By Jo Joiner
You spend about a third of your life in bed, which is why your sleeping surface can have such a dramatic effect on your quality of life. When it’s brand new, a carefully chosen mattress can help you to wake up feeling bright and shiny every morning. But, as time passes, its ability to recharge your batteries overnight dwindles. Towards the end of its lifespan, your mattress could be the reason you feel like you’re getting out of the wrong side of the bed every morning. An ageing mattress can contribute to insomnia, aches, pains, brain fog, low energy and mood challenges.
If you’re not sleeping as well as you used to, it’s possible a new mattress could be the best prescription for a cure. How do you know when you need a new mattress? Here are some clues:
1. Your mattress has Banana Bed Syndrome
Banana Bed Syndrome is a real thing. When you’re lying on your bed, your head and feet feel higher than your middle. If you’re of the Boomer generation, you’ll be familiar with the original banana bed – the ancient wire-wove typically found at your nana’s place. The only solution was to curl up in the foetal position and sleep in the middle. While wire-wove beds are long gone (we hope), innerspring mattresses can also suffer from Banana Bed Syndrome. After years of supporting your weight, they give up and sag in the middle. The result is a poor sleep, aches and pains. A quick cure for Banana Bed Syndrome is a new pocket spring mattress. Check out Dreamland’s range of affordable pocket spring mattresses.
2. Your mattress is nearly a teenager
Maybe you found the receipt. Or possibly you did something super smart, like writing the date you purchased your mattress on its sewn-on label. Whatever the case, if you’re fairly sure your mattress is 10+ years old, it’s time for a change. The typical lifespan for a mattress is 7 to 10 years, depending on its quality and how often it’s been slept on. Do yourself a favour and head to your nearest Dreamland stockist for an affordable pocket spring mattress.
3. It’s hard to get comfortable
Do you find yourself tossing and turning throughout the night, unable to find a comfortable position? This could be a sign that your mattress is no longer providing the comfort and support necessary for a restful night’s sleep. A new mattress could help to alleviate this problem, because it will offer optimal support. One option to consider is an adjustable bed, which can be configured in various ways. Learn about adjustable beds.
4. Your sinuses clog up when you lie down
Sometimes your nose seizes up the moment you hit the pillow. This can happen simply because lying down increases the blood flow to your head, which causes blood vessels in your nasal passages to swell. Or it could be because your mattress is full of dust mites, allergens and other irritants that can trigger allergies or asthma symptoms. If you find yourself sneezing, wheezing or experiencing congestion when you lie down to sleep, it may be time to invest in a new mattress with hypoallergenic materials. You can also change your pillow to Dreamland’s Adapta, which is made with breathable hypoallergenic memory foam. More about how to choose a pillow.
5. You wake up when your partner rolls over
If your sleeping partner is a wriggler, it’s possible you’re getting tossed around like a small boat in a big ocean swell. Older and low-quality mattresses lack motion isolation, so when one person turns over, the other person gets jiggled around. By upgrading to a pocket spring mattress you can enjoy calm seas all night. To be double sure, you can also move up to a bigger mattress. Read more about eliminating partner disturbance.
6. You feel 10 years older in the morning
Waking up with aches and pains – especially in your lower back, neck or joints – is a common sign that your mattress is no longer providing the support your body needs. An worn-out mattress can cause misalignment of the spine and make pain issues worse. To nail the problem from two angles, you could upgrade to an adjustable bed. Not only will you get a new mattress that offers great support, but you can configure your bed up in a position that relieves aches and pains. The ‘feet up’ position can be very helpful for aching feet and legs, while the adjustment that elevates knees and upper body can relieve lower back pain. Learn more about adjustable beds.
7. You’re a hot sleeper
If you’re one of those lucky people with a high metabolic rate and plenty of muscle mass, you probably need fewer blankets than your slower-burning partner. Feeling hot in bed is a common problem for those of us who burn calories faster. It’s also an issue for menopausal women experiencing hot flushes. For a cooler night with fewer interruptions for flinging off the blankets, try moving up to a modern mattress with advanced cooling features. For example, Andromeda by Dreamland Platinum is our best mattress for temperature control because it’s made with gel-infused memory foam, which helps to prevent overheating. Find an Andromeda stockist.
Want to find the best bed in NZ?
For more tips on how to choose a new bed, read our article ‘What mattress should I buy’. To find a Dreamland bed stockist near you, visit our stockists page.
