My Lady and I have recently purchased a new bed. When purchasing this bed we didn’t find a lot of reviews online, so I decided that once we got ours that I would do reviews for the first few nights of sleep, and then update every so often. We started thinking about getting a new bed after we stayed at her parents’ house and slept on their memory foam bed– we both had one of the best sleeps we could remember. Shortly after that I posted in an ‘AS support’ Facebook group to get a poll to see what other mattresses ‘ASers’ used. The general suggestion was memory foam, but here is the list of brands, etc. that were recommended: Tempur-Pedic (cloud); Sleep Number’ Select Comfort (with 4″ memory foam mattress topper); Craftmatic; Servant Icomfort Series (which is supposed to be cheaper than Tempur-pedic; and Kingsdown Belgigue Trilum.
I should first start by giving some background information. We were sleeping on a double Sertapedic Placido II that my girlfriend had purchased between 5-6 years ago. It was a pretty good bed, but I never slept super well on it. To this point, I have slept on it for about a year and a half. But, I am excited to announce that we finally have a fancy new mattress. Before we actually got our bed, we had considered our options and figured a new bed would be a ‘future-purchase’: beds are expensive and currently traveling is much higher on our priority list. However, we went to our local Sleep Country, where we have purchased from before, and found out about some financing options that make a new bed much more realistic.
I find purchasing a new bed so incredibly stressful. I have a really tough time getting over the fact that hundreds of other people have laid in these beds and put their heads on these pillows. On top of that, this is a really expensive purchase, so I have to get over this initial ‘gross factor’ and focus on the comfort of the bed, which again I struggle to know exactly how the bed will feel considering the crowd of people have been on and off these beds– as previously mentioned. And, you typically have a sales person watching you; this I also find weird. Here I am laying on my back so you’re seeing one of the least flattering positions possible. Or, I lay on my side so then you’re seeing my butt half in-the-air. As we lay and discuss the comfort of each bed, I can’t help but wonder how many skin flecks of other people are being stuck to my face, in my hair, and on my clothes, and whether someone may have sneezed on the pillow that I now have my cheek plastered against. But I digress.
We did the bed tango and found ourselves all over the store laying on a bunch of different beds trying to figure out which would be best for both of us. To shorten the story a bit, we settled on a Queen Tempur-Contour Rhapsody Breeze and we bought the Trysil bed frame from from Ikea for the mattress to sit on. We placed fabric-wrapped pieces of OSB on top of the slats in the frame to make sure that the mattress has the best support possible– and to make sure the warranty isn’t voided. I am sleeping on an All Sleeper Talalay Latex pillow as discussed in another post.
Day 1
- Not too smelly
- Firm
- Slept okay, but not great
Everyone had told us, and we had read, that the bed was going to be very very smelly. Apparently there is “off gassing” that happens with memory foam beds and can take up to 4 weeks to go away. Maybe we were just preparing for the worst, but it wasn’t all that bad. It was smelly, but we slept on the bed with no issues the first day. In fact, my girlfriend had worked a night shift the night before, and napped on the bed within a couple hours of it arriving.
I felt that the bed was quite a bit firmer than what we had experienced at the store. We were notified that it would be firm and that it would loosen up eventually, but I don’t think I was prepared for it to be as firm as it was. What I loved about the bed, in the store, was that I was able to sink into it a bit, but that I still felt supported, and I didn’t hit a firm surface after sinking like I experienced on other beds. I didn’t get the same feeling during the first night– it wasn’t terrible, but I didn’t sleep very well.
Day 2
- Still firm, but loosening up
- Slept better
- Woke up with lower back pain
I slept better on the second day, but still not great. The bed seems to be loosening up but I found I woke up with lower back pain. Other than the mattress loosening up, there isn’t much else to report. I’m nervous that The bed will not work for me.
Day 3
- Bed continues to loosen up
- Slept really well
- Little movement felt
- Almost no pain
The mattress seems to keep getting more comfortable for me. I slept really will tonight and I woke up with very little pain in the morning. This reminds me of why I was so drawn to this bed: I have been in a bit of a flare-up lately and when we laid down in this bed I felt the pain in my lower back disappear after a few minutes– I have never had this experience before. Also, I noticed that very little movement is felt on the opposite side of the bed. If my girlfriend moves or shifts, I rarely feel it on my side.
Day 4
- Didn’t sleep well
- No pain in bed, but sore when I woke up
I had nightmares during the night, which is why I think I didn’t sleep very well. I was surprised that I had no lower back pain during the night, but I did after I woke up.
Day 5
- Best sleep yet
- No pain
- Didn’t move during the night
So far, this has been the best sleep I’ve had. I was up a couple times during the night, but I don’t feel like I moved in between those times, which means I’m sleeping solid and not moving a lot. I used to change positions a lot during the night, but I don’t feel like I have to do that as much during the night now. I didn’t have any pain when I woke up, and I really had a hard time getting out of bed– I was really comfortable. I used to be up early every day because I woke up with morning stiffness and couldn’t stay in bed very long. I hope I can have a morning to sleep-in sometime soon and see if I’m able to stay in bed longer now!
Day 6
- Another Good Sleep
- Longer time in-bed
- No pain
So I had another great sleep last night. I was in-bed for about 10 hours, which is the most time I’ve spent in-bed in a very long time. I slept really well through the night, getting up only once, and not remembering being awake other than that. I again woke up with no pain. Overall, I think my flare-up is calming down, so it’s not all the bed, but I am sleeping much better than I have in a very long time.
Day 7
- Not a great sleep
- Tired and Groggy in the AM
- Grumpy
I did not sleep well last night. I think the major reason was that I had an early morning gig (had to arrive for 7am) and I was a bit antsy about it. Also, we have the luxurious duvet that is very warm in the summer. I woke up a bunch of times feeling very warm. I don’t attribute any of this to the mattress, but other factors.
Final Thoughts
It has been just over a week now, and overall I’m very happy with the bed. I have definitely had a few nights where I didn’t sleep very well, but right now I’m experiencing more good night sleeps than bad, which is something new for me. I do not expect the mattress to fix everything for me, but I find myself wanting to spend more time in-bed and I can’t remember ever having that feeling before. It has taken a little while to get used to it, but I’m very happy with our purchase. My plan is to review the mattress again in about a month, and have regular reviews every couple of months thereafter– hopefully to give a longstanding review of the Tempur-Contour Rhapsody Breeze.
Stay Loose!
Journey With AS 
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