This is How I Sleep at Night – In a Sleep Number M9 Bed

(Last Updated On: November 30, 2012)

See the above photo of my cat? Happy kitty. That pretty much sums up how I sleep at night in my Sleep Number Bed.

If only the cat had working thumbs and an iPhone 5 she’d probably have snapped a similar, if less shaggy shot of me in said Sleep Number Bed. As it happened, SHE was ensconced in my place, snuggled up with my comforter, enjoying the comfort of my personal sleep number (45, thank you) so I shot a photo of how blissed out she was.

When Sleep Number first contacted me and asked if I was interested in reviewing one of their mattresses, I was a little nervous. The timing was awesome, our almost ten year old mattress had seen better days. I spent two pregnancies on bed rest, literally parked on that mattress for months. It was a really good high end mattress but it was past its prime and ready to retire. But was the M9 Memory Foam Sleep Number Mattress the right bed for me?

I suspected my old coil spring mattress wasn’t doing much for my back and I felt paralyzed with indecision about what to try next.

I’d dutifully researched many beds, in my quest for rest,  including Sleep Number’s M9 from their Memory Foam Series. I learned from assorted consumer review sites that these mattresses have some of the highest rankings in consumer satisfaction. They are beloved by consumers, I suspect, not in small part because of their ability to be customized to your exact support preferences. Spouses and bedmates don’t always agree about everything and we all certainly have different bodies. How brilliant is it to make a double bed that fits the preferences of both partners? Toss in a pair of dual remotes (you each get your own, of course) and you’ve got a recipe for marital bliss. Except perhaps when you punk your spouse and adjust their sleep number to trick them. Not that I’d do that…

Before the mattress came I visited my local Sleep Number Store for a Sleep Number IndividualFit 3D analysis. It was an eye opening experience (that led to more shut eye!) to see where my pressure points were when I laid down on a firm mattress, and to see what happened as the firmness was adjusted. I was so impressed that I went back to the store and made a short video about my Sleep Number IndividualFit 3d experience so I could share it.

What I learned was that (much as I suspected), my lower back and hips had a lot of pressure on them when I laid down. I’ve been living with back pain for a very long time and what’s especially frustrating was that it did not get better when I laid down. It got worse. I was waking up in agony throughout the night. The 3d imaging showed that it wasn’t in my head. My back really was taking a beating. But…

By adjusting the sleep number I was able to see & feel the pressure melt away. It felt great. So great I almost didn’t want to leave the store. When was the last time I laid down and actually relaxed? Pain free? I couldn’t remember. Still I was a little unsure whether it would stick, how my back would feel in the morning, or after a week or month of sleeping on the M9.

I’d never slept on a memory foam bed and I worried about the usual things people worry about with memory foam:

1. Would I be hot?

2. Would I get “stuck” – sinking into the bed and finding it tough to roll over?

3. Would there be a me-shaped impression permanently etched on the bed when I stood up?

4. Would the bed have a chemical/memory foam smell? For how long?

The bed was delivered to my home and set up in a matter of minutes, it seemed. The delivery men went over the features with me and left me to bond with my new best friend.  Much as expected, the bed did have a characteristic smell when it was first unwrapped. I’ve yet to meet a foam product that didn’t off gas in some way and have been known to return pillows (not Sleep Number ones) to Costco after they stank up my room for a week. The M9 has a thick layer of foam – 5 inches – but still it wasn’t too bad. The odor dissipated enough to sleep on the bed by that night and was completely gone by the second day. I mention this because it’s good to have some idea what to expect if you are sensitive, like me. It’s nice to know the foam smell does disappear!

At first it was a little odd for me. I’d say it took a couple of weeks to adjust to sleeping on the Sleep Number M9 bed and for me the part that took getting used to was the one key difference between air+memory foam and the coiled mattressed I was familiar with sleeping on for most of my life.  Coils are like springs. They are bouncy. The absence of coils translates to an absence of bounce. Bounce doesn’t really add much to my bed, except perhaps a little lift off in the morning, but it is something that I was used to. My 4 year old tried to jump on the M9 (because that’s what you do on new beds, right?) and was baffled by the lack of return. He looked at me as if to say, “What’s up with that?!”

Here is the thing: Would you rather sink luxuriously into your bed, or bounce out of it? When I’m looking for a good night’s sleep, I’m sinking in. If I have slept well, I have my own juice for bouncing. No springs required.

It surprised me to find that when I slept on my stomach I couldn’t use my same familiar pillow. I found I was more comfortable with a very thin pillow, or no pillow at all. More surprising was the fact that I found myself falling asleep, and staying asleep on my back. I’ve been a stomach sleeper all my life, and never really thought I could sleep on my back. But strangely… that happened. And I liked it.

Waking up in the morning I felt more refreshed. I was relieved to discover I was not hot. I had no problems rolling over. There was no permanent me-shaped impression on my bed.

After a couple of months I was surprised one day when, while doing some heavy lifting,  my back started hurting again. I hadn’t realized it but my back had STOPPED hurting. I had gone from being used to living with pain daily, to being used to not being in pain. The pain-from-strain improved after a few nights rest and it was fabulous to think that this pain that I was practically resigned to having in my life forever, didn’t have to be a permanent thing.

Even though I wake up refreshed, every day I feel the same way when I get up.

“Hey bed! We really need to spend more quantity time together!”

Which brings me back to my cat. She likes to sleep on the bed. She prefers my side. My husband’s sleep number is significantly higher than mine. I’m jealous, but I can’t blame her. I’d lay in bed like that all day too, if I could get away with it.

Note: We do not have the adjustible platform that can be purchased to go with this bed but I am considering purchasing it. Do you have one? Do you love it?

Check out current specials and offers on Sleep Number beds. If you are near a store, I highly recommend you pop in for an IndividualFit 3D imaging session. It’s fun and enlightening. You might be surprised to learn what your number is.

 Disclosure: I received a Sleep Number Bed to test for the purpose of writing this review. It’s staying. In fact, writing this was exhausting. I think I need to go lay down. I just have to move the cat out of my spot..