Mattress Forum

After doing some more research on here and store websites, I believe for my situation, ordering a bed from SleepEZ is probably the way to go.  I initially was thinking of the Natural Organic Latex 10000, queen-size, but after reading through a bunch of posts about stomach sleepers, was wondering if getting the 8500 might be a better option to keep that top layer as thin as possible?  But just over 7" of latex just seems kinda skinny to me (I realize this is probably just a mental hang up, esp after reading a bunch on here)...  But if I went with the 10000, would 2.8" for the "comfort layer" be too thick and cause me lower back pain?

A little history about myself: I'm a female; height: 5'3"; weight ~140lbs; body type is a "curvy pear" (big derriere, small waist, uh... nothing really significant on top... <cheesy grin>).  I've always preferred firmer mattresses in the past.  No real health concerns except sometimes my neck and upper back (initially hurt it ~15 yrs ago from one of my many falls off horses) can lock up when under a lot of stress... or spending too many hours hunched over a computer... researching mattresses... (haha jk), and my current, ancient mattress is killing my lower back.  Because I had to just deal with Ol' Crappy, I compromised and "taught" myself to sleep on my side, but rather than alleviating me of the lower back pain, all that seemed to accomplish was making my current shopping scenario that much more tricky, as I've read a stomach/side sleeper has to try to satisfy two extremes... 

So, I've always heard that "sleeping on your stomach is bad for your back" period, but is that just true if you don't have the correct mattress configuration?  My body always seems to want to sleep that way, and I usually end up in some sort of in-between side/stomach sleeping position with my bottom leg straight out and my top leg crossed over it bent, but I try to keep my bottom shoulder forward at least, or else my lower back will start hurting within a matter of minutes...  So I suppose part of my question is should I configure my bed for stomach sleeping, or really try to encourage the side sleeping instead?

I apologize for all the rambling!  To summarize, I was wondering if any of you had any thoughts on which might be better for my situation:

1) The SleepEZ 10000 with split sides (so I can play a little with the layers), but thinking of initial config top to bottom:

     Side 1: Med, Firm, Firm

     Side 2: Soft, Med, X-Firm

     Was leaning towards the 100% Natural Talalay, but I'm still open to the other options (Dunlop or Blended Talalay) for some or all of the layers (pretty sure I read somewhere you can mix?...)

2) The SleepEZ 8500, again with split sides, but thinking of initial config top to botton:

     Side 1: Soft (1.5"), Firm (2.8"-3"), Firm (2.8"-3")

     Side 2: Soft (1.5"), Firm (or Med for testing purposes) (2.8"-3"), X-Firm (2.8"-3")

     Same thoughts on latex choice as in option #1.

Oh yeah - I'm intending on putting the mattress on a Sultan Laxeby slatted bed base (10 of the slats are adjustable) from Ikea, that would just be plunked onto my current cheapy metal bed frame (really didn't want to spend any $$$ on a new frame at this point...  The bank account is squealing as it is!)

Thanks bunches to any and all for your input!!!  :)

Mary