“I find out a l…

“I find out a lot about myself by sleeping. Dreams, they are who I am when I’m to tired to be me.” – Jarod Kintz, This Book is Not for Sale.

Top 5 Types of Mattresses

1.  Innerspring Coil – Most common and usually the least expensive but has the most motion transfer and pressure points causing tossing.  This interrupts our sleep cycle.  Queen sets range from $299 to $699.

2.  Pocket Coil – Becoming more common as they are generally more comfortable than innerspring with less motion transfer and pressure points.  Less durable, looses shape quicker, and can sometimes feel less supportive.  Queen sets range from $499 to $999.

3.  Memory Foam  – Very popular and have a highest customer satisfaction.  Newer versions are being developed such as Gel infused.  These mattresses provide optimum support, eliminate pressure points, eliminate motion transfer, and are very durable keeping their original shape for 10 years or more.  However, they start to get pricier as Queen sets range from $899 to $1,899.

4.  Latex Foam – Been around for awhile but only recently becoming more popular as consumers look for high quality mattress sets with similar benefits as Memory Foam but with a more traditional feel.  They are made from a natural foam (latex) and tout being more “eco-friendly”.  These mattresses provide optimum support, eliminate pressure points, eliminate motion transfer, and are very durable keeping their original shape for 10 years or more.  However, they start to get pricier as Queen sets range from $999 to $1,899.

5.  Air Mattresses –With the fall of waterbeds came the rise of Air Mattresses.  They are similar in construction to water bed with channels or bladders filled with air and the settings are adjustable.  Made more popular by companies touting the ability to change comfort levels and have one side different than other side.  They have many cons such as they loose air pressure, are noisy, and expensive.

You can stop by any one of Mattress Depot USA’s convenient 18 store locations to learn more about getting a Great Night’s Sleep with the Optimum Mattress Set.  Now thru the end of September we are celebrating with our End of Year Closeout Sale with extra savings on all our mattress sets.

Top 5 Things to do for a Great Night’s Sleep

All five things are equally important and not ranked in this specific order.

1. Establish a Sleep Schedule – Our 24 hour sleep-wake cycle is regulated by our internal biological clock.  Most healthy adults require 7.5 to 9 hrs sleep every night.  We go through 4 stages of sleep including our REM that last about 90 minutes.  This cycle repeats 4 to 6 times per night.  Keeping same sleep schedule every night help our internal biological clock.
2. Regulate your Food and Liquid Intake – It is important to not eat or have caffeine three hours before bed and no alcohol, nicotine, or exercise for 1.5 hours before bed.
3. Stay Away from TV’s, Computers, and other Electronics – Ideally, we should turn off or stay away from artificial light pollution such as TV’s, Computers, and other Electronics that serve to stimulate us at least 1 hour prior to going to bed.
4. Prepare Yourself for Bed – About 1 hour before going to bed you should dim the lights in your house, take a warm bath, or do some relaxation exercises.  Remove any distractions (mentally and physically) that will prevent you from sleeping.
5. Create the Optimum Sleeping Environment – Make sure your bedroom is cool and dark.  Most critical is to get the BEST pillow, sheets, and mattress set for your sleep style.  While there is no one standard mattress that works for everyone, you have to pick based on sleep style (front, back, or side sleeper) and what feels right for you.

Most important Product for a Good Night’s Sleep

Most people automatically think that the mattress is the most important product for getting a good night’s sleep.  While it is true that sleeping on a great mattress with proper support will help you sleep better it is not the only necessary product needed for getting a great night’s sleep.  The other important products are pillows, sheets, and the environment.  Sometimes we cannot control the environment, think kids and spouses that do not adhere to your sleeping schedule.  However, we can control the mattress, pillow, and sheets that we use.  People often elaborate on a great mattress that they experienced at a certain hotel.  They then often find out that the mattress was nothing special and it was in fact the sheets and pillows that were what created the memorable sleep experience.  As with the purchase of a new mattress you do not need to break the bank to purchase a good set of sheets and pillows.  But like a new mattress you should spend considerable time touching, feeling, and trying out a new set of sheets and pillows.  All three products are equally as important for getting a good night’s sleep so they should always be purchased in uni some.

Related articles

• Good sleep with a good mattress (time4sleep.co.uk)
• Find a mattress to fit (johnlewis.com)

Stages of Sleep

Stages of sleep

Every 60-100 minutes we go through a cycle of four stages of sleep

Stage 1 is a drowsy, relaxed state between being awake and sleeping – breathing slows, muscles relax, heart rate drops
Stage 2 is slightly deeper sleep – you may feel awake and this means that, on many nights, you may be asleep and not know it
Stage 3 and Stage 4, or Deep Sleep – it is very hard to wake up from Deep Sleep because this is when there is the lowest amount of activity in your body
After Deep Sleep, we go back to Stage 2 for a few minutes, and then enter Dream Sleep – also called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep – which, as its name suggests, is when you dream

In a full sleep cycle, a person goes through all the stages of sleep from one to four, then back down through stages three and two, before entering dream sleep

Source: Gregg Jacobs

Knowing when it’s time to for a new mattress…

Unlike most consumer products, a mattress doesn’t just stop working.  Instead it slowly breaks down offering less support and comfort over time.  When a car, dishwasher, television, or even a computer stop it is our signal to get new ones.  However, knowing when it’s time to replace your mattress is not so determinable.  Like an old pair of running shoes a mattress can still feel comfortable long after it has lost its ability to provide the proper body support.

Below are some guideline from the industry’s own Better Sleep Council to determine when it is time to replace your mattress….

Your mattress is more than 5-7 years old.  After 5-7 years of nightly use, a mattress and foundation are providing less comfort and support than they did when they were new.  Also, airborne dust, skin cells, and bacteria have doubled the weight of your mattress. Ugh.

You wake up in the morning with stiffness, numbness, aches, and pains.

You had a better night sleep somewhere other than your own bed (such as a hotel).

You mattress shows visible signs of overuse such as sags, lumps, and interior coils showing.

Any one of these signs are reason enough to replace your mattress and start living a healthier happy life.

Sleep better in the bedroom

More than 40% of Americans have difficulty sleeping. This causes mental, physical, and emotional health problems for those Americans. If you are one of the 40% that has difficulty sleeping then your bedroom environment may be the source of this trouble. Here are some of the issues with some American insomniacs.
Bedroom has too much light – Try blackout shades and make the rest of the house dark prior to going to bed to get your melatonin working.
Bedroom is too warm – Turn down your thermostat hours before going to bed.
Bedroom is to messy – People who make their beds daily are 19% more likely to sleep well every night.
Bedroom is to stimulating – Simple clean and fewer electronics will lead to a more soothing environment.

We spend a third of our life in bed so make it productive time by getting healthy REM sleep!