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May 7, 2010 6:17 AM Subscribe
How can I make a very hard mattress softer without buying a new one?
My husband and I have a very hard mattress (Relatively thin, from IKEA). It was purchased with his really catastrophic back issues in mind, and so far since its purchase he has done a lot better, and he's able to work. - so it needs to stay.
However, I'm a stomach sleeper and have always preferred softer mattresses. The first year or two, I didn't mind the mattress, and honestly during my first pregnancy it wasn't too bothersome. But during the last 6 months or so, my hips ache and I can't sleep with my arms under me because they fall asleep (and I've slept that way for years!). I'm not sure why the change, but now I'm into my second pregnancy and I'm just miserable at night. I have a pillow between my legs, and sometimes propping one hip above the other, but I still toss and turn and end up in the guest bedroom once a week or so.
I have one egg crate foam thing on my side (since it's a king, twin sized ones work perfectly) and I also dropped a lot of money on a 2 inch memory foam topper, but I honestly don't like it too much.
Any tips for making it softer? I may remove the memory foam to try something else. I've thought about finding some soft blankets for underneath, but I can imagine they'd shift around a lot. The thriftier, the better.
My husband and I have a very hard mattress (Relatively thin, from IKEA). It was purchased with his really catastrophic back issues in mind, and so far since its purchase he has done a lot better, and he's able to work. - so it needs to stay.
However, I'm a stomach sleeper and have always preferred softer mattresses. The first year or two, I didn't mind the mattress, and honestly during my first pregnancy it wasn't too bothersome. But during the last 6 months or so, my hips ache and I can't sleep with my arms under me because they fall asleep (and I've slept that way for years!). I'm not sure why the change, but now I'm into my second pregnancy and I'm just miserable at night. I have a pillow between my legs, and sometimes propping one hip above the other, but I still toss and turn and end up in the guest bedroom once a week or so.
I have one egg crate foam thing on my side (since it's a king, twin sized ones work perfectly) and I also dropped a lot of money on a 2 inch memory foam topper, but I honestly don't like it too much.
Any tips for making it softer? I may remove the memory foam to try something else. I've thought about finding some soft blankets for underneath, but I can imagine they'd shift around a lot. The thriftier, the better.
Best answer: Here's my idea. Get a twin sized down comforter (two if you have to or get a king sized one and fold it in half), the thicker the better. Put a mattress pad on your bed, or a fitted sheet. Use safety pins at the corners and the middle sides to pin the comforter to your side of the bed. Then put your regular fitted sheet over that. The pins and top fitted sheet should keep the comforter from shifting too much. Viola! A feather bed.
I sleep the same way you do, even when I was hugely pregnant. I used more than one body pillow. I would actually sleep on top of two body pillows with a channel in between for my big old belly. I'd prop some regular pillows under one of the body pillows to raise it up so that I was actually more on my side that way there wasn't any worry about crushing the baby, but to me it felt like I was still sleeping on my stomach.
posted by TooFewShoes at 6:26 AM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
I sleep the same way you do, even when I was hugely pregnant. I used more than one body pillow. I would actually sleep on top of two body pillows with a channel in between for my big old belly. I'd prop some regular pillows under one of the body pillows to raise it up so that I was actually more on my side that way there wasn't any worry about crushing the baby, but to me it felt like I was still sleeping on my stomach.
posted by TooFewShoes at 6:26 AM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Just for the record, have you tried sleeping on your back? I was, and to some degree still am a belly sleeper, and for years I was convinced that sleeping on my back would be impossible, but I kept trying and eventually I was able to do it.
I find that when I'm really weary, I end up sleeping on my belly, but when I'm getting enough sleep, I prefer sleeping on my back.
I definitely feel more rested sleeping on my back. No neck ache...I wake up feeling great.
Just a thought. I've fallen out of sleeping on my back, but I want to start again.
Also something I started liking: using two big pillows and sleeping on my side.
Again: I thought all of this would be impossible.
posted by sully75 at 6:33 AM on May 7, 2010
I find that when I'm really weary, I end up sleeping on my belly, but when I'm getting enough sleep, I prefer sleeping on my back.
I definitely feel more rested sleeping on my back. No neck ache...I wake up feeling great.
Just a thought. I've fallen out of sleeping on my back, but I want to start again.
Also something I started liking: using two big pillows and sleeping on my side.
Again: I thought all of this would be impossible.
posted by sully75 at 6:33 AM on May 7, 2010
If it's spring->summer where you are, and you use duvets/quilts, how about using your winter weight duvet double thickness underneath you?
Our winter duvet is stupidly thick and soft - doubled over it would like be sleeping on marshmallows.
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 6:40 AM on May 7, 2010
Our winter duvet is stupidly thick and soft - doubled over it would like be sleeping on marshmallows.
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 6:40 AM on May 7, 2010
Best answer: It may help to put a soft layer under the mattress.
When we moved our mattress from resting on a box spring to resting on a solid wood surface it got awful. I bought an expensive thick soft mattress topper for it and hated it. Is was like sleeping in marshmallows, and actually made my back problems worse. And made my hips ache. So we put it under the mattress and softened up the whole thing. Not perfect, but much much better.
posted by SLC Mom at 7:43 AM on May 7, 2010
When we moved our mattress from resting on a box spring to resting on a solid wood surface it got awful. I bought an expensive thick soft mattress topper for it and hated it. Is was like sleeping in marshmallows, and actually made my back problems worse. And made my hips ache. So we put it under the mattress and softened up the whole thing. Not perfect, but much much better.
posted by SLC Mom at 7:43 AM on May 7, 2010
Oh, I'm sorry sodium! I didn't see your analogy before I used it. Really! My comment looks really snarky now. My apologies.
posted by SLC Mom at 7:45 AM on May 7, 2010
posted by SLC Mom at 7:45 AM on May 7, 2010
I've been wanting to buy one of these body pillows for a while now
posted by Sara Anne at 8:48 AM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Sara Anne at 8:48 AM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
This question might help---just use your solution on the whole bed! I ended up going with a thick, quilted mattress pad and a body pillow.
posted by amber_dale at 9:17 AM on May 7, 2010
posted by amber_dale at 9:17 AM on May 7, 2010
I tried out a really nice Ikea pillowtop mattres pad in the Ikea store, and it was really comfortable - soft, but not sinking in soft, the right kind of soft (I'm a stomach sleeper too). Unfortunately, I'm not completely sure which one it was - Ikea has five mattress pads. Based on price, I think it was the Sultan Tafjord. It's $179 for a twin.
If you have an Ikea nearby, and are okay with the price, I would definitely recommend trying out their mattress pads.
posted by insectosaurus at 9:25 AM on May 7, 2010
If you have an Ikea nearby, and are okay with the price, I would definitely recommend trying out their mattress pads.
posted by insectosaurus at 9:25 AM on May 7, 2010
I had a similar problem with a hard mattress, and bought an Ultimate Cuddle Bed mattress topper. I got mine at an actual department store, but they're available online here and here. However--I think TooFewShoes' suggestion would work similarly. Depending on whether you have a down comforter already, the Cuddle Bed may wind up to be cheaper, though. I love mine, because it really solved the problem. Good luck.
posted by sister nunchaku of love and mercy at 9:29 AM on May 7, 2010
posted by sister nunchaku of love and mercy at 9:29 AM on May 7, 2010
Response by poster: sully75: I've tried for years and never had any luck. Only if I am terribly sick or out of it is sleeping on my back possible.
SLC mom: that's the other issue - no box spring, just a wooden platform, which makes it harder.
amber_dale: ha! i have no idea how i missed your question or i wouldn't have posted mine!
thanks, all!
posted by kpht at 10:33 AM on May 7, 2010
SLC mom: that's the other issue - no box spring, just a wooden platform, which makes it harder.
amber_dale: ha! i have no idea how i missed your question or i wouldn't have posted mine!
thanks, all!
posted by kpht at 10:33 AM on May 7, 2010
For years I slept on a too-hard mattress that I made more comfortable with by putting a cheap (but thick) sleeping bag between it and the sheet. The sheet kept the sleeping bag from moving around. A comforter would work as well.
I also agree that the key to sleep comfort is a body pillow. Mine is perhaps the best purchase I've ever made.
posted by coolguymichael at 12:31 PM on May 7, 2010
I also agree that the key to sleep comfort is a body pillow. Mine is perhaps the best purchase I've ever made.
posted by coolguymichael at 12:31 PM on May 7, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by pjaust at 6:20 AM on May 7, 2010