Mom is 92 and is complaining that she is uncomfortable in bed. A few years ago we had the mattress looked at as it was from Original Mattress Factory which is local. I believe it had a 10 year warranty and their previous mattress was also from there. While the company offered to take the mattress back to the factory and restuff compressed areas, the thought was to just flip it and see how she did; they were willing to pick it up if she wasn’t satisfied. As this was a firm mattress that my dad preferred, mom didn’t love it from the start, so was afraid if they added more to the inside, it would be too firm for her; she likes a softer bed. As dad is no longer with us, she is the only one in the bed.
Mom sleeps propped up, so most of the weight in from her hips and rear. She says no matter where she is in the bed, it seems she lands on a tufted area, with a button under her; think princess and the pea! This is a 110 lb. woman, so she isn’t compressing the mattress that much.
I am thinking of adding a memory foam topper or even a feather bed topper. I want to do whatever is easiest and cheapest for her. I would prefer to get whatever at Costco as delivery is quick and returns easy if she hates it. The only toppers at Costco right now are 3" and I am afraid it will make the bed too tall for her. If we go with a new mattress, I will have to take her to a store to try them out. While doable, if she hates the mattress and her old one has been carried away, we are in a bind.
Any suggestions on toppers, either feather, memory foam or something else? As long as I can return without packing it up and shipping it, I will look somewhere other than Costco.
@BunsenBurner Mom and I talked about an egg crate topper last night; I just worry about the princess and the pea syndrome, will she feel every groove?
I have also seen memory foam egg crate toppers instead of the ones the kids used in college. Wonder if these would hold up better, or longer. This is for a king bed.
What size bed does she have? We have a queen and have had this topper on our bed for years-- it’s great!
It arrives rolled up in a box, compressed. It returns to normal size quickly and can be used the same night.
ZINUS 2 Inch Green Tea Cooling Gel Memory Foam Mattress Topper
Kohls has a lot of toppers - we bought two different ones for our kid’s college dorm beds - not the egg crate kind but memory foam about 2 plus inches. They have held up well (they weigh a lot more than your Mom) under college kids (mis) use. Luckily they are generally on the cheaper side than a mattress and you can buy one and try it for a bit and if it does not fit the bill try another for a lot less money than a mattress and they are easier to either get rid of or recycle to use at your home than a mattress would be. We ended up getting my 88 year old FIL a hospital style bed that moves up and down and use a topper on that. However it is only a full size bed. Good luck.
We have a wool mattress topper. It is thin but makes a huge difference for me. Soft and thermo conducive so sleeps cooler. Like wearing an Ugg boot on a bare foot.
I got mine from Costco online but there are none at the moment. Macy sells one and so do Amazon, Company Store, etc.
My opinion is that for a lightweight person, a 1.5 inch memory foam topper will be great. 2 inches max. I’ve had a lot of experience with them. I dislike egg crate toppers. They feel cheap and unstable.
The thicker the topper, the worse, IMO. They are hard to move around in and a person with more limited mobility will feel swallowed up.
Get something breathable. Don’t get the cheapest thing going. Even smaller people don’t like feeling sweaty. If it’s good quality, 1.5 inches should be good.
We have down alternative mattress toppers on two beds here. They don’t have the same issues as the down/feather ones in terms of the stuffing moving around.
That being said…I think I would try a two inch memory foam topper. Everyone we know who has one loves it.
I hadn’t considered a wool topper, so will take a look at those.
I do think the 3" memory foam is too much; it was only because Costco has those that I looked at them. I think they may have thinner ones in store, so will check when there this week. I also want one with a cover, even though mom would put it under her mattress pad. She is very sensitive to smell, so I want a topper that does not have the odor many do, or at least once aired out, the smell will leave. Not sure where I would air it out in her place; might have to do it at home and then drag it to her apartment.
We have a feather bed topper on one of the guest beds, only because my daughter left it here when she moved to the UK. I hate making that bed as I feel the need to fluff it, while standing on the mattress to shake it down! This would not be a great choice for mom.
@snowball check toppers at Kohls and Target. We found they had the biggest number of choices.
Memory foam will not contour as well if placed under a mattress pad. It’s fine under a sheet, but not the thickness of a mattress pad. The memory foam works because of your body heat…and that doesn’t transfer well through a mattress pad to the memory foam topper.
I disagree about the thinner toppers. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE our 4" Allswell graphite memory foam toppers from Walmart. I hated these beds that my MIL had at her mountain house. They were like sleeping on bricks. Got those 4" toppers and we can all sleep again. I would not be happy with a 1 or 2 inch topper, but I am a side sleeper.
@snowball you need to also check the thickness of your mom’s mattress. If she already has an extra thick mattress…a 4 inch topper might make it hard to find fitted bottom sheets that actually have the depth you need.
We got something like this to “beef up” the very thin cheap mattress we got from Ikea for our guest bed. My daughter sleeps on it (she is very picky) and she likes it. It makes a big difference even though it is pretty thin (2 inches) (I don’t think somebody who is complaining about tufting will like an egg crate style one).
I forgot to mention that we cover this topper with our regular quilted mattress pad. That perhaps reduces the body-heat-response aspect of memory foam but I prefer that over just a sheet over the memory foam.
OP indicated that mom (92) might have some difficulty getting on and out of the bed that is 4 inches higher. Hence 2”’max. In our experience, a couple of inches do make a difference for someone not very mobile.
