Need a new bed -Futon input please

[guestmama9924]

Right now I have a standard department store king bed. It is horrible and we have had it for like 10 years!

Anyway, I have always wanted a nice sleep futon
( not the folding couch kind for $100 at the futon shop, more like the Japanese kind) on a platform bed. Simplicity!

I have been comparing various sites that make organic bed futons ( White Lotus, Heart of Vermont, etc) and just can' t make a good decision on how it is going to feel, hold up . Wool or Cotton or both? Easy to care for ?
Input or personal experiences please!

[emmaline]

I love my futon, it's the third one I've had and the best. The first was four layers of cotton - very very firm unless it was hauled out into the sun regularly, like every few weeks, and also rolled up every day to air, but it was on the floor.

the next had a foam rubber core and four layers of cotton - it was on the slat base we still use and needed less airing but it was destroyed by my huge oversupply when bfing ds1 - I rarely had time to air it properly as ds napped on it during the day. I could have protected it with a waterproof cover but these make me so hot at night I can't sleep and also made ds's eczema much worse

so next we got one with four layers of cotton and two of wool, softer because dh and I are both heavier now than pre-kids and we love it. It gets rolled up weekly and aired in the sun when I can manage - only a few times a year - more oftem would be better

futons definitely need more care than a mattress - they need to be aired even on a slat base - but they are excellent for babies to sleep on and if you have a low base are safer than a standard bed

dh thinks they can be easily maintained by having an electric blanket on and heating them up regularly but I hate electric blankets and would rather roll up and lug into the sun - but I guess that depends on where you live

did I say I love my futon???

[guestmama9924]

wow! Thanks for the detailed info. That is just the type of stuff I wanted to hear! It would be SO easy to sun ours- we live in the Keys and we have a deck right off our room. I worry about our heavy (90%) humidity, but we do run the a/c.

Thanks again for the food for thought.

[emmaline]

humidity could well cause problems - hopefully someone else can answer that one

[srain]

I LOVED my futon until I got pregnant. My looser joints and greater weight needed something softer- I had major hip pain throughout pregnancy and afterwards until my son was 10 months old and we bought a regular mattress. So make sure your body doesn't mind the hardness first.

[emmaline]

yes hardness was a problem during pregnancy for me too, I put a sheepskin over my spot in the bed

[guestmama9924]

It is interesting to hear that you gals thought of them as hard. Right now I find our super firm King way too firm and unflexible. I guess I always pictured a cotton futon to be thick and fluffy:

[emmaline]

when our wool and cotton futon ws new it was thick and fluffy and probably would still be if I'd sunned it much more often - but they do compact up and get pretty hard! I like the kind of hardness they have and have trouble sleeping on anything else