My husband and I both suffer from two different yet rather serious physical conditions. My husband has been officially diagnosed with fibromyalgia (had a sleep test done to confirm it), a condition rare in males, and I endure severe pain every day in my legs and back from a bulging disc in my spine. As a result of our conditions, a good night’s sleep on a comfortable bed is crucial to our physical well being.
That good night’s sleep has eluded us for years because my husband and I slept on a lumpy, old, hand-me-down bed. So our conditions neither ceased nor improved.
Enter the Sleep Number bed.
We received a Sleep Number m7 Memory Foam bed in size queen to review.
Sleep Number has excellent service to most homes in the United States. They both deliver and set up your Sleep Number bed for you if you’d like, plus they haul away your old bed for free if you wish. Since we live in the boondocks at a weird address, however, we weren’t one of those lucky homes! Fortunately, the Sleep Number is really easy to put together on your own, in my opinion (I am a more technically-minded person, though), and if you need help, Sleep Number has a number you can call with superb customer service representatives who clearly and concisely walk you through the process to set up your Sleep Number bed on your own.
Our Sleep Number bed arrived tidily packed inside 6 boxes which consisted of ALL of these parts. It looked very confusing at first, so I almost contemplated waiting to put the bed together until my hubby got home from work to help me. *Almost.*
But, I got to reading the instructions and following them and, before I knew it, I was caught up in putting the bed together by myself. Here’s the base. The base was super easy to construct. It (and everything else for the bed) took absolutely no additional tools other than what came with it (and that was just an allen wrench to put the legs on). The cover for the base has a sort-of bed skirt sewn onto it, so I decided I didn’t need to use the bed skirt that came with with our comforter set. Saved me some hassle!
Since I was so caught up in getting this bed together BEFORE my boys awoke from their nap, I forgot to take many pictures along the way. But, to explain the proceeding steps, next came a cloth piece wherein I stuffed some foam walls. Then the super thick, kinda heavy air mattresses (two of them). Next, I followed the directions to fill the mattresses with air (I had to fill it all the way, then release it a little, then fill it all the way, then release it a little–kinda like it needed to be stretched out a bit). Then I topped it with the memory foam and closed the cloth piece shut over it. Zipping the outermost cloth cover was really probably the hardest part because the zipper lays about two inches underneath the mattress to keep it hidden (and the mattress is heavy when it’s all put together).
Voila! Here’s how the finished bed looks. It only took me a total of just over 2 hours to put together by myself (all before the boys woke from their afternoon nap)!
And here’s the mighty controller. The controller, much to my surprise, is wireless. I was expecting it to be hard-wired, but was delighted to find it wasn’t as this meant no cords to wrestle with. Also, there is only one controller. To control the Mister’s side of the bed, he needs to press R for right before selecting a number; for me, I select L.
Our Questions
We did have some questions about the bed before we started using it. So, in case you are wondering the same things, here are those questions and their answers.
Q: Does the bed deflate in a power outage or when the pump is unplugged?
A: The bed does NOT deflate when the pump is unplugged or the power goes out (we experienced both over the course of reviewing it!). The only thing that happens in these incidents is that you can’t add air to the bed (kinda obvious–no electricity, so no way to run the air pump).
Q: Can you change your number whenever you want to?
A: Maybe I’m just weird, but before I started using the bed, I was under the impression that you had one shot to set your number and then you’re stuck with that number FOREVER, like it or not. But, in reality (and thankfully), this is NOT true. You are able to change the number as much as or as little as you desire (and anytime–unless there’s no power getting to the pump, of course).
Q: When your spouse moves, do you feel it?
A: The beloved memory foam topper most definitely keeps turbulence at bay! When my hubby moves, I can sort-of feel it, but not really. It’s very gentle (definitely NOTHING like the squeaky earthquake that occurred with our old lumpy bed every time he barely wiggled a finger). I actually think I feel the covers move more than I do the bed when he moves.
Q: If a person’s too big, does the bed go POP?
A: I become a seriously beached whale when I’m pregnant, so, yes, this question crossed my mind, too (but I’m NOT pregnant right now, for those snoopy family members/friends of mine reading this!). The answer would be no. Each side of the bed and the base can hold up to 500 whopping pounds (1,000 pounds total), so I doubt anybody has anything to worry about.
Q: How does the Sleep Number bed work?
A: Ah, the big one! I had the idea that it was simply a glorified air mattress that inflated with air to make it firmer, and deflated the air to make it softer. But, it’s much more complicated that that! Rather, it has a bunch of fancy air chambers. When you raise or lower the number, the air inflates or deflates based on the pressure points your body is impressing upon the bed (example: there’s more pressure caused by your back than by your hands, so the inflating/deflating will work to make that area more comfy). This causes the bed to initiate truly individual comfort.
Our Experience
The first night we tried our bed, I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep. It was definitely not something I was used too! My body was all like, “Hey, where’d all the lumps we’re used to dodging go?”
The second night was a little better, but still gave me a bit of trouble.
By the third night, after experimenting with my number, I began to figure out how it worked in correlation to my body and sleep came fairly quickly.
After a couple weeks worth of use, both the Mister and I have settled upon our favorite numbers and we have both discovered that the bed has been doing great things to help our back conditions (remember in the intro I mentioned he has fibromyalgia and I have a bulging disc). I personally have noticed that the excruciating pain in my legs (the bulging disc hurts my back, yes, but much more so makes it very difficult to stand and walk) has significantly reduced! I am so pleased! I am able to stand, walk, and exercise for hours almost like a normal human being! It’s so exhilarating!
I’ve also noticed that my quality of sleep has been better. I seem to get to sleep faster and stay asleep longer (probably because my body isn’t getting uncomfortable and needing to move around). It’s so ridiculously hard to get up in the mornings now! I want to stay in our cozy, comfy bed all day!
Bet you’re curious to know what our numbers are (or you couldn’t care less because you just want to know what yours is; eh, gonna share ours anyway)! Currently (we are still experimenting on and off), the Mister is at 50 (which is firmer) and I am at 35 (quite soft). The average number for all Sleep Number bed users is 45. The bed goes from 5 at the softest to 100 at the firmest.
Some Final Thoughts
There is one itty bitty negative that I shall mention (just to ensure a thorough review has been done). Standard queen-size sheets don’t stay on very well on this bed because the mattress is so thick. Thick mattress=super comfy and easy to get in and out of bed; fitted sheet coming off all the time=annoying. We have plans on getting some of those clippy things to hold the fitted sheet on, so this is a cheap, easy, and very minor trouble to fix (definitely not a deal breaker).
Lastly, a little disclaimer here. I’m not saying that this is necessarily the greenest bed in the world. There are plastics and foams and what-not, but the key feature of the bed is the air, which makes it just about as eco-friendly as it can get. Besides, we plan on using this bed until it wears into the ground, so I don’t anticipate any waste coming from it anytime soon!
Great review, TJ, read the whole thing with interest. My question is about heat…. when I sleep on air mattresses, I freeze. But any other mattress, especially with memory foam, and I’m burning up by 1am. How do you guys do with your sleeping temps? Have you noticed a difference?
The memory that they have serves as barrier against the air part and the memory foam part is specially designed so it doesn’t get too hot. I personally have been a little hot just the past couple nights, but I think that’s because it’s summer and we haven’t been proactive about getting the bedroom cooled with the swamp cooler before bed. 🙂 I’ll have one or two update posts in the future, so if it gives me any troubles, I’ll let you know. 🙂
That was amazing! Excellent information on sleeping, beds and a good nights rest. I need a bed like that before my back gets worse.
Stopping by as a Biannual Blogathon Bash Team Member to say thanks for joining the event and we look forward to connecting with you.
Mu Husband has serious back issues as well. Numerouse surgies, including a spinal implant. We have thought about getting a new bed time and time again. I wish they were not so darn expensive. Thanks for sharing!
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