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Our TP Bellafina split king matts finally arrived. (Two twin XL's) They make a much better visual match with the TP Ergo foundation we were using than the Vera Wang matts we returned. And, they feel great so far. Granted, we only laid on them for about twenty minutes. But, we are pretty happy.
However, the proof is in the sleeping, as they say. So, I'll report back after our first full night, and then again at a few intervals. This message was modified Jun 8, 2010 by garypen
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One Week Update: I'm still not 100% comfortable on this mattress. I'm still experimenting a bit. I've tried a few different pillows, as well as a 6-year-old or so 2" Novaform topper from Costco that I had been using on my spring matt. I have no idea what it's density is/was. The basic problems are: -I get pretty serious shoulder pain after a while when sleeping on my side. (This happened to a lesser extent on my spring matt, and almost not at all on the 50% latex VW matt.) -I get low-back pain when sleeping on my stomach. (This happened a bit worse on the old spring matt, but not at all on the VW.) -I get slight upper back pain when sleeping on my back. (Never got upper back pain from any mattress before.) I have found some workarounds. A contour neck pillow helps. I have found that my wife's TP King Medium neck pillow works well for me for back sleeping. But, it is too low for side sleeping (4"), and I get the shoulder pain mentioned above, although my head and neck feel great on it. I have an old Novaform neck pillow from Costco, which appears to be a good height to prevent the shoulder pain - hurray - but doesn't feel as nice as the MF in the TP. So, I think I will buy a Queen Large TP neck pillow. (I also got a TP Symphony free with the bed. That's 5". But, I don't care for the way it feels, in general. I don't know if it's a different foam than their neck pillows, or if it's just because of its different shape. I suppose I can try and sell it, or just save it for guests.) I just ordered a 1" soft latex topper from FBM, as the VW matt had 1" of latex quilted into the comfort top, which I found very comfortable. I'm thinking the topper may simulate that same cushy feel. I also ordered a 1" "super soft" poly topper, as well, just in case. It was only $16 more. The shipping would've cost $13, because the latex topper by itself didn't qualify for free shipping. So, I got the PU for only $3. If it helps, great. If not, I'll hang onto it for guests or something. If I can't get this matt right for me after a few more weeks, I may have to think about just swapping my half of the bed for the spongier Deluxe. How long do these TP's take to break-in, anyway??? (BTW, my wife loves it. No problem at all. I guess when one weighs 100lbs, and comes from a society where they sleep on the floor, the firmer the better!)
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| In my experience, lower back pain while lying on your stomach is almost always a sign of a too soft mattress. Your torso, being the heaviest part, sinks in too much putting a hyperextension arch in your lower back. Try slipping your hands under your hips when you are on your stomach. If your back feels better with your hands as support, then you know the mattress is too soft. I'm suspicious the VW gave you better support. |
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DianeK wrote: In my experience, lower back pain while lying on your stomach is almost always a sign of a too soft mattress. Your torso, being the heaviest part, sinks in too much putting a hyperextension arch in your lower back. Try slipping your hands under your hips when you are on your stomach. If your back feels better with your hands as support, then you know the mattress is too soft. I'm suspicious the VW gave you better support. It's quite possible that even though the top layer was softer, I may not have sunk in as much with the latex of the VW as with the TP's memory foam. It certainly seems like I am sinking in deeper with the TP, even though it feels harder than the VW. I felt the VW was much cushier, but I also didn't feel like I sunk into it as deeply. Kinda weird. |
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garypen wrote: It's quite possible that even though the top layer was softer, I may not have sunk in as much with the latex of the VW as with the TP's memory foam. It certainly seems like I am sinking in deeper with the TP, even though it feels harder than the VW. I felt the VW was much cushier, but I also didn't feel like I sunk into it as deeply. Kinda weird. Interesting. I know my initial reaction after two night's on my DIY latex mattress is that it feels soft. Yet it seems supportive, too. And that is hard to explain or put into words exactly! |
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pianoman wrote:
Interesting. I know my initial reaction after two night's on my DIY latex mattress is that it feels soft. Yet it seems supportive, too. And that is hard to explain or put into words exactly! I'm going to try and duplicate that somewhat by adding the 1" soft latex topper to the TP to approximate the feeling of the 1" of latex quilted into the VW's comfort top. (BTW, Volkswagen doesn't make mattresses, in case anybody was wondering. I've been using VW to abbreviate Vera Wang.) |
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BTW, Pianoman, how long after you placed your order with FBM did they ship it? I ordered the 1" latex topper on Sunday, and they still haven't shipped it as of Wednesday. You'd think it wouldn't take that long to pull 39" of latex from the roll, cut it, and put it in a box. |
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garypen wrote: BTW, Pianoman, how long after you placed your order with FBM did they ship it? I ordered the 1" latex topper on Sunday, and they still haven't shipped it as of Wednesday. You'd think it wouldn't take that long to pull 39" of latex from the roll, cut it, and put it in a box. Ordered at 8:07 on a Friday morning, they shipped the next business day, which was the Tuesday after Memorial Day. But I remember someone else saying it sometimes takes them 3-4 days to ship an order. Don't know why. |
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UPDATE: Ten Nights In.
The mattress has definitely broken in a bit now. I am hoping for a bit more. But, if not, I have that 1" topper coming which might put it over the comfort edge for me. OTOH, if it does break in a little more, I won't need it. But, I did enjoy the feeling of the cushy 1" of latex quilted into the top of the VW. If it's not needed or doesn't work, my dog will have herself a cushy new bed. Stomach sleeping - No more lower back pain. I'm pretty comfortable, especially when using a down pillow. Side sleeping - Still some bottom shoulder pain and arm numbness. But, much improved. I alternate between a 5in cheap MF neck pillow, and a dense down pillow puffed up good under my neck. Back sleeping - I don't sleep on my back much. But, I do lie in bed on my back, reading, computing, watching TV, etc. I was getting some uppoer back pain in the beginning. But, that has gone now. Neck Pain - I do have some neck pain, which I blame on my pillow situation. As I mentioned in my pillow thread, I enjoy the feeling of my wife's TP medium neck pillow. But, at 4", it appears to be a scoshe too shallow. The 5" cheap mf pillow I had in the closet seems a scoshe too high. So, 4.5" seems like the magic number. Plus, the cheap mf feels more like regular PU foam than true mf. If none of the latex pillows I've ordered work (the first was was a colosal fail), and I can't get a decent price on the TP Queen Large, I see that RMM has a 4.5 Sensus neck pillow in king-size for $79 shipped. I think that once I find the right pillow, I will be pretty happy with the bed. The TP Ergo base is awesome, btw, especially in the Split King config. This message was modified Jun 17, 2010 by garypen
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garypen wrote: UPDATE: Ten Nights In. The mattress has definitely broken in a bit now. I am hoping for a bit more. But, if not, I have that 1" topper coming which might put it over the comfort edge for me. OTOH, if it does break in a little more, I won't need it. But, I did enjoy the feeling of the cushy 1" of latex quilted into the top of the VW. If it's not needed or doesn't work, my dog will have herself a cushy new bed. I'll be curious to see what you think of the Bellafina in two to four weeks. |
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Update: Two Weeks In
It actually feels pretty good. It's softened up quite a bit. But, I would still consider it "firm". It's just a good firm now, not a bad firm anymore. I don't think it's me psychologically getting used to it. It is definitely breaking in, and loosening up, like a new pair of shoes. If they didn't already ship the 1" soft latex topper from FBM, I would probably cancel the order. But, I'm definitely gonna try it, as I did like the cushy top layer on the VW, as I've mentioned before. The nice thing about the Bellafina is that it doesn't have as much of that sinking, sleeping-in-sand feeling of the other TP's and generic MF mattresses. But, it still has the support and pressure relief of MF, which is nice. Overall, I'm happy now with this purchase. I was definitely worried those first few days, though! It seems that TP's definitely have a breaking in period. BTW, I'm still having occasional low back pain when sleeping on my stomach. But, I believe I've discovered the cause: I have an Ergo adjustable base. And, I occasionally sleep with the head end raised slightly on occasions when I'm experiencing heartburn. When the head-end is raised, and I'm on my stomach, my lower back is arched a little more than if the bed was flat. In that specific situation, I do wake with a touch of low back pain. But, when it is flat, I do not have that problem. This message was modified Jun 22, 2010 by garypen
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