I'm so glad I found this forum and have been learning a great deal.  Here's my situation and I can really need some help:  currently I and my husband are sleeping a futon mattress that's pretty much seen the end of its life and I have back pain.  I'm a side sleeper at 140 lb, he's a stomach sleeper and weighs 280 lb.  We have a firm inner spring mattress in the guest bedroom and have been sleeping on it.  I like it but since he comes to bed late I wake up every night around 1am when he craws into bed from all the motion ( which I don't get with the futon mattress).  The mattress is a Simmons Beautyrest ultra firm with pocketed coils.  I've been to 4-5 stores and tried Sealy Posturepedic, Tempurpedic, SpringFree latex, Stearns and Foster, Beauty Rest.  I'm getting confused with all the options.  If I sleep on too soft or too rigid a surface I really get back pain.  This weekend I'm hoping to get to IKEA to try out some of their foam mattresses.  We have a queen platform bed.

Here are a few that I like:
Stearns & Foster Grenoble Firm   from Sears
Sealy Posturepedic Candle Glow Cushion firm,   a reserve line from Sears

My husband likes the Tempurpedic Advantage, but I have a lot of allergies and I'm worried I'll be allergic to the memory foam, and he usually feels hot while sleeping

I like Sealy Springfree but worried it will not be supportive for my back

I'm at wits end.  I need something that gives a lot of support, toward the firm side, accomodating to a side sleeper and a stomach sleeper.  Also it has to be strong enough to support a heavy guy.  Thanks in advance.

Hi, good luck in your search. The forums are a wealth of information. Go through and read as much as possible. Many people here recommend that if you go the spring route, then get something without a lot of foam and then buy foam to put on top of the mattress.

I think that your concerns are valid regarding the tempurpedic.

I just saw the part regarding the motion transfer. Pocketed coils do a good job dampening the motion transfer. Unfortunately they tend to wear quicker (especially the Beautyrest). While I am concerned with the beautyrest because your full is not keeping you from waking, a queen would do a better job. Check out the latex mattresses, especially the online companies where you can easily trade out different firmness of foam and customize the bed for each of you.