When should you change your bed? All the research agrees that getting a good night’s sleep is vital to our health and well-being. The quality of our sleep will also directly affect how we feel, both physically and psychologically. So a bed with the correct support, comfort level and space will help you get the level and quality of sleep you need, and thus make you feel better. Easy! Now – do you own such a bed..? Luckily, Jill Barrett of Barretts of Woodbridge has some easy pointers you can follow to find if it’s time to trade-in your old bed or mattress:
“If your bed or mattress is more than seven years old
The Sleep Council recommends that you replace an old mattress and its matching base every seven years or so, because after that much time they’ve probably lost much of their original comfort and support. You should start examining your mattress for replacement annually once you’ve had it for five years. This is backed up by research by leading sleep expert Dr Chris Idzikowski, which measured the amount and quality of sleep people were getting on a new bed compared to their old one, found that, when replacing an uncomfortable bed, a new bed was associated with an increase of 42 minutes sleep. Put another way, sleeping on an uncomfortable bed could rob you of 75 days sleep over 7 years! OMG!!
If you wake up stiff or in pain, or just feeling unrefreshed
Your mattress wears out gradually and your body adapts to the changes, sometimes in unhealthy ways. If you wake up in the morning or in the middle of the night with sore muscles, an aching back, overall stiffness, or tingling in the arms or legs, it could be caused by sleeping on a mattress that has lost much of its ability to support your body frame. Time to make a change.
If you’re tossing and turning a lot in the night
If you’re shifting positions enough to wake up you or your partner, it’s probably because your body isn’t comfortable. If you don’t have any heath issues to explain this restlessness, your aging mattress may be the culprit. Ask yourself if you slept really soundly somewhere else recently – maybe a hotel or a friend’s guest room. That’s a good indication that your own mattress might need replacing.
If you want to get rid of some unwanted guests from your bedroom
Old mattresses become repositories for allergens, dead skin cells, body fluids, dust mites, germs and even bedbugs. This happens even if you wash your blankets, sheets and mattress pads regularly. And since there isn’t an effective way to clean a mattress, getting a new bed is a great way to get rid of a plethora of undesirables from your bedroom.
If your bed dips in the middle or is sagging (check the base too)
If it’s not obvious, another way to tell is if you and your partner frequently and unintentionally roll towards each other during the night. This is a good indicators that the internal spring-unit is failing, and it’s time for a new bed. For the base run a piece of string along each edge across the base (you’ll need someone at the other side), and see if the base dips anywhere.  If it does, change the whole bed as your mattress will also have the same dip profile.
If you struggle to find enough space in your bed at night
The Sleep Council recommend to get as big a bed as you can for an ideal night’s sleep. So if your bed is too small, up-size and enjoy the freedom and comfort that extra space will give you.
If allergies are a problem
This is particularly true for people with asthma, and unfortunately the UK has one of the largest number of asthma sufferers in Europe – five million plus and growing. Over 2000 fatalities a year are attributed to asthma, and dust mites are a major trigger for asthma. So what’s this got to do with replacing your bed…?  Well, an unsavoury fact this – but we lose up to 280ml or more of fluid each night, much of which our beds have to absorb. Plus we shed around 3.3g of skin per night – that’s over 1.2Kg in a year. This combination of a warm and moist environment, coupled with a ready food source (yes, those skin scales) makes our beds an ideal habitat for dust mites. Yuck!
If your bed is making strange noises in the night
This might indicate that the central spring unit, which supports your body frame, is worn and not operating effectively.
If your body has changed
Your old mattress felt terrific when you first tested it out in the store years ago. But your body has probably changed since then, one way or another. If you shopped for a mattress today, you’d probably make a different choice.
There are more choices now
If you haven’t been mattress shopping recently you’ll find many options to meet your personal comfort needs. There are exciting new technologies, such as the Hypnos Ultrasens Spring, as well as innovative enhancements to the tried-and-true ways of building a great mattress.  There are new storage options, such the cavernous ‘Hide-away’ base and piston powered ottoman divans. Plus suppliers like Hypnos, Staples, and Dunlopillo now give the option to chose different fabrics for the bed base, which can then be matched to a range of lovely headboards each supplier offers. So buying a new bed can bring some style and individuality to your bedroom.
Finally, and this one’s a clincher for me – how embarrassing would it be for your friends and neighbours to see your bed without its covers…?
One last piece of advice, make sure you try your new bed before you buy. And I don’t mean sitting on it for 30 seconds! At Barretts we always encourage you to lie down and stretch out for as long as you like. Don’t worry if you don’t want to take your shoes or boots off – we have foot protectors on each bed. Our bed experts – Gary, Ben, Louis and Michael will give you all the friendly advice you need, and genuinely want to help.”
Jill Barrett