Waterbed owners - do you still love it? update post 21

[mykidslovesdisney]

Looking for any input on water bed owners -- have you thought of getting rid of your waterbed??

Dh and I have had our waterbed for over 22 yrs. We are currently on our 3rd mattress that is in dire need of being replaced. I checked out one of the few waterbed stores in our state. Our bed is definitely overfilled and out stretched. the display ones I could barely get out of. I dont' feel like stuggling every morning getting my pooh sized bottom out of a bed
Since ours is overfilled ( I think we have done that w/ the last 2 mattresses) it is easy getting out of bed. DH and I are not old but we are getting up there. DH moreso than I. I dont' want to struggle with the bed just to get out. Plus I have a terrible time changing the sheets. I can't lift the mattress corners up to slip on the waterbed sheet.

I did ask the sales person what would be the best mattress for one switching out of a water bed. He recommened the Eco Natural mattress from Gold Bond. It is part latex, wool and springs. Dh was not able to go with me so he didn't get a chance to try out this mattress. Price wise it is more expensive than replacing the water bed mattress. I have another thread started to find out more about this mattress). I did find a local bedding store that has the same mattress but $500 more for it bc it includes a complete bedding set (which we don't need). We are going to go together to try it out when Dh is feeling a bit better.

Any input would be great. I think the water bed community is a dying breed.

 

[mtomlin66]

We've had a waterbed about 19 years and still love it. We've had to replace the mattress and get a new heater, but that's about it. Most stores don't sell these items, so we order most thing we need from online usually. Now that they're getting older, I think our waterbed is the only reason my kids will still come and snuggle with me !

 

[hereyago]

I have had 3.

The first one was the full motion one, but it had a such a pretty headboard. 2003, Hurricane Isabel helped a tree fall onto the house, limb went into my bedroom, ceiling rafter came down and went right through the bed and plywood. Yes, I was on it at the time, but luckily i couldnt rest like I normally would and was at the end of the bed.

2nd one was to replace the first one, once again full motion. I couldn't get used to the bed for some reason. I had it about 6 months and gave it away.

My present one is not full motion, i can't recall what percentage. but it has a box spring and the bladders are encased in a mattress then a pillow top is over it and it has a sleigh bed frame with the waterbed brackets to reinforce it. It can have regular bed linen on it, so that is a plus.

There is a place in a nearby city where I have bought all 3 of them, but mostly things I see are online.

 

[DreadpiratK]

We've had a waterbed for for over 20 years now, I think we are on the 3rd mattress as well. My DW loves it, and I don't mind it too much. If I had my way we'd switch to a traditional mattress, but she still likes it and I want to keep her happy in bed. I have to say, I love it in the winter, we keep the room cold, and crawling into a warm bed is the best!

We found some good prices on a replacement mattess online, and they do make extra firm waveless models with tubes in them that are a little easier to get out of, so you might look into those. I kind of wish we had gone with one on our last replacement 3 years ago. we got a firm 70% waveless, but not with the tubes. It's very good, I can get into bed without disturbing her at all if she's asleep, but getting up sometimes is a bit of a challenge. They also sell dual bladder mattresses, so you and hubby can each choose how warm you want to keep your side, and how full.

One thing you might consider, when I was buying a mattress for my DS, I talked to a salesman at the mattress store and he said they make traditional mattresses sized to fit into a waterbed frame, and they weren't too much more than a regular mattress, so you don't necessarily need a new bed frame as well.

 

[webprinter]

We have been married for 28 years and have had a waterbed most of the time. I would love a new bedroom set with a traditional mattress but DH will not get rid of the waterbed. He loves it. Unfortunately so do the cats and so we go through mattresses every few years. We have been able to get them off of ebay for a good price.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

Yep, DH had a waterbed when we met in 1972 and has one still! I wouldn't mind getting a normal mattress, or a sleep-number, but DH just loves his bed!

 

[disney1990]

I've been sleeping on a waterbed since 1969. Don't know what I would do if something happened to it. My DH now takes King sized sheets and creates our own waterbed sheets out of high thread counts.

 

[gardengalB4]

We had a waterbed for 12 years-went thru 2 mattresses...
My back & I decided we had had enough & we went the sleep number route & never looked back(my back has never been happier).
The sleep number mattress fit in the waterbed frame,so we didn't need to buy new furniture .
I thought I would miss the warmth of the waterbed in the winter...I got a heated mattress pad & it's not an issue.
I don't miss the days of wondering when the next leak would spring up & dealing with a leak in the middle of the night when you roll over & discover moisture....

 

[mykidslovesdisney]

op here,
Thanks for all the replies. I know the water bed is a rare thing now. I have been w/ DH for 23 yrs and the waterbed is a few yrs olds than that. We did replace some of the support bars about 8 yrs ago.

What I really didn't like about the new mattress is that it is suppose to sit below the frame. Ours is actually way above the frame. It is incased in a mattress style pillowtop bag. The last time we replaced the mattress (8yrs ago) the sales man sold it w/ the mattress. I don't think it could support itself w/o the waterbed wooden frame. IDK. The sales person today seemed abit confused as to the type of bed we have. The pillow top if not thick at all. I am just very concerned about climbing out of bed w/ a mattress that is sitting below the side of the frame. We do have the padded rails on the side. The display bed had them too but it didn't make too much of a difference.

I do love the heated aspect of the bed. Several yrs ago the heater went at the beginning of winter. DH didn't believe me!! I told him something had to be wrong if we are sleeping on flannel sheets and I have 3 covers ontop of me and I'm in flannel pj's too!! I think he dreaded taking the heater out to check it. We replaced the heater and a yr later it did the same thing! It was under warrenty but we still had to take it all out to have the store check it.

Our waterbed store is about 40 mins away. I am thinking of having Dh try out the new natural mattress and then stop back at the waterbed store so he can see how the mattress is suppose to look.

I know I would miss the heated aspect of the bed!

The only time we sleep on a regular bed is at WDW. We love the beds at OKW. But then again we are soo dead tired by the time we hit the pillows I think we can sleep on bricks!

 

[Friendly Frog]

Ooooo your post made me long for my water bed. I loved it.

I have sciatica and you would think that a water bed would be bad for it, but in reality the warmth seemed to help. Alas, DH convinced me that I need the extra, extra ( honest two extras) firm mattress ( rock ) that we have now. Only thing is now DH is sleeping in another room (due to our different hours and his use of a c.r.a.p. machine.) So maybe it is time to get the waterbed back!

 

[kristinw3girls]

Got rid of ous last summer- wish I had done it years ago!! Love my new "regular" mattress! Ditch it!!

 

[mom2mikel]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE mine. I've had one for over 20 years. A few years ago, I decided I wanted a regular bed. I HATED it. Tried it for about a year, but then had to buy a new waterbed because I missed it so much. I love the warm bed in the winter and cool bed in the summer. I just got my DS a super single because he has issues with temperature (like it cool all the time) so this bed works out perfectly for him.

Sadly there are no stores around here so I had to order everything on line - totally worth it

 

[FLA NUT]

We had a semi waveless waterbed for over 20 years until 2 months ago. I talked DH into getting a regular king size pillow top (talk about sticker shock). He is slowly getting used to it, but threatens to bring back the waterbed. He refused to get rid of it and has it stored in our shed.

DS wanted a waterbed a few years ago. After all the hassle of finding one and putting it together, he hated it. His was a full motion and he called it the "butt trap" because he couldn't get out of it. I have to admit, I didn't like the full motion either but I secretly miss mine sometimes (don't tell DH).

 

[PaulaSue]

Dh had one when we got togegher. I never really liked it. (we had it over 15 years together) Hated it when I was preggo. TG we moved and got a real bed. I would NEVER go back to a waterbed.

 

[Dax]

Ooooo your post made me long for my water bed. I loved it.

I have sciatica and you would think that a water bed would be bad for it, but in reality the warmth seemed to help. Alas, DH convinced me that I need the extra, extra ( honest two extras) firm mattress ( rock ) that we have now. Only thing is now DH is sleeping in another room (due to our different hours and his use of a c.r.a.p. machine.) So maybe it is time to get the waterbed back!

Wait.....do you mean CPAP? CRAP machine is funny though..LOL...DH's makes no noise though...

 

[DreadpiratK]

For those of you who have switched away from a waterbed, did it help your back at all? I've been having increasing back pain in the mornings for the last year or so, and this thread has kind of opened the door to talking about getting a regular mattress instead. This morning was especially bad, and so we may go mattress shopping this weekend. I'd just like to be sure that a different mattress would help with my back.

 

[aboveH20]

Word to the wise. . . don't get one if you're planning to move. We had one until a move a few years ago. Unless you spring a leak they are IMPOSSIBLE to drain and move.

We're now looking into the latex foam mattresses.

And BTW, why are mattresses always on sale, but still cost more than a washer and dryer? Must be some mark-up!

 

[LoriNSC]

We ditched our waterbed years ago for the sleep number bed. I hated the waterbed when I was prego and we both hated the sleep number. This past Nov. we splurged on a Tempurpedic. OMG! We're in love with it! We did spend more for the adjustable since we keep getting older And it has massagers in it. Makes getting out of bed hard though!

 

[Friendly Frog]

Wait.....do you mean CPAP? CRAP machine is funny though..LOL...DH's makes no noise though...

ROFL! Yes, Cpap. I had the wrong end...but I am not going there. (It was 2am and past my bedtime) His is fairly quiet but he sounds like Darth Vader breathing in it!

 

[Friendly Frog]

For those of you who have switched away from a waterbed, did it help your back at all? I've been having increasing back pain in the mornings for the last year or so, and this thread has kind of opened the door to talking about getting a regular mattress instead. This morning was especially bad, and so we may go mattress shopping this weekend. I'd just like to be sure that a different mattress would help with my back.

My husband really felt that it helped his back.