Sleeping Longer on new Waterbed

[Kody]

Have been on my ASV for a few years now, but still felt tired due to not enough hours sleep. Averaged about 6 hours a night, and woke up with aches and pains in my back from sleeping on another lousy regular mattress. Wife and I have tried very expensive pillow tops, down to cheap new mattresses without noticing any difference, they all would sag quickly and end up useless.

Had the old style Waterbeds in the 70's as a teenager and used to sleep great with no back aches! I remembered reading about some of the newer "soft side" waterbeds on this forum and did some more research and we finally bought a new one off the internet. Got a CA King with duel 95% wave-less bladders and duel digital thermostats. Very first night fell asleep in half the time, and woke up 8 hours later with no lower back pain for a change! I was amazed at the difference! Now I'm getting 7 to 8 hours sleep every night and have slept 10 hours in it last weekend, which I hadn't done since I was a teenager! Can now sleep on my sides without pain, and that lowers my overall AHI as well. Wife wakes up with no pain in her hips as she was having too. They have come a long way with these new softside waterbeds. They probably aren't for everyone, but for those of us who slept well in the past on them, I encourage you to check it out again. We couldn't bring ourselves to pay for another way overly expensive new regular mattress anymore, and am so glad we got this, we won't be switching again and expect it to outlast any regular beds. The longer sleeping times are definitely helping the both of us.

[khauser]

I LOVE waterbeds. I had one for decades (couple of mattresses, same frame). They're great for back pain for me too.

Unfortunately, I have a cat that sleeps with me, and he manages to cause the occasional issue. I had one too many nights waking up in a puddle. Thankfully the liner does its job.

Now I am sleeping on a (cheap) air mattress. Still a problem with the cat every so often, but easy to fix and can sleep without hours of draining and refilling a waterbed, which is REALLY annoying at 3AM.

I've considered upgrading to a Sleep Number or similar mattress, but they are SO much more expensive. They do protect the air bladder, but it might change the sleep quality at the same time.

Glad you found a good bed ... it makes an INCREDIBLE difference.

[Bobshouse]

Ah, waterbeds....the wife and I would hit the sack, and I, being 150 lbs heavier than her, would displace more water and she, uhhh....how can I describe this...well, elevate above sea level would describe it most accurately.

The last bed we purchased was a CA King with the double water mattresses, it didn't work for us either, so I went to a local mattress maker and had them build me a mattress that fits the interior of the softsided water bed. Put that in there, zip it up and have a regular CA king now!

[Kody]

I LOVE waterbeds. I had one for decades (couple of mattresses, same frame). They're great for back pain for me too.

Unfortunately, I have a cat that sleeps with me, and he manages to cause the occasional issue. I had one too many nights waking up in a puddle. Thankfully the liner does its job.

Now I am sleeping on a (cheap) air mattress. Still a problem with the cat every so often, but easy to fix and can sleep without hours of draining and refilling a waterbed, which is REALLY annoying at 3AM.

I've considered upgrading to a Sleep Number or similar mattress, but they are SO much more expensive. They do protect the air bladder, but it might change the sleep quality at the same time.

Glad you found a good bed ... it makes an INCREDIBLE difference.

FYI Kevin, they do make mattress covers that cover the bladders, even if you have the old style ones. Different thickness and even "pillow top" zip on models. I got a thin one covering the mattress as it still gives you the floatation feel but keeps the waves down, AND protects it from our Pets and their claws or nails. One of our Dogs we can't seem to keep off the bed! Lol.!!

[chunkyfrog]

From 1968 to 1980, we slept on conventional mattresses.
In 1980, we bought our first water bed, followed by new bladders and finally a softsider until 2 or 3 years ago,
when we bought our memory foam. I like the foam, but DH misses the waterbed.
I miss it too, especially the warmth, particularly in the winter. Maybe the next bed will be a waterbed again.

[DJD52]

We had water beds from 1980 until 5 yrs ago. The last two were softside with a few weeks on a Latex mattress in between. Our softsides tended to mold on the inside of the zip quilted cover for some reason. We kept the soft side bed frame/head board and bought our sleep number bed/mattress. We love being able to change the firmness to suit how we feel. If we bought another bed it would be another sleep number but this time we're wiser, we'd go for the basic sleep number and then get a memory foam topper and a good quilted mattress pad. A friend did that and her bed is just as comfortable as our deluxe sleep no @ a much lower price. I add a heated mattress pad in the winter but only my side is heated... I too missed that warm feeling of a water bed in cold winter.

[zoocrewphoto]

I LOVE waterbeds. I had one for decades (couple of mattresses, same frame). They're great for back pain for me too.

Unfortunately, I have a cat that sleeps with me, and he manages to cause the occasional issue. I had one too many nights waking up in a puddle. Thankfully the liner does its job.

Now I am sleeping on a (cheap) air mattress. Still a problem with the cat every so often, but easy to fix and can sleep without hours of draining and refilling a waterbed, which is REALLY annoying at 3AM.

I've considered upgrading to a Sleep Number or similar mattress, but they are SO much more expensive. They do protect the air bladder, but it might change the sleep quality at the same time.

Glad you found a good bed ... it makes an INCREDIBLE difference.

I have had an old style waterbed for over 20 years, with multiple cats the whole time. The first year, I did have a couple pinprick holes. But not since. I actually use two vellux blankets that I sleep on, so that gives good protection to the mattress. I also trim nails every couple weeks.

[khauser]

I LOVE waterbeds. I had one for decades (couple of mattresses, same frame). They're great for back pain for me too.

Unfortunately, I have a cat that sleeps with me, and he manages to cause the occasional issue. I had one too many nights waking up in a puddle. Thankfully the liner does its job.

Now I am sleeping on a (cheap) air mattress. Still a problem with the cat every so often, but easy to fix and can sleep without hours of draining and refilling a waterbed, which is REALLY annoying at 3AM.

I've considered upgrading to a Sleep Number or similar mattress, but they are SO much more expensive. They do protect the air bladder, but it might change the sleep quality at the same time.

Glad you found a good bed ... it makes an INCREDIBLE difference.

FYI Kevin, they do make mattress covers that cover the bladders, even if you have the old style ones. Different thickness and even "pillow top" zip on models. I got a thin one covering the mattress as it still gives you the floatation feel but keeps the waves down, AND protects it from our Pets and their claws or nails. One of our Dogs we can't seem to keep off the bed! Lol.!!

Where would one fine one of these???

Thanks!

[khauser]

I also trim nails every couple weeks.

That's probably the biggest difference.

I actually like the air mattress quite a bit. I'm not sure I'd go back to water ... air offers everything I like about water without the mess. I prefer a cooler sleeping surface, so heating the water never mattered to me (FYI to those who might misunderstand: You really DO have to heat the water, or it'll SUCK THE HEAT from you ... I just meant I don't care to warm the bed more than the room).

A reasonable air mattress is more expensive than a water mattress ... I paid just over $200 for the current model, which is a little better made than what I'd been trying (which was around $100). A full-flow water bed would be closer to $75, I think ... less if you go for a thinner material. The air mattress offers similar support without the waves. Also, a water bed is much harder to get out of if you have back problems.

[chunkyfrog]

A soft side waterbed is easier to get out of.

[JeffL]

We've been sleeping on a waterbed since around '73, and miss it terribly whenever we travel.
We don't have cats any more, but they were never an issue, the mattresses always failed at the seam. The last one went out last month, and unfortunately, there was a tear in the liner which necessitated some additional clean up, and down time to dry out before installing a new liner and mattress. We still have the old hard side style, and stayed with a free flow mattress although we tried the lowest level of waveless in the store, and it felt nice too. Back in the old days, there were waterbed stores all over. Now the closest is 12 miles from me, and it might be going to a phone for service format. BTW, the new liners are greatly improved. The old one was held in place with nailed on wooded strips ( which is where it tore). The current liners have cardboard or something else that's stiff build into the sides that make it self standing.