Can this (new! expensive!) marital bed be saved?

April 1, 2016 11:51 AM

I am the sleeping equivalent of the princess and the pea. My partner is a restless sleeper. For years, we've solved this problem by pushing two ikea twin beds together. As a gift to ourselves, we just bought a beautiful bed. Popped our two mattresses in....and discovered that the motion transfer problems have returned. Much sadness and gnashing of teeth has ensued. Please help! Details inside.

After years of our makeshift bed we gave ourselves the gift of a custom bed-frame to fit our two mattresses. It is gorgeous. I love it. However, I've been sleeping in the guestroom since we got it last week.

We have two ikea mattresses both latex with no springs. They sit side by side within the frame of the bed. Every time my partner rolls over, there are two issues 1) the whole bed-frame moves a very small amount 2) his mattress butts up against mine and moves it a very small amount. But these very small amounts are making me miserable.

We have IKEA slats in the bed as well. I'm wondering if some kind of padding between the slats and mattresses might help? Or different slats? Or some kind of bundling board between our two mattresses?

I was able to find some previous questions about co-sleeping difficulties but the most frequent suggestion was to get two mattresses, something we've already done. Any suggestions would be so very, very appreciated!

posted by jeszac to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

Best answer: You can put pieces of rubbery grippy drawer liners under the bedframe feet to "stick" it to the floor- this works really well. Make wooden feet for the bedframe's legs if you need more surface area for the gripping action to work. And maybe also try putting this stuff under the mattresses to stick them to the slats. This stuff is pretty cheap ($3-5/roll) so it's worth a try- probably the most inexpensive solution out there.

Maybe also try attaching something like L-brackets or a wooden divider into the bedframe to hold the mattresses slightly apart? Like making a compartment for each mattress, so that when his mattress shifts, it butts against the divider instead of against your mattress?
posted by pseudostrabismus at 12:07 PM on April 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Get rid of the shitty IKEA slats and use 1/2" thick plywood as the platform for your mattresses. That rubber nonslip liner goes on top of the plywood and under each mattress.

Between the two twin mattresses, try one of these: http://www.comforthouse.com/playhouses.html

Make sure the bedframe is actually, truly level. Sometimes it can look level but actually be wobbling a bit, which you only feel when someone's rolling over on it. Better beds often come with subtly adjustable feet to solve this.
posted by zdravo at 12:34 PM on April 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

If you go the plywood route and it's spanning the width of a single mattress I would suggest you'd want thicker than 1/2". Even 3/4" I would expect to bend gradually over time.
posted by deadwax at 2:03 PM on April 1, 2016

1/2 plywood on top of the slats will not bow or bend.

Hey! A futon mattress with wool and foam or latex like this does not transfer motion from the person next to you. I would not put two of them together because there would be a huge dip ion the middle between the two mattresses. I have no idea about that particular brand, but this type of mattress is exceptionally comfy.
posted by jbenben at 2:41 PM on April 1, 2016

Don't use plywood under your mattress, because it can offgas formaldehyde. Get something like 1-inch-thick oak planks, cut to the right width. That's what I put across my basic bed frame with which I'm not using a box spring, and it's quite solid.
posted by limeonaire at 2:44 PM on April 1, 2016

Our king size innerspring mattress has a two-piece "foundation" (the thing formerly known as a box spring). There's a middle support that runs the length of the bed, and both halves of the foundation rest on it. I think therein lies the beginning of a solution for you: you don't want one set of slats, you want two completely different slats (or, indeed, foundations) that share a common support in the middle. Then each mattress would be separately supported, and that should reduce motion transfer. And then yes, if the whole bed frame is moving relative to the floor, you want to make sure you've got something grippy that keeps it from doing that.
posted by fedward at 2:47 PM on April 1, 2016

If you go the plywood route, the folks at your local Home Depot will cut it to size for you on their panel saw, right in the store. Much less hassle than taking it home and cutting it to size yourself. Keep in mind that you'll probably need more than one piece, as plywood comes in 4x8' sheets. Come armed with your measurements, and walk away with a fancy new bed board. I agree that you'd want to go with 3/4" plywood, anything less would have too much flex to it. I think 3/4" would be fine in a bed frame, with all four edges supported. If only the sides are supported, I'd suggest either setting it over the slats or, if that doesn't seem like it'd work right, just screwing some horizontal bracing onto the underside of it for added rigidity.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 2:50 PM on April 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Alternatively, I wonder whether putting a few inches of soft eggcrate memory foam on top of the bed would deaden any movement and shaking. I have this and I think it might well do what you're hoping. I answered this comment recently and I stand by my recommendation (Slumber Solutions Highloft Supreme 4" Memory Foam Topper), available at Overstock).

Also, I would also recommend trying one of those foam joiner things between the two mattresses, underneath memory foam. I realize that's somewhat counterintuitive, since you deliberately have two twin mattresses, but I wonder whether it might help them move more fluidly as one and provide a buffer so that one mattress can't jolt the other.
posted by ClaireBear at 6:04 AM on April 2, 2016

get 6 big sheets of MDF that add up to the shape of each bed(3 each), build little rectangles out of 2x4s, screw 2x4 legs on them and then slap on some diagonal supports.

Neither MDF platform should touch the frame or the other bed. Put BIG rubber feet on the legs.

Forget the slats, and forget the existing frame/support solution. The beds need separate heavy ass frames that don't move and don't touch eachother or the frame.
posted by emptythought at 9:36 AM on April 2, 2016

If you use plywood (2 pieces, one under each mattress) cover it with something thick. It will leach sap and whatever into the mattress and stain it. Otherwise it works great.
posted by bongo_x at 2:20 PM on April 2, 2016

Response by poster: Thank you so much! This was excellent advice all around. We used the L brackets and rubber grippy drawer liners both on the feet of the bed and between the slats and the mattresses. While I'm not ready to go plywood yet-- I love a bit of squoosh in my bed-- we did nail down the slats. Finally we put egg-crate foam between the mattresses. And last night...I slept like a baby! You all rock.
posted by jeszac at 8:28 AM on April 4, 2016