I've had my queen size Sleep Number bed for a year and a half. In that time, I've come to realize a number of things about my bed that I wish someone had told me before I sunk big $$ into it. I reckon it might be nice of me to share it with ya'll so you can be aware before you make a decision whether or not you want to sleep on it for the next 10-20 YEARS. Yes, the life expectancy of the Sleep Number mattress is 20 years. That's a big commitment.
Before I get into the details, you need to understand that a Sleep Number bed is a glorified air mattress with 2 separate air chambers. Do you understand the way an air mattress works? Then you will "get" my explanations below quite easily. If you aren't familiar with the functionality of an air mattress, you may need to stretch your imagination a bit to fully comprehend my reasons.
It's also important that you understand this bit of important info:
If you like your mattress softer, then you must have less air in your side. If you like it more firm, then you will have more air in your side. That's how it works. I prefer mine a medium softness/firmness. Maybe a touch more on the soft side. So I have mine somewhere about 1/2 to 2/3 full of air, I suppose. We didn't opt for the more expensive Sleep Number bed that has the digital readout which tells you what number you have yours set to (1-100). So we have no idea what "setting" we fancy. We just air it up/deflate it until we find the setting that feels right. Now, on to my reasons.
- My bed always looks saggy and slouch, even old, when it's "made". You will NOT want to air your mattress up fully every morning just so it'll look full & pretty - trust me. So, unless you sleep on a very full/firm setting, your bed will look like this:
- When you sit down an air mattress that's not full/firm, your butt goes straight through to the bottom (box spring). It'll feel just like you're sitting on wood. An air mattress only works nicely when you are dispersing your body out fully/level across the whole surface. So, sitting down on your bed is not fun. Unless you happen to be a weirdo who enjoys such.
- Thinking along the same lines/reasoning as #2, intimacy (ahem, yes, what you're thinking I mean is exactly what I'm talking about), can be very uncomfortable. Without providing you with TMI, let me just say that substitute "butt" in #2 for "knees", "sitting" for "kneeling", and you will understand why a person would have to go through the inconvenience of needing to stop in the "moment" and air the bed up fully (a mood killer), and then, later, let the air back out so you're not sleeping on a rock. This bed is not conducive to romance, people.
4. If you sleep alone (my hubby works out of town a LOT), it can be really hard to get the mattress to be effective for you. Here's what I mean: When you roll from your side (your air chamber) over towards the other side (the OTHER air chamber), if it is not full/firm, you will roll off into a chasm, because there is nobody with their body weight dispersed across it. It will feel like a big hole. On the other hand, if you air it up full, it will feel like a wall is in the middle of the bed, because your side is less full. It is possible to find the right amount of air, but it will take a number of nights of trial and error. And then, when your awesome husband comes home, adjusts the bed for himself, then leaves, you go through the process all over again. Sigh.
5. Kids (or any other people) can come and mess with your settings, throwing you all out of whack and it can take several nights for you to get your bed back to where it works for you. While this isn't a huge deal, it is still inconvenient and can be a big hassle if your kids are so in awe of the thing that they can't seem to make themselves leave it alone.
6. You can't jump on your bed. Sometimes, when the inner child in me breaks loose, it's fun to jump on my bed. Just sayin'. Jumping on this one could prove to be a seriously painful and costly mistake. No fun.
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| awww, no jumping allowed! |
Now, to be fair, let me tell you the 6 things I DO like about my Sleep Number bed:
- You can choose your softness/firmness separately from the other person's side. He likes soft, you like firm? Not a problem with the Sleep Number.
- When you roll or move around, it doesn't convey to the other person's side. I move a LOT at night, so I'm glad I'm not keeping my hubby awake with my sleep aerobics.
- You won't roll toward the middle when it has aged, thanks to those two separate air chambers. Our last standard type mattress ended up with this issue around year 10 of it's life. That's why we started looking for a new mattress, which led to this purchase. We both would end up all over each other (not in a good way), waking each other up, and not sleeping soundly.
- When my husband was able to adjust his bed to where he wanted it, his body aches and pains decreased. So, it really did help with that, just like they claim. I don't claim that it will help you, though. I can only tell you that it helped him.
- If you happen to change over time, you can change your mattress with the touch of a button. Maybe you gain or lose weight. Maybe you get aches or pains. You can adjust your side's air chamber with the touch of a button. No need for a new mattress.
- You won't have to worry about the kids jumping on the bed (see #6 above). Sometimes, the grownup in me wants the bed to look nice & pretty, not a disheveled mess.
I'm sure there are scores of people who adore their Sleep Number bed. I'm not one of them. If I had it to do over again, I'd buy something else. Not sure what. I've got at least 9 more years to figure that out.
32 comments:
I thought I was the only one! My husband and I are so wishing we had gone a different route. I originally got this to improve back pain. I kept giving it a try because they say it takes a bit to adjust. Well, there goes my trial period. I feel like I can never get comfortable and agree its 1000% a glorified air mattress. Blah
Exactly how much pain do you have to go through before you figure out the right number doesn't work for me I despise it
I too do not like this bed. Did they tell you or did u read about how the warranty works. Sure wasn't told. We've put in an extra 1000.00 plus on what we orginally pd. If I'd known more about the warranty crap. Never would have bought it
We bought our sleep comfort in 2001 and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It does have some problems but not anything serious. The company has remedied and problem promptly
I can't get comfortable no matter what but people tell me its cause i need to buy the base as its on my box spring. The reason i didn't was many complained it kept coming apart. My husband has no complaints just me not getting comfortable.
We’re nearing our 10-ish year mark now & I’ll be grateful to get something different!
I feel you. We’re going to buy something new in about a year, thank God! That’ll be about 9/10 years for us & I still don’t like it.
My understanding was that I’d pay $200 more to return it, but that was back in 2011, so I don’t know what they do nowadays.
Glad it worked out for you.
I bought the box spring with it & I still can’t wait to buy a new mattress in about a year. I couldn’t justify the expense to replace it till around 10 years. We’re getting close, thank God!
I hate it. If you enjoy a soft bed. Don't buy this. To make it softer you let more air out. All this does is cause your but to sink down to the bottom while you head and feet raise up. Just like an air bed. But the worst part is your partner and you will roll to the middle to the hole between the 2 air mattresses.
We bought one of these two years ago and I have mixed feelings about it; I can't really b**** too loud or I'll look really stupid to my friends for spending so much money. So I guess at the end of the day I end up saying how nice it is
I love my bed, sleep great. I am able to adjust the firmness and the head of the bed. Best sleep I have had in years
Not very happy with our bed,should have never spent the momey. We bought the most expensive I10 less than 3 years ago and we have already had to replace the foam 2 times because its totally cracked, The company replaced it no problem the first time at no cost that was only after having the bed for 15 months. I recently checked the foam again to make sure it was holding up since they had stated there was probably a defect ..well not true these have now both cracked on both sides again. I called customer service and told them this was happening again. So they replaced one side which is a complete new product 4 inches thick as opposed to the 2 inch that was previous sent. Problem is they would only replace one side and I had to purchase the other side. So long story short who pays almost 10k for a bed that falls apart in 15 months and you already need replacement parts. Again don't purchase this bed!
I am going to buy an older model and want to know what and how much replacement parts are? I have had 4 neck and back surgeries and had spent 3k on a memory foam that was a waste of money! Also can u up grade like a new base or to the iq etc.
I’m sorry, I have no idea. I don’t work for them or anything. I can’t recommend it for all the reasons above.
Just came here to say I totally agree. We just bought a memory foam mattress that’s being delivered tomorrow, and I couldn’t be happier that I only have to sleep in the Sleep Number bed one more night.
I’d also like to add that I hate having a bed that requires WiFi connectivity. Sure, once it’s inflated, you can unplug the bed if you like... but you need internet to set it up. Otherwise, you’re SOL.
Wow. I wouldn’t like that either. I don’t like exposing myself to any EMF’s that aren’t necessary. I’ll be so glad when we can buy a new mattress.
We hate ours. Both my wife and I have bad backs and they've been worsened by having to sleep on this abomination. My wife prefers a softer bed. Great. But I can't roll over and cuddle with her without lowering the pressure on my side. Otherwise I end up in Death Valley (as we've come to call it). Yes, all we could afford was the damn classic (poor name choice)and a year and a half in, her side sprung a leak ... and I outweigh her by at least 75 lbs. Sex? Fuggedaboudit. We're limited to one half of a queen-sized bed and, after 2 years of discomfort, we would have to pay the cost of an entire new mattress to keep her side from collapsing like a used balloon in the Thanksgiving day parade. And customer service essentially hung up on us. DO NOT BUY THESE MATTRESSES. No mattress is perfect, but at these prices the damn things should be pretty close to perfect. They're not.
Agreed. It’s hard to explain “death valley”, but you’ve done well.
I am so glad I read these comments before getting this bed. It sounds like an Aero bed would be a better choice thank one of these. Thank you all for the insight.
We just bought our C5 Split King, means we can adjust the head and feet separately. We paid a total of 7000.00 with taxes and setup, but 3500 was just the base. The base IS NOT returnable at all, even before 100 days as sleep number does not make it, but other mattresses will work with it. This is not our first sleep number. We had a bed we paid 1500 for and it almost crippled me because my muscles couldnt take the hardness/softness of the bed after a year. We got our first sleep number and was still having issues until we visited a family member and slept on an air mattress that lost half the air and my muscles relaxed. Having a sleep number at home I set the bed to the same softness and my muscles started to all relax and I didnt have to use a cane anymore at 38. I had seen chiro, massage and neurosurgeon, they had no idea why my muscles had tightened and would not turn off, but it was because of our previous bed. That was 15 years ago. I am having a little problem getting used to this new sleep number though, and we got in Oct 2019, i actually miss the old one a little, but hoping that i will find the solution and get better. I love the adjustability though.
Same problem here. I have had mine for a few years now and my side sprung a leak when I weigh less than my husband. I wake up every one to two hours to refill it! Just trying to find the time to take it apart and investigate. And no, it's not comfortable at all even when it does hold air. Worst purchase I ever made.
I agree with most of these comments. My side sprung a leak! Deflated. Found out that each side of a king size bed has a max weight capacity of 400 lbs static weight. Well, Not to go into details, but it’s not uncommon for a couple to weigh over 400 lbs and , to be blunt, sex is not static. Plus not a great nights sleep. For 10 k, I expect an air mattress to hold at least 600 lbs....like my bed bath and beyond air mattress does! Also, the sheets for a split king...$225 a piece! Insane! The repair department is abysmal. You have to fix the mattress! The parts department, they send you on a runaround to find what you are looking for. Stay clear, save your money, I am trying to get my moneys worth out of this. I wish we had a class action lawsuit...misrepresented everything about the mattress and service.
If you are rolling to the middle, it’s not set up correctly. You are likely missing the center foam. Call their customer service, they are pretty easy to deal with.
I had my first one for 18 years and loved it. Was a Cal King. I have a horrible back so we bought a Split Cal King with the flex3 base so we could individually adjust the head and feet. Not the best decision. While I still like the comfort, the bed looks like a Y because of the way it’s made. I would love to go back to a regular Cal King but it’s only 5 years old and it cast $7500.
I'm on my second sleep number bed. LOVE them! First one was CAl king ( about 1994). Moved in 2008 and king was too big. Still in good shape so was sold on eBay. New one is Queen. It has moved with me twice. So light and easy to set up, I put all the parts in my car when I move and I have my own bed the very first night, even before the movers get there! Can't say that about a "regular" bed. Love being able to adjust with the touch of a button, although I haven't changed it in years. I will buy another.
I've had my sleep number for 17 years and am getting ready to replace it. Back when I bought mine there were no adjustable platforms and the bed was topped with various thicknesses of pillow tops - no foam. I have to say I'm a bit put off and concerned about the foam format that is all that's offered these days, and these comments are making me think twice about investing another $4-5K in a new bed. My current bed is still o.k., but I really want the adjustability and am concerned about trying to combine the old mattress with the new adjustable platform, although I was told at the Sleep Number store it should work other than not having a way to connect the two, so the mattress would likely slip towards the footboard when you raise the head end. All that said, I don't know what else I would want to get. I love not having to regularly turn the mattress as I did with the one I had before this one. It occasionally over or under inflates based on pressure systems that move through (or at least that's the theory), but at least I can always readjust to where I'm comfortable. A traditional mattress just starts to break down from the day you get it and continues on that path with no way to reverse it.
We bought our bed around Thanksgiving after having a prior sleep number that lasted over 10 years. We spent around $6000 on a split king mattress, frame, sheets, etc. We are having an awful time with the under bed lighting that is supposed to come on when you get out of bed. It works fine until you put the bed in any other position than flat. Then (even if you move it to the flat position, the light comes on and stays on for 10 minutes. Then 5 seconds later it comes back on again, even without moving. Customer Support is useless. They will not fix it or replace it. They said it is a software problem. In order to fix it, you have to both get out of bed, make the bed flat, turn off the lighting....leave it off for a night or more, then turn it back to Auto. They will take back the mattress, but nothing else...so essentially we can only get 1/2 of our money back. Other than that I like the bed and it's features but the under bed lighting doesn't work right and the customer support is awful. I have a friend with a queen size bed and he is not experiencing any issues with his under bed lighting.....it just doesn't make sense.
We've had our Sleep Number bed about 14 years. We bought the cheapest model at the time. We have been very happy. The model we have can be adjusted separately on each side and has chambers on each side so there is no issue about the middle sagging. We would definitely buy again.
Thanks for your info! I was going to buy a sleep number mattress, but now I won't take any risk.
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