Mattress Forum

We're looking for a new twin mattress, probably extra long, for my 86 year old mother to use on her adjustable bed.  She has had progressive spine problems for about 40 years, somewhat alleviated by the fact that she's always exercised to the extent she was able and by two back surgeries (most recent about ten years ago).  Her mobility has become increasingly limited, so a comfortable bed is increasingly important.

 

Often firm mattresses are recommended for back problems, but for her, they are miserable.  Last time we shopped for a mattress she was able to get to a large mattress store, tried many, and the only one she found comfortable seemed to me about as firm as jello.  She loved her jello mattress for a number of years, however.  But now she says her bed feels to her as if it has rocks in it. My efforts to locate the rocks have led me to conclude that perhaps her back, very sensitive to touch, is being irritated by places where the mattress has worn unevenly over the years at the points where her adjustable bed bends. So we're searching for a new mattress, without rocks. ;]

 

We normally rotate or flip (alternately) her mattress every time the sheets are changed and I think this has helped maintain it as comfortable for her, so we are really looking for a two sided mattress -- and, I believe, we probably want Talalay latex.

 

We live in rural Wyoming -- and those stores within a distance she can travel seem to have gone entirely with the single sided mattress lines, so we will probably order a mattress online, unless a local store suddenly acquires something suitable.
 
QUESTION 1:

 

We've been considering the OMI OrganicPedic Flora (100% natural rubber Talalay latex 3 inch firm core with two inches softer latex top and bottom enclosed in quilted wool/cotton -- rated medium firm) and also the Terra.  The Terra appears to be the Flora with a removable, 100% natural rubber latex, two sided, flat/contoured attachable/detachable 3 1/2 inch topper, also enclosed in quilted wool/cotton -- Terra firmness rated plush -- presumably because of the soft topper.

 

The Terra seemed a possiblity that would make enable us to change the firm/soft property and also the smooth/contoured surface property fairly easily, not only for initial comfort, but also because the sensitivity of different areas of her back varies from time to time.  Price is comparatively high, but both because she puts more mileage on her bed than most of us, and because comfort in bed is important to maintaining the limited mobility she still has, we'd be willing to spend that, if the mattress would be good for her. 

 

Does anyone have any experience with these OMI OrganicPedic mattresses?  It would be especially nice to know if they worked well on an adjustable bed, but reports of any kind of experience, even showroom tryout impressions, would be helpful.

 

QUESTION 2:

 

After several weeks of reading posts on this forum, the favorable reports of so many about their Flobeds caused us to consider that source.  Their 90 day layer exchange period is certainly a big plus for someone who is unable to try out mattresses being considered.  Some things I wondered about:

 

a) It does not appear to me that these mattresses are designed to be flippable -- is that correct?  I realize that one can open the mattress cover and shuffle layers, but that is surely more complicated that rotating/flipping a mattress -- and when you are accustomed to rotating/flipping frequently . . . I wonder if that would be a problem.

 

b) Has anyone used these on an adjustable bed?  I realize that separate latex layers tend not to slide over one another readily, but I wonder whether the frequent movements of an adjustable bed might cause them to get out of alignment, develop bumps where one layer bent more and the layer above bent less as the bed went up, etc.

 

c) If one wished to change firmness or to replace a damaged layer after the 90 period, does Flobeds sell layers individually?

 

QUESTION 3:

 

Does anyone have any mattress suggestions they think would be better for our situation than the Organipedic or Flobed possibilities mentioned?

 

QUESTION 4:

 

I realize the forum topic is mattresses, not adjustable beds, but some here do seem to know about them.  She currently has a twin extra long adjustable bed that works fairly well but I'd been wondering:

 

a) Does anyone know of a maker/model of adjustable bed that has substantial height adjustment capacity?  Her current bed has none, and all we've been able to find has about 12 inches of height adjustment in the middle height range. What I wish we could find is one that could go completely down to the floor and up to something a little above standard height.  She has had times where she fell or got down on the floor and it was *very* difficult to get her up -- not because she was injured but because it's hard to help her when one shouldn't put pressure on her arms, shoulders or back.  We've been kidding her about needing a monorail and harness like they used for Barbaro or some other type of "Momavator" that could elevate her from the floor, but we'd been thinking that if there was an adjustable bed that went really low, it might be a serious way to deal with such situations.  And the ability to raise the height to a little above standard would be useful if she had a bedfast episode, which we try to avoid but which has happened in the past.

 

b) Does anyone know of any reason it would be inappropriate to put larger wheels on her existing adjustable bed if they could be made to fit?  We currently have her bed's feet on contoured blocks (blocks that elevate the bed's four feet but don't allow them to roll off the blocks) because the tiny wheels on the bed's feet sink into the carpet and make dents and because we want the room to be Roomba-friendly so the bottom of the bed needs to be high enough for Roomba to clear.  Larger wheels might make it possible to eliminate the blocks, move the bed more easily, and keep Roomba happy.

 

Thanks for any thoughts,

JLJ