Does anyone own one of these and can give a review for me? Do they hold up to fat people? Have you had the mold issues with yours? Is it like sleeping in a real bed or does it feel like sleeping on a swimming pool floaty?
I've been on several at hotels I've stayed at. They're underwhelming, IMO. Kind of awkward feeling, too. I enjoy my knockoff walmart or target tempurpedic ped pad cushion. It's the best thing that has ever happened to my sleep.
I have never slept on one, they do have some pretty good marketing. My son (5 now) has been asking for one for more than year now. :happy102 I have a Seally Tempurpedic. It's got the memory foam top. I have had it for a little bit over 2 years now. Best bed Ive had. Careful with those mattress stores. They all wanna sell you a 3,500 dollar mattress. I would go to Costco. By the way its a firm bed, I get terrible back aches with a soft bed
I slept on one in a hotel. I thought it was the most comfortable bed I'd ever tried. Was seriously thinking of buying one. Turned out one of my wife's friends owns one - she said they are great at first but deteriorate pretty quickly to where you can feel the inner reinforcements/partitions poking through. It's really a pity - that's one of the few beds where I've been comfortable enough to sleep the whole night through.
I had one over a decade ago. I hated it. Not comfortable at all. I sent it back. After reading this thread, I think I am going to look into the memory foam topper. My sleep has really suffered for years. I would love for my sleep to be better. As for your question regarding these air mattresses holding up fat people...I think what the scientists have determined is that lack of sleep contributes to weight gain and sleeping better can help with weight loss. So, the mattress can hold up to a lot of weight...but...it still may not be comfortable. And if not comfortable, then you still can't sleep and then ...expect to gain weight. That bites, doesn't it?
Thanks all. I was considering this bed because of the fact that each person can choose the firmness/softness of their side of the bed. Being fat, I need a rather firm bed while the other half hates firm beds. Looks like we may need to splice 2 twin beds together. ha! I've read a few times that the Sleep Number beds have an issue with mold growing inside where the air chambers/pillows are because of moisture. Next time you're staying in a hotel room that has one of these beds, check it and see. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sleep+number+bed+mold
The wife and I just got a Simmons BeautyRest a year or two back....AMAZING bed everyone who sits on it just wants to lay down and sleep. I would recommend checking one out if you get the chance
My wife and I got one with the foam topper. It really is comfortable, but I find that I need different numbers depending if I am sleeping on my side or on my back. Kind of makes me stay in one position. That is really my only complaint. We haven't had any mold issues, and it maintains pressure great. We had it unplugged for almost two months at one point and when we plugged it back in everything was still as it should be. I haven't noticed the spacer in between the mattresses but our sleep numbers are fairly similar. We happened to get it half price when they were phasing out the i9.
My wife and I have a sleep number bed and we absolutely love it. My wife had trouble with her hips hurting and this is the only bed that she does not hurt in no matter how long she stays in it. For me it is the best night sleep that I have ever had. I highly recommend that you go the store and find out what your sleep number is by use of thier pressure pad. It will show you all of the pressure points for your body and the point at which you can eliminate them. That point is your sleep number. We would buy another without even thinking of it. Tried the foam mattress but it was very hot to sleep on. Will N.
Being a fat person also, I know what you are looking for. Regular matress's "breakdown" after only a couple years, not the 15 or 20 years they say you will get out of them even flipping them regularly. I have had my sleep number bed for about 10 years now and still would not give it up for anything. I have never had problems with mold. There is no "sloshing" like water beds have, it feels like a real bed. My 20 year warranty Simmons BeautyRest lasted about 2 years before it started showing signs of sagging in the middle. This Sleep Number still shows no sagging at all, after 10 years. Hope this helps.
I am a large man and have slept in a Sleep number bed many times and I own a TempurPedic Bed currently. I would swear by the TempurPedic bed more than the SleepNumber. That is just my 2 cents.
We bought a queen size sleep number bed about 6 years ago, and to this very day, every single night when we go to bed, one or the other of us says, "God I love this bed." We liked it so much, in fact, that when it came time to replace the mattress in our guest room we got another one. And, FWIW, every guest we have comments on how much they love it. Several have gone on to buy their own. We both have bad backs, but since getting this bed we virtually never wake up stiff or sore. It's been amazing in that way. I've read about the mold issue, but it hasn't happened to us and as far as I know it hasn't happened to anyone we know who has one. When our bed is made up, you can indeed see a slight rise in the center from the interior support between the two air chambers. I suppose how prominent this looks would depend on what number you inflate it to. FWIW, neither of us notices it when we are in bed. As someone else pointed out early in this thread, when it's "nooky time," it is more comfortable if you inflate both sides of the bed to the same level, although it is not absolutely necessary (or so we've found). Overall, I can't say enough good things about it. As far as I'm concerned, this is the only brand of bed we'll ever use. BTW, we have slept on memory foam beds a number of times, and find that they get really hot. I imagine because of how closely the foam conforms to your body, thereby trapping your body heat. I personally hate it, but I guess if you like for your bed to be extremely warm that would be a point in their favor.
As you can see opinions are all over the place. Believe it or not I watched a documentary type show on beds once. They were trying to figure out which is the "best" bed to buy. In the end it winds up being a very personal choice and different for everyone. As noted in this thread what works great for one person, stinks for another. I found this to be quite disheartening as it is no help at all when you are bed shopping. These things cost $2k and up which is a significant investment and if you're wrong you're screwed! For this reason it's extremely important to ensure whatever you buy has a full return policy in the first 30 days. As to the sleep number bed we slept on one for over a decade. It was great in the beginning and became less so over time. We had a mid-line Queen. I wish we'd have spent the money for the top of the line model as it may have changed my review. I originally bought one because my back was killing me in the morning. Once I found the right number the problem went away and I loved the bed. Over time though it didn't stand up. Those depressions you mentioned started to show up. There are two air chambers on each side that each of you sleeps on, and I experienced significant transfer of motion whenever the wife would move. It was very annoying. Plus as the bed degraded my back issues reappeared. Recently we went shopping for a King size and ended up buying a coil mattress w/ pillow top...Serta or Sealy, I don't remember which. I was very nervous but we spent the money for the top line model and so far it's very comfortable. My advise if you get the sleep number bed, spend the money and get the thick, expensive one. It costs around $5k so isn't for everybody.
We've had one for about 10 years now and it's worked well for us. Honestly I don't know why hotels use them because it took me several months to find my number, don't see how anyone can find it in one or two nights. Didn't know about the mold issue. The only problem is that we both seem to roll a little to the middle of the bed but usually that's a good thing.
Some mattress places are horrible. I walked in to one and the sales person was not pushy but he wanted me to buy the 5k bed. I looked at him like he was crazy, then they try to give you a bunch of crap to sweeten the deal. Just shop around and walk out if you don't like the deal. some people don't have the guts to do that and they end up signing stupid contracts. It happens all day long. Make sure you get that 30 or 90 day return policy.
Good points. And if the mattress store you're going to is in a mall or a shopping center, go there FIRST if it's not the only thing you're doing that day; another problem with bed shopping is that after walking around shopping all day, practically any half-decent bed is going to feel good when you lie down on it for a few minutes.. I should say that the model we have was, at the time we bought it, the next-to-top-of-the-line sleep number bed. The one we have in our guest room is the next-to-lowest model. I can attest that the difference is quite noticeable. Obviously the guest room doesn't get used on a daily basis, but I can easily imagine that that mattress wouldn't stand up as well as the one in our master bedroom has.
I appreciate everyone's feedback. I would think me weighing in at a gentle 375, 380 when I haven't shaved (ha!), I'd definitely have to go for one of the bigger, higher end models - which means $5K to $8K depending on which base you choose and I just don't think I want to spend that kind of coin on a bed that will cost me another grand to ship back if I don't like it. I had also considered one of the TempurPedic beds but had also heard about the heat issue. And being fat, I hate heat. In fact, the one place I really despise heat, is in my bed when I'm trying to sleep. I like it cold and my sheets cold when I'm trying to sleep. Thanks again for everyone's feedback. I do appreciate it.
