Mattress Forum

With the 8500 ... you only have 1.5" of soft latex over a firm and extra firm layer. This top layer is probably not thick enough and you are likely experiencing pressure problems (not enough softness on top for side sleeping and going through to the firm layer) and alignment problems (incorrect alignment because the firm layer underneath may not be allowing you to sink in enough). If you are using the same pillow as you were, then this could be aggravated because your shoulders would be higher with the sleepez (not sinking in enough) and then your head and neck could be crooked as well.

As Sal mentioned, a thick wool layer could make this worse as wool will allow you to sink in even less to the 1.5" layer on top as it compresses.

It seems to me that your top soft layer is not thick enough (generally 1.5" of soft is not enough for side sleeping). You could fix this in two ways. Either using a medium layer which would act like a little thicker soft upper layer (the top part of the medium layer would be soft) but the danger here is that a medium layer may not be "supportive" enough. This is what is usually called "progressive layering".

The second solution would be to add a soft topper (1-2") to the mattress and have a thicker layer of soft on top of firm (similar to your beautyrest). This is what could be called a "differential" approach and provides softness on top for side sleeping but keeps the hips in alignment as the firmer second layer stops the "sinking down" which can cause alignment issues. This could also be helpful as your wife becomes "bigger" in the middle. In effect you would be changing your 8500 into a 10000.

I am thinking that the Sleepez 10000 may have been a better choice as it has a full 3" upper layer rather than only 1.5". 1.5" over firm is really not enough for side sleeping for most people.

While there can certainly be an adjustment period with any new mattress ... particularly latex as it may "push back" in parts that were previously "unsupported" ... I don't think this is what is happening here. Perhaps Shawn would allow you to exchange the 8500 for the 10000 (return the 1.5" layer and have him send you a 3" layer and a new matress cover to accomodate the thicker latex layers) as this may be less expensive than buying a new topper.

The 8500 also has a wool layer already and adding another thick one would give you two wool layers on top of the latex which may be "problematic". Wool does not form a "cradle" as it is not as resilient or "point elastic" as foam. If you do use a wool layer on top of a mattress that already has one, I would make it as thin and flexible as possible (the dormier would be a good choice here) and I would probably tend towards a thin flexible cotton mattress pad without any wool at all.

Phoenix

Phoenix

In your case, using a soft topper would be a "progressive" approach in the comfort layers (soft over medium comfort layers) which would tend to allow for a slightly thicker topper than a "differential" approach (the bottom part of your comfort layer would be firmer and play a sort of "dual role"). This is why a 2" soft topper may work well. Your "overall" mattress construction (softer over firmer and more of a differential between comfort and support layers) would be a more "differential" approach. In other words you would be using parts of both. Putting 3" of soft over firm and extra firm or even over xfirm and xfirm would be a more "pure" differential approach.

3" soft over firm would be more like the mattress you have but would probably be an improvement since you would be less likely to "go through" the comfort layers and feel the firm layers underneath. It could feel both softer and more supportive. The only issue here is what different places call soft. At sleepez, soft is 22-24 which is certainly not the softest talalay latex available and to some people would be bordering on medium in feel. There is such a wide range of ILD available in latex that different places sometimes label the same ILD's in different ways depending on what they have available. In other words their labels are relative to what else they have. This is compounded by the fact that a layer of latex is not exactly the same ILD in every place in the layer and is made "to a range" rather than "exact". Talalay is usually more specific than Dunlop.

Since SLAB sells all the different firmnesses of Talalay made by Latex International, I believe their "labeling" is among the most accurate. If you go here and click on the ILD scale image under the pictures, you will see that they only have "labels" for the very bottom (14-19 ILD which they call super soft) and the very top (40-44 ILD) which they call extra firm. They let everyone else figure out what they would call the ILD's in between (and even have a range at each end) which I think is wise. While 44 is the firmest LI makes in Talalay, there are firmer latexes than this available in Dunlop.

If I was forced to "label" talalay, I would call 14-18 super soft, 19-23 soft, 24-28 medium, 29-33 medium/firm, 34-38 firm, and 39-44 extra firm ... and I would probably get lots of "argument" (laughing).

Phoenix

I would also think that this would help your wife as she progressed as she will likely become more sensitive as the pregnancy progresses and at the same time will need the underlying support to keep her "middle" from sinking in too far. Even in normal circumstances, with side sleeping and with the nature of latex, 30-32 would be "on the firm side" although as I've mentioned field testing will be a more accurate indicator and YMMV.

I do have a fairly large list of latex mattress manufacturers and some retail outlets so if you let me know what city you are in I may have some suggestions that may help in field testing.

Phoenix