Getting a good night’s sleep is so important. I went through a few years of not sleeping well, sometime around the time I moved to Birmingham, my sleep patterns began to change. I blamed a lot of it on menopause and I’m sure that was a big part of it, but looking back, a marriage filled with anxiety didn’t help either. Anxiety can make you stay awake at night and losing sleep night after night for several years in a row will take a toll on your body. I tried lots of things to sleep and some of them worked temporarily, but now, after moving back to Georgia and getting my life back in order, I’m sleeping more soundly than I have in years.
Having a good mattress and boxsprings is also a wonderful prelude to sleeping well. I have some back problems too and sleeping on a good mattress helps that considerably too. So, getting a good night’s sleep is so important to our health and well-being, as we all know. I love to sleep through the night with minimal waking up, don’t you?
We had a Beautyrest pillowtop mattress over there and it slept very well, but it’s going on 8 years old. Imagine my surprise and glee when I got an email from the folks at Sleep Number, asking me if I’d like to try one of their beds at my house. To keep for my very own. Yes, yes I would! I had a choice of 2 different mattress sets and I went to the store to check them out in person. I had heard all about Sleep Number and how you can adjust each side’s firmness with a remote control, but really didn’t know much more than that.
Going to the store and checking them out in person was a fun experience and I learned a lot about Sleep Number beds and how they are put together.
My local store is in the mall close to my house.
I went in and met with a very nice associate who showed me the Sleep Number ropes. There were 2 beds for me to consider, this one is the pillowtop version, the p5.
And this one is the memory foam version, the m7. This is the one I ended up choosing. I thought memory foam might be too squishy, but it was really nice when I laid down and moved the numbers down. I like a mattress that is not too firm, one that gives a little. Too firm a mattress is not comfortable to me and I really liked how the memory foam gives with movement. So, after the decision was made, they placed the order and had the Sleep Number m7 sent to my house, along with 2 delivery guys who set it up for me.
They unloaded all the boxes from the truck and brought it all up to my bedroom. I had removed the old mattress and boxsprings and will be passing those on to my niece, Lauren. They just bought a house!
My sleigh bed was ready for the new mattress.
I had a surge protector ready for them to plug into, since this bed requires power. That’s what pumps up each side, air power and hoses. It was fascinating to watch the process of putting this bed together.
They added the plastic base of the set on top of my slats.
Then these 4 plastic pieces snapped into place on top.
That gets a cover.
I’m watching all of this, snapping pics as they go. These guys really knew what they were doing.
Those long pieces of foam are packed into the next cover.
One on all four sides.
The cover is pulled up.
Then more foam goes underneath on the bottom.
Next, the actual mattress with air goes into each side of this king set.
A piece of foam goes in the middle and they are all zipped together.
Every piece of this gets zipped into place, all nice and snug.
Those air filled mattresses then sit down inside the top piece.
All of that gets a cover too.
Next comes the 7” memory foam that goes on top.
It is placed on top.
Then the last cover is zipped into place, creating a nice cushioned top that looks like one piece now. I was amazed at all that goes into one of these mattresses and how it is all set up.
I made my bed back up and the sheets actually did fit fine. This mattress is probably a good 3 to 4” taller than my old one, but my sheets still fit and my coverlet is just a tad short now, but I think it will be fine. I brought the left side up just a bit so that I could hang the right side down a little longer. I almost have to vault into bed now! Not really, it’s not that bad. A little hop up and I can stretch out and relax on my new Sleep Number m7 bed.
I played with the numbers in the store and came up with under 50. Right now, mine is set at 40 on both sides. I just like it a little softer with more give than a really hard mattress, so I’m sure my number will stay down lower most of the time. But, that’s the beauty of the Sleep Number. When you have a partner on the other side, you can both find your own comfort level so everyone can snooze away in perfect peace.
And that’s what it’s all about. Getting a good night’s sleep. I do have to say that I really am loving my new bed. It’s very comfy and feels very good under my back and hips. Sometimes my hips ache a bit when I’m on my side, but I don’t think I’ll have a problem with this bed. I love the feel of the memory foam. It’s sort of squishy, but supportive too.
After having it for about 3 weeks now, I’ve been sleeping like a baby and getting plenty of rest is such an awesome thing. I know that I’ll enjoy this bed for years to come and I’m very grateful to have it.
How about you? What kind of bed do you have and do you like it? Have you ever tried a Sleep Number?
Disclosure: I was given a Sleep Number m7 bed from Sleep Number and I agreed to do a post and review on my experience with my new Sleep Number bed. I wasn’t compensated with payment, nor was I told what to say. All opinions are completely my own.
We had a sleep number bed for the first two years of our marriage and despised it. We had saved up so that we could start our new life together with a new bed and bought into all of the hype. Have you ever slept on an air mattress? At it’s core, that’s all a sleep number bed is. It is a glorified air mattress inside a pretty casing. We bought the dual chamber model so that my wife and I could each have our own firmness. We woke up every morning with back pain after getting ours. We tried adding memory foam topper but that didn’t help. The bed would change numbers (firmness) randomly throughout the night on its own. We tried to return it under their guarantee but were informed that if we read the fine print, we’d realize that the return shipping was at our cost (that may have changed more recently, this was in 2007) and that it had to be packaged in the original packaging which the deliver guys, of course, had disposed of (as if we had some place to store mattress size boxes in our apartment at the time). Similar to one of the other posters, as an alternative they offered to sell us a new pump at half price which was still $280 (half price) or so in 2007. We chalked this purchase up to one really costly mistake and have learned from it. We have it in our guest room now until we can afford to buy a better guest bed and have placed our $50 double thick Coleman air mattress from Walmart on the SleepNumber foundation and sadly, even it is more comfortable than the sleep number mattress was. In our room we have a memory foam mattress and LOVE LOVE LOVE it! No more back pain, dependable, reliable comfort every night. True, if you are heavy they do imprint and develop “valleys” over time (don’t believe them when they tell you they won’t) but I’d still rather buy a new one of those every six or seven years (you should replace your mattress every seven years anyway) than wake up every morning with back pain. Think long and hard before purchasing a Sleep Number. If you know someone who has one, visit them for the weekend and sleep on theirs first….they’re definitely not for everyone.
I am the constant skeptic, I would guess the sellers found someone with a great writing skill and a Pollyanna attitude. The “free” bed probably raked them in hundreds of thousands of dollars, and with the ‘guarantee’ (save the box, read the fine print..etc) they made out like bandits. A memory foam that doesn’t make the ‘power up’ noise every time you want to check out a new number, is a way safer bet. Now will somebody see how much money the company made from start to finish of this campaign. The employee that got them their millions got a huge bonus, don’t you think?
Here here! I agree 150% – I tell people all the time – do NOT waste their money on a Sleep Number bed – they are NOT worth it and they are absolutely nothing special. In fact, both my husband and I also despise the thing. I am sticking it out for a while so I at least can feel like I got my money’s worth – well, not really since we got the most expensive one – lol. Live and learn!
I bought the most expensive sleep number bed several years ago. It has a pillow top, but memory foam was not offered at that time.
I could never quite find my sleep number and found that my back hurt every morning and after a short while the imprint of our bodies stayed on the mattress. I called Select Comfort and was told it was supposed to be that way.
I did have to buy sheets and they were very expensive. When the bed started losing air we had to have a part replaced. Can’t remember if it was the pump, but I think so. It cost almost as much as the bed to replace.
I, too, have a sleigh bed and find it difficult for one person to make and even with my husband helping it is very difficult due to the weight of the mattresses.
I ended up buying a Tempurpedic bed and have had none of these problems. I can make that bed easily on my queen size sleigh bed because I can raise the top or the bottom and get the sheets and blankets tucked in easily. I just changed the linens on that bed Wednesday.
So, two sleigh beds, one king and one queen and I prefer the queen because it always looks like a new bed and does not show the imprint of my body on it.
Maybe the new memory foam does that for the sleep number bed too, but right now I wouldn’t trade my Temperpedic bed for a million dollars.
I have the memory foam on my King Sleep Number bed – and it is horrible. I can’t wait to get rid of this number thing.
I’m not sure where all of these comments are coming from 2 mos. after my review of this mattress, but I have a feeling someone is sending you all over to made bad comments about Sleep Number. And that is fine, we are all entitled to our own opinions. I happen to really enjoy my Sleep Number bed so far, can’t wait to see how it will be in a year or two because I’ve only had it about 3 months. I’m sorry so many of you have not have good experiences with Sleep Number, so far so good for me.
Hi, Rhoda,
Greetings from Savannah!
A link to your website just appeared today at the bottom of a CNN Health page. It was listed as ‘from the internet’.
While I am considering a new Mattress top, I found your blog helpful because it shows both sides of the equation. And, it is better to do the research, before, rather than after, purchasing a new set.
Regardless of whether someone agrees with the Mattress type, the discussion, in general, has been great.
Thanks for offering to share your thoughts. Now, I want to read the rest of your blog, especially about the DIY things. After all, there is much more to your Blog, besides beds!
Thanks, Sue, for telling me that. I had no idea where all these new comments were coming from, so that makes sense. My review is just one person’s experience and opinion, so everyone has to make up their own mind.
The link just showed up on my Fownews.com
I love mine too, 7 years and adore it. Great read, thank you?
I have one (the most expensive model offered) and two other family members purchased Sleep Number Beds – and we all hate them. I have gone up and down, up and down, every number imaginable, and I just can’t stand it. My husband also doesn’t like it and have heard the same complaints from many others. I personally would not invest the money into these mattresses – they are absolutely nothing special. You can get a great quality mattress at half the price and with more comfort – trust me.
I think the sleep number sounds like the way to go and especially like the combenation of memory foam on top of the air…….but really, I don’t see how you can say you weren’t compensated…….you received a bed worth thousands dollars…..that’s quite a bit of non-cash compensation
OK, Mary, I was compensated with a free bed. Is that better?
I tried a sleep number bed and was not impressed. I think the whole thing is mostly about fancy marketing rather than a true quality product. It’s a fairly cheaply made product that has to be expensive to cover that huge marketing and advertizing budget. It will be looked back on as being as gimmicky as the waterbed was. I’m mystified how the author thinks she will not be perceived as biased when she is given a free bed worth thousands.
Yes, I’m sure that might be the perception, but I was not told what to write or how to write it in any way. I simply put my experience out there.
I am 6’4″ and 365 lbs. I’ve gained a hundred and fifty lbs due to breaking my neck and spending three years between bed and a wheelchair. Most people think that when you lose the ability to use your legs that you have no feeling in them but that could not be further from the truth. You , in fact, have 24 hour a day constant burning in your legs and especially the bottom of your feet. I finally in desperation bought a sleep comfort bed to try to reduce the level of pain and it has been a Godsend. I us a setting of 30 which their measurement device showed as a setting with the least pressure of my entire body. After 6 months I am feeling so much improvement I am able to ride on my Airdyne and have lost 26 lbs. Maybe in a year I will lose enough to improve my overall health. These beds have a thirty day return policy here in Texas so there is nothing to lose if it will not work for you. Good luck to you!!
Bought mine in 1995, Love it. Before I couldn’t sleep, turned constantly. back hurt so bad to get out of bed I had to roll out onto the floor. When I got my select comfort – before the # – I put it on ‘cushy’, wow this is so soft, feels great ~ wrong, I was stiff & sore because of a too soft bed. I finally upped it to as hard as it would go. If people have a problem, I think they don’t have it firm enough, because soft feels good to the touch & they don’t even try it firm. The people that have to roll over the hump, tells me it’s way to soft. 18 years, no problem, back is best in years. Bob
I’ve had a sleep number bed for over 20 years. They weren’t even called “sleep number” back then, just Select Comfort. Truly, I couldn’t survive without my bed. I have a bad back with blown discs that like to act up. It’s the only bed that’s ever given me any relief. I’d also comment that it’s just as good now as when I purchased it and the only thing that’s ever been replaced was the remote and that was under warranty.
We’ve been sleeping on different kind of beds the last 40+ years. We 1st tried a memory foam cover on our regular mattress and we liked so much the sleeping experience.
In 2005 as a retirement gift for ourselves, we promoted ourselves to Tempurpedics’ 12″ top of the line, and today my wife and I are still sleeping happily ever after on our bed.
BTW, besides diabetes, I have pain 24/7 and 2 surgeries due to OPLL (spinal cord compression). At least the bed helped my otherwise nightmarish condition manageable and am grateful that memory foam came along.
Thanks but we won’t try Sleep Number bec. we already found our one, true bed.
9 years v. your 3 months and the worrisome negative reviews? Good luck, young lady.
Initially it may feel good to have your bed bec. you’re not encumbered sleepless with monthly payments to make…just saying…
To answer your question (where are these comments coming from?) this one is from Sacramento, CA. 🙂
I had one. It’s an air mattress.
I have had 3 spinal surgeries and suffer from severe back problems. The sleep number bed is the only bed that doesn’t cause me pain.
Ours was given to us by a friend, she no longer needed it, It was already about 5 years old at that time. (she even brought it over and set it up LOL)
We did discover some mold inside the mattress and called sleep number and they replaced those parts no charge, no questions asked, even though we were not the original owners.
We have had it for about 5 years now and it is still amazing. I am the cheapest person there is but when it comes time to buy the next mattress it will be a sleep number.
I will say the only negative about this bed i have found is sex…
I keep my side at 35 and my husband keeps his about 60. We have to inflate it before proceeding with anything intimate as it makes it too difficult if the mattress is too soft 😉
Never slept on one so my comments are general in nature. Half the world sleeps on straw on the floor because that’s all they have. And we in the U.S. spent half of a new car for a mattress. Sad in so many ways. But for those with money to burn, go at it. I’m 6’3, 250 lbs and I sleep on a $298 mattress and box spring set I bought at a discount furniture store. I sleep fine. I sleep to survive, not for some type of exotic experience on a $5,000 bed. On the other hand, although I am 46 years-old, I thankfully don’t have any severe back problems so I can’t fault those who do for needing more than I need to rest. Interesting article and comment though.
I have never seen these set up before. As it turns out, they are just like a soft side waterbed (same foam form sides, same base, same bladder compartment, and same zip cover.)
I always liked my soft side waterbed, it just is not the 80’s anymore, so I gave it up. It is neat that someone used the same technology and filled it with air.
Bet they are almost as comfortable as those old soft sides, and a whole lot easier to set up.
I’ve been sleeping on a waterbed for about 40 years. Had to replace the mattress just once, for a cost of about $50. A waterbed is heated in the winter and cool in the summer. If you want to move it, you simply drain the mattress and fold it up. Compare that to a conventional mattress and box springs.
It’s amazing to me that conventional mattresses cost so much when really you’re just using the top three inches or so in terms of deflection.
I’ve tried Sleep Number. It is sleeping on a fancy air mattress. I couldn’t find my number at all. It was very uncomfortable. Very loud when making it firmer. It was not a good experience. Its ironic, I have a Beauty Rest Pillow Top mattress that I adore! Its the most comfortable mattress ever and I sleep very well now. Guess it all depends on your body and what you like.
My husband bought a Sleep Number bed for me about 5 years ago to help with pain from my severe scoliosis. It works fairly well because I can adjust the firmness to my changing needs, but I have not been impressed with the customer service. Once you pass the warranty period, you can be assured that you will need to pay upwards of $400 for a new pump or mattress cover (which cannot be cleaned if you stain it somehow), or $200 plus for new high density foam sidewalls. At some point one must consider the absurdity of paying so much to replace parts that are certainly marked up at least 300%. If you do buy one, just don’t be afraid to scour ebay for replacement or upgrade parts — unless you really enjoy being taken for a ride after investing thousands of dollars into an air mattress with a pillowtop, a plastic box, and an automatic air pump with a PSI sensor.
this is bogus. i clicked the link thinking it was a genuine article about research into pillow top mattresses and lo and behold it turns out to be a print-infomercial for sleep number beds. so its a scam, they get you to click, then you read a review that is “honest” – yea, as honest as anyone can be after getting a free bed worth thousands of dollars. Lets see how long this stays up.
I, too, had been in search for the perfect sleep for years. I had a fall on the ice durin the winter and bruised both of my hips. Agony, I tell you. I wa sure if we bought a new bed that it would be better on my hips. We thought about Sleep Number Bed, but I was afraid that the memory foam would make it too hot for sleep. We had a queen size platform bed from This End Up for many years. Their special platform mattress was awesome. It didn’t require a box spring due to the way it was made. We moved that bed into my son’s room who began sleeping like a baby. Me? Not so much. We bought a king sized bed set from the Matress Factory Warehouse. It was a beautiful pillow top mattress, but it was too hard. I put a foam topper on top of it. No relief. I put a pillow top on top of the foam topper. It was very poofy and soft, but…no relief. Sleep Number kept popping into my head, but I couldn’t spend the money on another bed that wouldn’t work for me. I was still leary of the memory foam making me hot. After much thought…we bought a king sized soft sided water bed. Bingo. Heaven. It is really set up just like the Sleep Number bed, but filled with water. Two bladders, two heat controllers and adjustable by water. It’s perfectly comfortable on the whole hip thing (it turned into bursitis by the way) plus it was heated to my liking which offered major comfort. No more sleepless nights.
I’m with you on this Rhoda. I have a friend who sells beds for Sleep Number and they are incredibly popular beds. He sells an almost unbelievable number of these beds every month at the mall. Although they may not be for everyone (he does get some returns), the vast majority of his customers love their bed and many come back to buy additional beds for their home. I believe the steel spring mattress companies are feeling a huge loss in sales and have a negative publicity campaign going. He let us “sleep over” to test out the Sleep Number bed in his guest room and we were sold. We have had our Sleep Number for about 2 months and it is the best bed to sleep on I have ever owned and I’m pushing 50 years old. The combination of an adjustable air mattress with the memory foam top is ideal. I’m a side sleeper and my arm would always fall asleep at night…totally not a problem any more. My wife loves it too. Some nights she likes to sleep on her side and sets the bed softer, while other nights she sets it firmer to sleep on her back. I’ll debunk some comments made here on your blog, the pump only runs when you adjust the bed and it’s just momentary and not loud at all. Take a look inside a regular mattress, just metal springs covered with a foam pad and material, but yet they run $3000 to $4000 for a “quality” bed. People say Sleep Number is a cheap air mattress. I think the steel spring mattress is a rip off. You cannot change the the firmness and they start to develop a sag quickly at your presssure points. And once the spring mattress starts to sag too much you need to replace the entire bed, not to mention you sleepmon a sagging bed for half the time you own it. For us, after 6 years…a $3000 spring mattress down the toilet, not to mention not very environmentally sound. With a SN just replace the memory foam top if you ever need to and you are back to a brand new bed for much less cost and waste. I put our bed together myssef and I think it would be much easier to move. Try moving a Cal King mattress some time! The only complaint I have is the the bed did give off a “chemical” smell for the first few weeks, but after some research this is common to all memory foam products. I think you gave a very honest review and I ask people to beware the naysayers. All innovations have to face the rath of the established community. The established PC community had nothing but bad things to say about Apple and the iPad. Now they are all scrambling to get tablets of there own…maybe the early negative reviews were wolves in sheep clothing?
Save yourself the heartache of tossing your mattress after a few years and just buy a Tempurpedic. I have a genetic condition that causes my joints to frequently dislocate and sublux very frequently, buying a Tempurpedic mattress is one of the BEST things I have EVER done for lowering my pain level. I totally agree that Sleep Number beds are glorified air mattresses, if you want one of those, save some $$$$ and go buy an Aerobed.