Sleep Smarts
The Mattress That Took My Sleep From Good to Great
Finally, a supportive and breathable foam mattress that wouldn't squeak whenever I got up.
For the longest time, I’d never given much thought to my mattress (though I am quite picky about my bed sheets). I’m not a bad sleeper by any means—once the lights go out once I put my phone down, I’m out like a baby and if I didn’t have a job to set my alarm for, I’d sleep until noon (or later). Fun fact: I once slept standing up in the middle of a casino.
I slept just fine with my old hybrid mattress that had a mix of innersprings and foam—I mean, when is sleep ever a bad thing? But it was never really great. It had gotten less supportive and more squeaky over the years so I’d often roll out of bed with a sore neck and back to avoid waking up my husband, and the thick memory foam was suffocating if I didn’t kick off my comforter. When I moved into my first home almost two years ago, I decided I needed an upgrade that would help me feel more refreshed and awake—you know it’s a problem when you’re still feeling meh after a solid nine hours of sleep.
I soon fell into a rabbit hole of mattress types, firmness levels, construction features, and planning out a pandemic-friendly return strategy should the mattress not work out. As someone who hadn’t bought a mattress in years, it was enough to give me a headache—except I couldn’t lay down because well, I didn’t have that excellent mattress yet! I spent endless nights researching mattresses that needed to be supportive but not too firm, and breathable but not necessarily cooling (as a cold sleeper, I don’t need anything that adds to the chill). Getting the right combination of factors that would finally give me a great night’s sleep was proving to be difficult.
And then I came upon Saatva’s Zenhaven Latex mattress that felt like a choose-your-mattress adventure. It lets you flip between a softer, more cushioned side or a firmer, more supportive side, and the combo of organic cotton, natural latex foam, and New Zealand wool meant either side you chose would be breathable and comfortable. With a 180-night trial, free delivery and setup in the room of your choice, and free removal of your existing mattress and foundation, it was a luxury investment that felt like I had nothing to lose. Well, except for sleep, but that was already a lost cause by now.
When it arrived a month or two later, all those hours of research paid off. We slept a few nights with the softer, cushioned side to see how it felt but ultimately went with the firmer side for more support. I quickly realized that the quality of my sleep was so much better. I wasn’t waking up with a weird neck issue, there was no loud squeak that would disturb my husband when I’d put my phone away 30 minutes after he fell asleep, and I’d never felt uncomfortably warm overnight. I don’t know that I can truly associate jumping out of bed on the weekdays to the Zenhaven, but let’s just say it does.
Now, I still don’t think much about my mattress, but it’s because I finally have one so good that I don’t have to think twice about plopping down for the night.
Written by: Jada Wong
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