Mattress Buying Tips from Local Experts

With so many brands, support systems, comfort levels and styles, mattress shopping can be overwhelming. Brent Spaulding, owner of The Sleep Center in Gainesville, is a co-author of The Mattress Professor, a consumer education guide to buying mattresses. Here are the key tips we share every day.

It's all about comfort and support

The most important things to consider are comfort and support. You want the right balance of both for your body.

Support holds your body weight evenly over time and keeps your back aligned. A supportive mattress gives balanced resistance that holds you in place and resists sagging.

Comfort is the feel of the top layers: plush, medium or firm. Side sleepers usually need more cushioning; back and stomach sleepers usually need more firmness.

Know the main mattress types

• TEMPUR® material: Tempur-Pedic's own dense, slow-responding material adapts to your weight and temperature for deep pressure relief and almost no motion transfer. It feels unlike any other foam, so try it in person.
• Memory foam: Contours closely to your body and absorbs motion. Great for pressure relief and couples; some sleep warmer.
• Hybrid: Foam comfort layers over individually wrapped coils. Contouring with bounce, airflow and stronger edges.
• Innerspring: A coil support system with a tight top or pillow top. A traditional, buoyant feel that is easy to move on.

Take a test rest

Different mattresses suit different bodies and lifestyles. The only way to know for sure is to lie down on them.

1. Wear comfortable clothes

   Dress so you can lie down and change positions easily.

2. Lie in your real sleep position

   Spend most of your time on your side, back or stomach, however you actually sleep.

3. Give each bed 10 to 15 minutes

   First impressions change. Let your body settle into the mattress.

4. Check your alignment

   Ask an expert to look at your spine. It should stay level, without hips sagging or shoulders jammed.

5. Test with your partner

   If you share a bed, test motion transfer and edge support together.

6. Narrow it to two

   Go back and forth between your final two until one clearly wins.

Don't forget the foundation and pillow

A new mattress on an old, sagging base won't perform as designed, and the wrong pillow can undo great support. Ask about adjustable bases, bed frames and pillows.