Paul and Taggart watch the topper expanding by our site..I was definitely the most excited of the 3!
A few weeks ago I moaned about our Sleep Number bed on the blog. I’ve had issues with that darn thing since we bought the rig, but have always felt that the issues weren’t quite bad enough to warrant spending the money on a new mattress (especially with RV mattresses being so expensive). This dilemma has kept me in a semi-poor state of sleep for 2 years. I know, I know…it’s ridiculous. Sleeping is such an important part of life that we should have thrown that mattress out the window right after we got it, but I HAVE been known to be on the stubborn side and I kept thinking that I just needed to fiddle with the number (the commercials do say you need to find your number, right?)
Well sometimes you just need a little push in life…
Our new topper!
First was the meeting with blog readers Richard & Ginger who (most generously I thought) invited us over to try their bed. Next was all the comments I got on the blog giving me all kinds of great new ideas on the matter. The final result of all this was giving me the kick-in-the-butt I needed to go do something about it. Bottom line (from everything I tried and read and heard) was to go try Memory Foam.
Will Memory Foam make me feel like this? Picture from http://www.rocketmime.com
Now Memory Foam (for those geeks out there like me who just need to know) was actually originally invented for space travel. Around the 1960′s NASA needed a special material that could withstand the G-forces of launch and re-entry during space missions. Research came up with a visco-elastic heat-sensitive material which was dubbed T-Foam. The cool thing about the material was that it softened & moulded to the body with heat (i.e. body-heat), but stayed firm elsewhere, and would spring back to original shape when you moved (as a material scientist I do love this kind of stuff!). In the end it was never actually used in space travel (due to off-gassing issues), but it DID make it to the consumer market.
I'll drink to this solution!!
And that’s where Nina’s night salvation comes into the picture. I looked around at buying a full memory-foam mattress, but decided it was easier and cheaper to try my luck with a memory foam topper. There are lots of spots you can buy these, but I’ve seen the best deals at overstock.com and Costco. Costco has a great return policy so went there and snagged the NovaForm® King-Size 2.5″ topper for $160. I left it outside for a few days to fluff up and release any smell, then took it in for the test.
The Foam Topper....oh yeah baby!! Picture from http://www.costco.com
And the result? The BEST NIGHT’S SLEEP I have had in 2 years!! With the sleep number bed pumped to very firm and the topper on top it’s simply fabulous! The topper is firm, yet soft at the same time. It gives support yet doesn’t droop. There is no longer any “cave” in the bed, I don’t feel the stupid partition in the middle anymore. And best of all, I never wake up with pins and needles in my arm anymore (I’m a side-sleeper). It does sleep a bit “warmer” than the old set-up, but that doesn’t bother me at all.
It may not work for everyone, but if you’re like me and have been having issues w/ the Sleep Number Bed I highly recommend giving this a try. Just goes to show that blogging is a great way to learn new stuff. Thanks for the tips everyone! It’s saved my night!
