Gotta Be Honest About the Pain of Camper Sleep...

[JudyK-JAY22rb]

I have a short queen in my Jay Feather. The mattress that came with it is a little bit nicer than the lowest quality mattresses, but still lacks any type of comfort over 6-7 hours of sleep.

At around the time I bought the camper, I was replacing the mattress in my bedroom. It was a super thick Temperpedic about 15 years old. My side was fine, but my husband's side was starting to break down with soft areas.

I deconstructed the mattress. I peeled the top 3" Visco foam layer off the thick 'regular' foam base. I used an electric knife cut the Visco foam layer to fit my short queen, like a mattress topper. I put it on top of the original camper mattress and encased both layers in a mattress encasement.

I can say it is better, but still, this older gal has hips that protrude when side lying and I still feel like there's not enough support when back sleeping. I'm waking up with pain and tossing in the night, a lot.

When I get excited about my next trip, I suddenly start to dread the potential nights of pain and it makes me sad.

Today I opted to buy an RV queen short. I didn't want to break the bank, so went middle of the road. I'm a bigger girl...(Norwegian, built like a clydesdale ) who might not do well with a solid foam mattress, as I might find myself bottoming out. I sleep on a hybrid (springs and foam) at home and love it.

I ordered from RV Mattress Brooklyn Bedding, the Dreamfoam Hybrid mattress, in the short queen option.
It's a considered purchase, I know. But I want to enjoy my camping trips and not have foreseen dread about the painful night and hate going to bed.

I hope I like it. If anything they have a very good return policy. I'm hoping it gets delivered before my next trip, in about 8 days. If it shows up a couple days into my trip, my husband will deliver it to the campground for me.

PS I took the kind sized 'regular' foam, 8" thick piece, cut it down to a TWIN XL size...the exact size of my 'U' dinette in bed mode. We place that piece on bed foam on top of the dinette foam cushions. It is where my sister sleeps when she tags along. Let me Tell you. THAT bed is comfortable and roomy. A Twin XL is exactly the size of 1/2 a king bed. Last trip se went home a day early and I slept there...wow, I slept pretty good. If we want to use the dinette, that piece of foam stores in the bedroom, at the end of the bed, against the wall, floor to ceiling standing end to end.

 

[Snake Plissken]

My wife has a 4" foam piece as a topper and we both sleep like a baby. Does your back need a firm mattress?

 

[pconroy]

I'm a bigger girl...(Norwegian, built like a clydesdale )

That made me laugh. And think of my Grandmom who was off-the-boat Norwegian.

Neither of us are petit, but we took a chance on dumping our short queen and popped for a nice, residential full sized mattress. We just sleep a little closer together.

 

[JudyK-JAY22rb]

That made me laugh. And think of my Grandmom who was off-the-boat Norwegian.

Neither of us are petit, but we took a chance on dumping our short queen and popped for a nice, residential full sized mattress. We just sleep a little closer together.

Oh Lord. Sleeping with my 15 y/o daughter (who has autism) is intrusive enough…she’s always cozying up and crowding me in our sleep. Add to me attempting to toss/turn in the camper bed, trapped by side closets and pain impeding my movement, there’s no way a full will do. I am average height, as well as my daughter, so the short doesn’t bother us. I considered a residential but need that room at the end of the bed the short mattress offers.

I used to be okay with a firm mattress, but aging joints (and those hips) require a plush firmness these days.

My Great grandma and Grandfather were off the boat as well, with their 4 kids. My great grandfather would say “Dam vimen!”

 

[gunafulltime]

We love our Dreamfoam! We have the full queen 11". In our old Jay Feather, we upgraded to their short queen 9". Both are excellent!

When we removed the OE mattress in our Jay Flight, we cut it open. It was 4" plastic foam stuff, like packing/shipping material, and a 1" foam mattress. Unbelievable! It had a Serta label on it.

We use the plastic stuff to lie on when we work on vehicles.
At least it's good for something.

 

[JudyK-JAY22rb]

We love our Dreamfoam! We have the full queen 11". In our old Jay Feather, we upgraded to their short queen 9". Both are excellent!

When we removed the OE mattress in our Jay Flight, we cut it open. It was 4" plastic foam stuff, like packing/shipping material, and a 1" foam mattress. Unbelievable! It had a Serta label on it.

We use the plastic stuff to lie on when we work on vehicles.
At least it's good for something.

I chose the Dreamfoam Hybrid. It’s 10” combo foam and inner springs.

My generic mattress is blue. I’ve seen those Serta branded mattresses on the FB marketplace. We’ll see what becomes of mine.

I figure this new one will be a good choice. I want to enjoy my camper sleep.

 

[JudyK-JAY22rb]

My wife has a 4" foam piece as a topper and we both sleep like a baby. Does your back need a firm mattress?

More of a plush firm these days.

My home mattress is a 3 y/o WinkBeds Luxury Firm. My gosh is that mattress perfectly comfortable. I considered moving it to the camper and getting a new one for the home. Only problem, I need to keep the bed in the camper a queen short.

I think what I bought will do well. If anything I can always add a bit of topper to it, should it require it.

At home, if a new mattress was not doing its job, I'd be mad about having to spend more $$ for it to feel right.

A new residential mattress, for the cost, should work for the owner without modifications. Since I only camp a few times a season I can't justify the cost of the higher end choices. If I spent more time in the camper, I'd definitely consider it.

 

[gunafulltime]

We have the springs, too. It's a great mattress. We are also going to order our home mattresses from them.

 

[Jayhawk 29]

Most of the upgraded mattresses are a lot heavier. So when your bed is up foward this can change your hitch weight, just in case you go to the scales and weigh your camper again. <:}

 

[JudyK-JAY22rb]

Most of the upgraded mattresses are a lot heavier. So when your bed is up foward this can change your hitch weight, just in case you go to the scales and weigh your camper again. <:}

Yes. Ive already calculated this and carrying already the weight of the replacement mattress. My camper mattress plus the current 3” layer of true temrpedic Visco foam, is = to the new mattress. That Visco foam
Is crazy heavy/dense. You should have seen me trying to move the queen short 3” piece around. It was comical b/c it’s so dense but floppy due to it’s size

 

[JudyK-JAY22rb]

We have the springs, too. It's a great mattress. We are also going to order our home mattresses from them.

Good to know. Can’t wait to sleep on it.

 

[dvspl]

Very similar story to our experience. We also ordered a short queen from Brooklyn bedding and it is dramatically better. Good luck...quality sleep is worth it!

 

[Radar57]

My wife and I must be about the only ones on the forum that gets a good night's sleep on the mattress that came with the camper. It's not much different from the one on the bed at home. I guess that's why there are so many different mattresses on the market.

 

[Redhawk 26M]

My wife and I must be about the only ones on the forum that gets a good night's sleep on the mattress that came with the camper.

Could be... Ours from the factory, so so (it's a Murphy bed). Added 2" of padding and was much better, but the bed wouldn't close properly. Reduced to 1" of additional padding, still better and the bed closes properly.

 

[Russc25]

Half Norwegian here (and a full 6'5"... so no short-queens), though my wife's a foot shorter and not even half my weight. We have normal queen Sleep Number beds at home and in the camper (and her parents house for holidays) and it's great. My spine has become SUPER picky and my weight does any spring mattress in after just a few years regardless of rotation.

 

[Smeel]

We bought ours from Zinus through Amazon. Bought an 8"Foam with spring and also have a 3"Foam pad.

The standard 20 layers of cardboard mattress, while much better than the 5 layers we had in our Pop up. Would almost split me in 2 with the Arthritis on my lower back.

In the pop up we used a Queen size airbed, which was OK. But we were up to inflating and deflating it every trip in our SLX 174BH.

 

[ArthurH]

We replaced the mattress that was in our Redhawk with a hinged dual height mattress from custom mattress factory. The one that was in there was from Ikea. They aren't cheap (we paid about $900), but we got exact measurements that fit the platform in our slide out bedroom and it's very comfortable. The one we got is medium firm.

 

[gunafulltime]

Good to know. Can’t wait to sleep on it.

@JKyle,
Now that you're camping, how is the new mattress and how was the tow with your WDH dialed in?

 

[JudyK-JAY22rb]

@JKyle,
Now that you're camping, how is the new mattress and how was the tow with your WDH dialed in?

Hi Everyone. Just got back home yesterday.

I am super pleased to report: 100% satisfaction on the Dreamfoam Hybrid mattress. Wow! 8 nights of sleep and not a bit of back pain!

The mattress arrived to the house the day we were leaving. I unboxed it immediately and placed it in the camper. It was hot that day, so I didn't have the strength to wrestle the mattress protector onto it. However, I wish I had. If there's one thing about this mattress and it looks to be all the BB mattresses: they have a very slick material as their top layer. The sheets slide around on it like it's an ice rink. Very annoying in your sleep to roll and you can feel the sheet underneath you, sliding. By the time I woke every morning, the fitted sheet was all undone. I have a mattress encasement and will put it on today. Hopefully, that ends the slick-ness issue.

Driving and towing were perfect! Truck and trailer played nice. I could actually drive with a single hand.

Other than my bathroom fan crapping out, all was well. Oh, that annoying tiny leak from the hot water inlet of the bathroom sink decided to act up (thank you water alarms!) A 1/2 turn of the threaded coupler fixed that. Reminds me how I REALLY need to get those metal water hoses with the shut-off installed.

I have to go up on the roof today and check the edge above the door for pinholes. I used the outer lane dump station at the campground. There was some serious overhanging of the tree branches there. I noticed some of the branches rubbing along the roof, just above the door.

I stopped at the campground office on the way out and let them know to check it out, as the trees could use some trimming along that edge.

We had really nice weather. A couple thick and sticky, a couple nice a warm; PERFECT for beach days and swimming and the other days were everything in between. One night it was thick and hot another night it was cool. We rode our tricycle bike on average, about 24 miles a day -in 3 trips each day.

It was a really good trip. I came home. Left the camper hooked until this morning, where I could jockey it into the driveway. When we arrived home, I walked in the door and plopped onto the couch, took an immediate nap. I told my husband (who does not camp and has no idea) -'camping is a tough job. I'm tired!'

 

[gunafulltime]

Sounds great! Thank you for the update!