Memory foam to boxspring

May 31, 2024 7:22 PM

Have you had and liked a memory foam bed but switched back to a box spring anyway? If so, why, and do you regret it?

I own one of the original Leesa memory foam mattresses and really like it. My partners have also be fans of it - one commented it's the only foam mattress that she'd slept on that didn't leave her with back pain. It's in need of replacing this year and I'm pondering whether to get another one or go back to a box spring.

The reason this comes to mind is I've been spending about half my nights in my guest room (which has a box spring) due to a new foster who's much more comfortable if someone's sleeping in the room with her. And while I love the Leesa, I'm also loving the conventional bed as well. As far as I can tell, I sleep equally well on them. If anyone else has made a similar decision, I'd be interested in hearing what the factors that affected your decision are and how happy you are with it.

Obviously one option is to get a new Leesa for the bedroom and sleep in the guest room when I feel like the conventional bed, but it's a standard and I'm large so it's not as nice as my queen sized main bed.

posted by Candleman to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

I liked the memory foam bed we had, but it was also the second mattress my spouse and I bought as adults. The first mattress we had was the cheapest inner spring mattress you could get at the time.

Over time I realized that as someone who has to change sleep position a lot during the night memory foam puts your body into a deep divot which forces you to whip your body around to get the momentum to change position.

Another factor is that I run hot and memory foam is shit at breathability. I'd wake up soaked in sweat even during nights that didn't break 65f/18.3c.

When we bought our newest mattress we went for a slightly above average cost inner spring model and it's been so much more comfortable than the memory foam we had. I can move from back sleeping to chest sleeping and vice versa with minimal effort. Not having to put mental/physical focus into whipping your whole body around to change sleep position keeps sleep interruptions to a minimum.
posted by Ferreous at 9:23 PM on May 31

Our memory foam mattress was starting to aggravate my back pain, and after sleeping on some other mattresses I determined the memory foam wasn’t supportive enough. We switched to a hybrid latex mattress. We love our new (now 2 year-old) mattress. The one we picked allows each side of the bed to be different firmnesses, and the latex sleeps much cooler than the memory foam.
posted by bluloo at 12:16 PM on June 1

I had Leesa, and it was for me, way better for relieving lower back pain when i had severe problems. Same with the much more expensive Tempurpedic. Now, both of those made me very hot, so I eventually bailed because I didn't want to roll dice on the (still very expensive) newer 'cooling' foam mattress tech out there today. Sure, I laid on 'em a bit in the store, and they did initially feel a lot cooler, but didn't want to mess with possibly returning it due to heat.

I have conventional mattress again now, and it is much cooler, but I'm not sure it's as good for side sleeping as the memory foam. Sure does weigh a ton more, tho.

If I had bad lower back problems again, i might consider going back to nouveau foam. : )
posted by bitterkitten at 4:11 PM on June 1

I find inner spring mattresses to be a lot better for sex. That plus the temperature has made me stick with them, even though my memory foam mattress reduced hip pain when I slept on my side.
posted by metasarah at 12:20 PM on June 2