Ask HN: What's your sleeping setup(bed/pillows/sheets)?
Trying to figure out what to upgrade to...Is anyone running any adjustable frames out there?
Can you share any details about that "regular pillow?" Ideally an online link that will ship internationally, but failing that: Materials, thickness, density, really anything that might be relevant would be helpful.
I picked up the practice originally after long hikes. It's amazing how much it helps with the soreness.
I just take a regular, commodity pillow and fold it in half. Any kind you can get at your local store works great!
(I do sleep on my side, but this idea has never occurred to me, and I tend to picture other people lying tidily on their backs - so I was picturing someone sleeping on their back with a pillow placed in an unaccountable position.)
Will be trying this tonight.
I also find lower leg straight and upper leg on the pillow (so you look like an 'h') works really well.
Then along came The Kids. Two of them. They have, of course, beds of their own, night lights, all that stuff. But they are now the ones enjoying my wonder of a bedroom. And me, I'm sleeping on the couch.
Some nights, one of The Kids, seems to feel even the couch is to comfy for me. One of them comes wandering over to the couch to sleep next to me, often ending up pushing me out altogether. Those nights I end up sleeping, all curled up, in their small Ikea Växa-beds.
But, I'm not morose. Im just tired.
Good luck with your sleep palace, pal, I sincerely wish you get to enjoy yours.
It wasn’t from any sort of plan or goal, I just started doing so after some time spent crashing on my living room floor watching movies with my roommate.
I like that I get up quicker in the morning. And it’s been a more dedicated sleeping setup than a bed has ever been. Surprisingly, I’ve found that almost every time I’ve slept on a normal mattress (few different ones) since, I’ve had some back or neck pain the next day.
My back feels so much better when sleeping on the floor than it does on even the firmest of mattresses, and most mattresses are way, way too soft for me.
We wan't to get bed, but a very low one. Mattress on the floor is nice, but it's actually good have have some kind of airflow below the mattress, I guess for ventilation.
We’ve slept on the floor for few months after childbirth, but then tried bed and were like “ah damn this is so much better”…
I dont really get the obsession in the US with those >$1000 mattresses. I think the whole thing is artificially inflated via marketing, where I live people dont make a big thing about matresses and and fine :)
Americans have extraordinary amounts of disposable income (among the top five in the world at the median) and a culture that likes consumer spending.
What doesn't make sense accordingly?
To me, an old R&D principle applies: If you are going to spend so much on a piece of custom hardware that you will be afraid to admit it was a mistake or lacked essential features, better to experiment a little with something simpler first.
- Bed reviews are either very anecdotal or company sponsored.
- Do not buy a bed without testing it. Bring a pillow and spend at least 15 minutes relaxing on each candidate.
- If you can afford it, avoid “beds in a box”. They retain serious heat, provide little support for any sleeping position, and are not easy to return. Casper beds specifically caused me and my spouse a month of back pain.
- Test the softest version of the bed before making a decision, even if you prefer firm beds. There is a often a significant positive difference between “medium” and “extra plush”.
- Beware “free” add-ons. Mattress stores use them to hedge against returns and refunds by applying the value of the items to the mattress. This means if you return the mattress, you won’t get the full refund back.
- Shop at local mattress outlets, if possible. I was able to save $1,200 on the same exact model quoted (also at discount) at the major mattress chain with no haggling.
[0] - https://www.sleeplikethedead.com/mattress-methodology.html
* Fitted bottom sheet.
* No top sheet.
* Duvet in a washable cover, a size larger than the bed.
* No blankets.
There's nothing to come untucked or get tangled in, and making the bed takes 3 seconds. It's ruined me for other beds though, getting wound up in all the layers and loosing blankets.
3 blankets: one soft fleece blanket, one comforter, and one 25lb weighted blanket to keep me from kicking in my sleep. The weighted blanket has been the biggest QoS improvement for me personally.
2 comfy pillows, double-stacked.
Honorable Mentions:
My heat-pad I throw into the microwave that comes out smelling nice is fun to throw into the mix when it gets cold at night.
My super long phone-charging cable for when I want to flip sides and not worry about charge.
It's very cool. I hate pillows that make or keep my head warm. The buckwheat hulls are very sparse, not at all insulative, so they don't keep my head warm.
The pillow is infinitely-malleable, so it's very easy to reach a comfortable position. I'm tall with broad shoulders, so sleeping on my side is hard. Most pillows are too thin. The buckwheat pillow is easy to pile up under my head when I lie on my side.
Previously I'd used a contour memory foam pillow, like this -- https://www.contourliving.com/contour-pedic-memory-foam-pill... I got many years from that. But it's warm, and still not tall enough to sleep on my side, and it's very hard to clean.
Get a buckwheat hull pillow, a good one. That's my advice.
Floyd Bed Frame — The Floyd frame can be bought as a queen size, then upgraded to a king later. (https://floydhome.com/products/the-bed-frame)
Parachute Linen Sheets — kind of expensive, but the first set of sheets I've felt excited about using (https://www.parachutehome.com/products/linen-sheet-set)
~5 years into a cheap mattress off of Amazon, but I've been really happy with it so far. I think it was a Wirecutter recommendation: (https://www.amazon.com/Dreamfoam-Bedding-Plush-Pillow-Mattre...)
Before I moved in with my girlfriend, I was sleeping on a twin mattress on the floor! (With a small rug underneath it). So I suppose anything would have been a step up.
I also got a duvet from them so that the duvet cover would match the size of the duvet.
Also, they'll customize the sheets to your mattress if you send them measurements. I haven't found any other way to get a tight-fitting sheet, as it seems that king mattresses and sheets have a wide range of sizes, and the last thing you want is to splurge on amazing sheets that give you a bad night's sleep cause they don't fit properly.
I can't recommend them to people who sleep in warm ambient temperatures, they generally trap heat.
Does anyone have pillow recommendations for people who sleep on your side?
I have a Linen blanket, it feels a bit like a potatoe sack (it gets softer over time), but it has a decent weight (more than a sheet) and feels cooler than my other blankets. The hype around them isn't made up, when I first received it I was surprised that it felt physically cool to an extent I had never experienced with other blankets. Linen is made of flax seed. It was more expensive than regular blankets, about $100.
As for the frame, I like minimal. Just a steel platform that I can slide things under.
A gravity blanket with 7kg weight and an adjustable frame beneath the mattress to soften/harden the back
Nest bedding pillows (shredded memory foam). (Best) It is also specifically made for side and back sleepers like myself. (is cut out a bit in the middle)
Sheets vary (we have multiples). But usually what the wirecutter recommends.
Duvet from Costco - I think. Cover is from IKEA and is like $20 or so.
I also use a cotton blanket for myself but not everyone likes those. My partner loves duvets.
It works really well. We’ve never experienced a single bed that is better than ours.
Bedjet probably the best example but there seem to be a lot of them. Basically anything that can move some heat away from me while going to sleep, but still being able to enjoy the weight of a sheet or light blanket would be really nice.
I guess it’s safe to assume you don’t live in Scandinavia or northern Canada where it can be 18-20 hours of daylight in summer.
For anyone with back pain I would suggest trying firmer over softer and training yourself to be a back sleeper if you’re not already
I own a cheapo Zinus double in a spare room that I actually sleep very well on.. Its firmer. I also prefer the Zinus two piece platform to the purple.
I have to say starched (is there a better name?) sheets and covers are awesome! So clean-feeling!
I tried to find out what model we have, but “I found it by searching silent bedframe on Amazon” is the closest answer you’ll get. :)
Personally I prefer to allow the sun to wake me (and I don’t nap).
With the curtains I have an extreme tendency to oversleep or wake unnaturally from something like an alarm in the middle of rem sleep and be all groggy. Prior to getting them I would just wake naturally between 7-7:30 in the summer and 6-6:30 in winter.
Sometimes I sleep on my couch in the office so that I can wake naturally that way.
I could probably stand to get another bottom layer.
Never had any back pains.
And my father's doctor agrees with your doctor, and I have had this kind of bed since my early childhood.
I have trouble sleeping in soft beds of hotels and other places.
I do stretching, running, or swimming- one or multiple of these all year.
I guess that is what saves me from back pains and other trouble despite bad postures.
Even when I didn't exercise (before age 14), I did not have any back pains despite sleeping on a very hard mattress.
Talk to your doctor and/or do a little exercise regularly. That should help. Don't start exercising with existing back pain without consulting an expert, though.
So, yeah, I'll do more training.
Cabeau sleeping mask - very comfy and soft. Love it.