|
My mother is my role model and God has so chosen to let her stay around for a long time. She needs a better mattress to sleep on. I want to get the best, not necessairly the most expensive, mattress that will meet her specific needs. She is not very mobile, lives in Assisted Living facility. She is currently sleeping on a rented hospital bed that has one of those 'bars' that she can pull herself up with. But she says she needs more room and the bed is hard to get in and out. A lower bed but not one just off the floor. She is about 5 ft 2 but about 200+ pounds and a bit stooped over. I am one who is easy to get along with, "except" my mother's needs. What do I mean? Buying a new mattress/bed is good example. I refuse and will not consider changing my position, I refuse to randomly select some mattress company/store, go to the store and listen to some sales person try to get me to pay him or her for being pleasant and wearing a mask like they know something about mattresses. I don't believe 95% of those selling beds and mattresses know anything about what they are selling. My mother's sleep and health is worth far too much to listen to some idiot sales person try to persuade me they know anything because they don't. Otherwise I am a person who can get along with anyone:) I live in Houston, TX and my mother in League City. How do I find someone who is a proven certified expert who has years of experience and had training with the best of the mattress companies and has been in the business at least 20 years? I sent an email to Sealy asking for help and never heard from them. Thanks for your time and possible suggestions you may have. |
| My mother-in-law is a frail but feisty 78 and we bought her a new mattress about two years ago. It was not cheap but it has the same stuff used for preventing bed sores. She loves it and sleeps like a baby she says, well worth it for us. We got it at www.gelbeds.ca, they have a system there for getting the right mattress. This is in Canada, not sure where to get it in Texas but check it out. |
|
First of all, congratulations on having such a relatively healthy mother. I also agree with your assessment of most retail mattress sellers. We just recently purchased a latex foam mattress for my handicapped wife (who is a spritely 65 yrs young). She has Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and has been dealing with it since she was 11. Give you some perspective, the first dr who treated her did so by spraying WD40 on her joints, that is how old we are! That said, trying to buy a bed that SHE can be comfortable in (I can be comfortable on just about anything) has proven very difficult. We went to local retail outlets, and found that MOST of the idiots we talked to did not even know what their mattresses were made out of much less what would be good for my wife. We then went on line and looked at latex mattresses, and most on line retailers really tried (they knew their product but not my wife). That which we ended up buying was by their standard so soft it might be too soft for me. We paid an extra $300 to make it even softer by incorporating an extra layer of foam into the mattress cover itself. The first time she climbed into it, she almost had to go to the guest bedroom, since the latex did not give her the extra support for shoulders, heels, arms, etc. We immediately bought a cheap mattress pad to see if a layer of poly fill would take us in the right direction, which it did. We then decided that the overall support of the latex was a wonderful plus and that in purchasing a real Mattress topper with shredded foam latex would give her the support she needs. we also are thinking that buying an adjustable frame may prove valuable for her. All this history is merely to suggest that there are a lot of variables to consider. Does your mom like firm/soft? I have a dr my wife goes to who SWEARS by the "sleep number" bed. He says the newer ones with a layer of soft, has really made a difference in their sleep. I personally enjoy our latex bed, and though it is new (we have had it less than 3 months) but am comfortable and believe it will not form the body indentions that our traditional bed did. I would suggest you identify WHAT features that will make your mother most comfortable and go from there. You MAY have to judge the mattress based on YOUR knowledge of her needs and go for it. Be sure you understand what the return policy is. I know that the latex mattresses generally have a longer trial period, since most cities don't have them available to try out, so you really are purchasing sight unseen. They realize to get you to buy them, you have to be able to return them. Be careful however because some mfg'ers have either more or less stringent return policies and whereas they may ship it to you for free, if you return it, they usually deduct the shipping charges both ways from the purchase price. Also, frequently, foundations are non-returnable. We paid $600 for a king sized slat foundation, and if we were to abandon the latex bed, they'll take back the mattress, but not the foundation. In our case, we are considering an adjustable bed ($2500 for just the king adjustable foundation). They DID agree to take back the slat foundation minus shipping, but I know if the adjustable bed doesn't work for us, it either goes into the guest bedroom, or ebay. Finally adjustable beds start off a little taller than what you can get in a slat foundation. So make sure the overall height is low enough for your mom to be able to get into/outof comfortably. All in all, it is still a good opportunity to get a good bed, and since you are uncompromising on meeting her needs, you just go into it knowing that it will cost a bit if you guess wrong. Sorry for the string of consciousness, but I have just recently gone through the same types of issues in trying to get my wife comfortable. |