One of the most important things to all of our health, mental and physical, is sleep. After 30 years of parenting, I get this. And after having 5 kids, I get this on steroids. :) But Steve and I are in our 50’s now, and getting a good nights sleep is about more than getting up with crying babies and long nights at work. For me, it’s about dealing with chronic conditions that make it almost impossible to sleep well. I had a horseback riding accident when I was 13, and recently learned that over time it has been the cause of some pretty painful neck and spine issues. Oh, did I mention Fibromyalgia and Menopause? So sleep for me? Nope. Not an easy thing. And while Steve doesn’t have the issues I do, he does have chronic back pain, like many of you. (You all have your hands up, right?) So when we were ready to replace our 12 year old mattress, we had to be very careful about choosing well. We did the research, and picked USA Today’s Best Mattress of the Year. Does it live up to the claim? Here is our honest Nectar mattress review of whether we picked well!
*Post is sponsored by NECTAR Sleep and includes affiliate links. All opinions are ours!
Nectar Mattress Review
Why We Chose a Nectar Mattress
First we knew our choice had to be a quality memory foam mattress. Our previous mattress had been a traditional spring model, and I had to make it more comfortable for my back by adding a very thick memory foam pad to it. It worked well for immediate pain, but didn’t provide very good support. Especially for Steve. So we knew our next mattress was going to have to be memory foam, it is the only way I can sleep well.
Second, we chose the Nectar mattress and decided to review it because of the amazing benefits… I mean, seriously, a forever warranty? A 365 day return guarantee? And, BTW, they pay for shipping, both ways if you decide to return it. Where have you ever seen that? Since I had so many issues, we knew it might be trial and error finding the right mattress, so this was awesome. And given the USA Today Best Mattress of the Year designation… Nectar was definitely on our short list. Given my new obsession with natural health, our mattress also had to be Certi-Pur, which means it doesn’t use volatile chemicals in production. Nectar is. But what clinched it for us to go ahead and move forward, was that the prices were totally reasonable. Seriously people, sleep is everything. It doesn’t matter if you are still in your 20’s or if you have retired, it is that important. Want to learn more about their guarantee and return policy on their website? Visit them here.
So we got our mattress in this pretty blue box. This is small and compact, but ours was a California King, so it was pretty heavy. We had just moved into a new house, so our bed frame hadn’t gotten delivered yet. But since the instructions say it can take a day or two to fully expand, we opened it right on the bedroom floor!
Once you take the mattress out of the box and unroll it, the fun begins. We carefully cut open the plastic bag the mattress was sealed in, and it immediately started to expand. Did we mention, it came with two memory foam pillows too? Watching the mattress expand is kind of magic, it’s a little like the satisfaction you get from watching those expanding snake fireworks in the summer. I’ll just say it. It’s so cool.
This is the mattress after a few hours, and you can see that while it isn’t quite there yet, it expands fairly quickly. We were impressed at how thick it was, compared to many others we had looked at.
It has a quilted cover that feels like it’s made with quality fabric, and the pillows seemed really substantial as well.
After about 24 hours, the mattress was fully expanded, and we laid down on it for the first time… Our first impression was that it was firmer than we expected, and I was a little concerned it would be too firm for my body, and cause aching, and worse. However, in for a penny, in for a pound, right? So our bed frame got delivered, and we started sleeping on the mattress. Here is what we found…
Pros and Cons
With our Nectar mattress review, most important to us was physical comfort. The fact that the mattress was firm soon became a non issue. We realized that first night that even though when you first lay down it feels firm, it quickly molds to your body. This was great for both comfort and support. I waited for the aching that first morning, as I adjusted to a new bed. It’s the same ache I get in every hotel, no matter how luxurious. It happens everywhere. But, it didn’t happen here. Neither Steve nor I had this “sleeping on a cloud” feeling that we would get from a thick memory foam mattress pad, but that was a good thing… We also didn’t get the back aches. I honestly could not believe my body was so happy with this Nectar mattress!
The pillows took a little more convincing. As I said before, they are pretty substantial. They are thicker and also very firm. I was worried they would place too much pressure on my neck, forcing it upward instead of holding it in line with my body. However, the pillows also formed to my head the same way the mattress formed to my body. I was able to use them without any pain, though to be honest, if I had to choose again, I probably would not use a pillow so thick. Steve felt the same way. So if you like a thick, firm, supportive pillow, this is your guy. The quality was excellent. They did have a light smell for a few evenings, but that dissipated quickly.
Nectar Mattress Review : Our Final Word
Thanks for reading our Nectar mattress review. All in all, the Nectar Mattress was a win for us. It lived up to it’s hype, despite us initially being wary about the firmness. We are still not sure about how thick the pillows are, but pillows are really a pretty personal thing anyway. Steve prefers a thinner pillow, and I need one that supports my neck more. We hope that you reading about our real mattress experience will help you decide to give Nectar a try! You can find all the sizes of the Nectar Mattress with their current price here. We would get one of these again, hands down! Check out our post on DIY Bed Frames or DIY Storage Beds to go with your new mattress!