting to you.
A mattress encasing cuts allergen growth by robbing dust mites of their food supply, Williams says. And what about those space-age memory foam mattresses, which can cost thousands of dollars? There is some evidence they can help with back problems and improve sleep, but their advantage over a regular coil mattress is only slight. Where memory foam mattresses can really help you sleep is if you have an active bed partner who is keeping you awake, Decker says. Foam mattresses reduce motion transfer, letting you lie still while your partner tosses and turns. Test Drive a Mattress Before You Buy "You wouldn't buy a car without test driving it," Decker says. So why would you invest hundreds -- or even thousands of dollars in a mattress without trying it out first? Take any new mattress you're considering for a test nap. "People should not be embarrassed to go into a store and lay on a mattress for 20 minutes," Decker says. For a more realistic test, sleep in the beds at different hotel chains when you travel.
If you get an especially good night's sleep on one of them, ask the desk clerk what brand it is. When you test out a mattress, make sure it feels comfortable in every position, especially the side you favor for sleeping. The mattress should be supportive where you need it, without putting too much pressure on your body, Levy says. Time for a New Mattress If you've been having trouble sleeping, the problem might not be your mattress type, but its age. "It's really important for people to realize that mattresses have a certain lifespan," Decker says. Keep your mattress too long, and the foam and other materials inside it will start to break down, compromising its ability to support your body. Decker recommends keeping your mattress for no more than 10 years. After that, it's time to go mattress shopping again.How to choose a mattress? What is the best mattress? We know choosing a mattress can be daunting – especially since it’s probably been a while since your last trip to the mattress store.
We’re here to help make sense of it all and provide you with everything you need to know so you can find the best mattress to buy for your lifestyle and budget. It’s time to buy a new mattress if: You wake up with aches and pains that dissipate throughout the day. Your arms or shoulders fall asleep throughout the night, or you wake up tossing and turning. Your mattress shows visible signs of wear and tear, such as sagging or the sides breaking down. You feel the coils when lying on your bed. You hear noises/creaks on your mattress when moving around. You roll toward the middle of the bed at night, or you easily roll off the edge of the bed. No matter what the temperature in your bedroom, you always seem to feel too hot in bed. Your mattress is more than eight years old – check the tag to determine the age of your mattress. You’ve outgrown your current mattress size or are in need of a larger one. (Tip: If you’re an expecting parent, check out these tips to sleep for pregnant mothers!).
Complete this checklist before your visit to the mattress store and bring it with you to help narrow your search. Don’t be afraid to ask questions – that’s what the sales representatives, known as sleep consultants at Mattress Firm, are there for! SIZE: To identify the correct mattress size for your space, consider the following: The mattress should be longer than the tallest person sleeping on it. The bed width should allow enough space to fold your arms behind your head without going beyond the mattress edge or touching your partner’s elbows (for two adults, we recommend either a queen or a king). Full size bed / Double mattress Not sure which size is right for you? Click here for a little more info on choosing the right mattress size. Do you need a box spring or foundation for your mattress? ☐ Yes ☐ No BUDGET: Determine a budget you’re comfortable with and let your salesperson know so he or she can direct you to the best mattress options in your price range.
Not sure how much you should spend for a good quality mattress? As a general rule with mattresses, you get what you pay for – the higher the quality, the better the comfort, support and durability. However, it’s important to choose a model that suits your needs and your pocketbook. We recommend the “eight days of pay for eight years” model: Take one day’s pay and multiply it by eight. That’s how much you should spend on a mattress that will last eight years. If you don’t plan on keeping your mattress that long, or it’s going to be a guest mattress that will be used less often, you may consider spending less, but consider using this equation to find your ballpark price range. The least I will spend is $___________ The most I can spend is $__________ I [am / am not] willing to consider floor models and and other clearance options. TEST-DRIVE: Once your salesperson has shown you some different mattress brands within your size/budget range, test out your mattress options by laying on each side (back, stomach, left side, right side) for about five minutes per side (20 minutes total).
We know what you’re thinking, “I don’t want to lay on a bed in front of my fellow shoppers?” Don’t worry – we see it all the time, and it’s an important step in the shopping process. Some questions to ask yourself as you test drive each mattress include: Do I prefer a firm or soft mattress? Refer to this five levels of comfort guide if you’re not sure. Which mattress brand do I trust the most? Check out this list of our most trusted mattress brands if you need more information. What features can I live without? What features can I NOT live without? (For example: hybrid mattress only, must be memory foam, etc.) Take any relevant notes about what you liked/didn’t like about each one here: Is shipping and/or delivery included? ☐ Yes ☐ No, it costs $________ Will they dispose of my old mattress for me when they bring the new one? Is there a charge for that? ☐ No ☐ Yes, it costs $________ Is recycling my old mattress an option and can they recycle it for me?