minimalist/floor sleeping

[pony mom]

freshstart, guess where the fluid from the nightsweats are now? I was lead to links about what's in your mattress, and you can lose up to a pint of fluid a night! The shikifutons are folded daily and aired out in the sun regularly to prevent mold. Can't do that with a mattress. People who keep their regular mattress on a wood floor may have mold growing.

We get really fast furry spiders here, as well as those little black bugs with pinchers. For now I'll continue sleeping on the boxspring.

[freshstart]

I have a waterproof mattress pad over the whole thing that I wash weekly. There's no way I would let those night sweats get into my mattress, gross

[freshstart]

plus I have 2 dogs sleeping on the bed, I learned the hard way to get a waterproof mattress cover many years ago, lol

[Sloeginfizz]

The person at the mattress store where we bought our memory foam mattress told us to always have a waterproof cover on a memory foam mattress. He said beyond the mold issue that sweat can degrade the foam prematurely.

[sylvia]

I cringe at the thought of sleeping on an electric blanket. Try a hot water bottle for warmth.

[bae]

My wife and I slept on a futon for 15+ years, until she was fairly along in her pregnancy with our daughter, and decided a "real bed" would work better, as it would keep our Basset Hounds from stealing the covers. We always found the futon pretty comfortable and easy to sleep.

I sleep in the woods on the cold cold ground a lot, but I usually build a small barrier of pine boughs and/or use a small foam pad to keep the temperature from wicking out of my body.

The past several years I've switched to using non-spreader-bar hammocks in the woods, and it's been the most comfortable sleep I've ever had. Two years ago I slept for about 45 days in a row in one of those hammocks, set up between two trees outside my bedroom door, and it was just fine. (I couldn't sleep inside, my wife had a terrible medical condition requiring constant attention and infection control measures, so I slept where I could provide care but not cause issues.)

[pony mom]

I've made a few changes to my sleeping. A few days ago I gave away my mattress, so now I'm using my padding on my old boxspring. I've also added some of the soft rubber interlocking floor mats as an extra cushion. Also still have thick cardboard under that to cover up the thick wires of the boxspring. Still comfy, but an ugly mess of layered padding.

It looks like I'll be ordering the traditional futon from Japan pretty soon. That will either go on the boxspring, or remove that and use the futon over a piece of wood (and locking tiles) that rests on the slats. It will look really strange but may feel as supportive as the floor.

[catherine]

My wife and I slept on a futon for 15+ years, until she was fairly along in her pregnancy with our daughter, and decided a "real bed" would work better, as it would keep our Basset Hounds from stealing the covers. We always found the futon pretty comfortable and easy to sleep.

I sleep in the woods on the cold cold ground a lot, but I usually build a small barrier of pine boughs and/or use a small foam pad to keep the temperature from wicking out of my body.

The past several years I've switched to using non-spreader-bar hammocks in the woods, and it's been the most comfortable sleep I've ever had. Two years ago I slept for about 45 days in a row in one of those hammocks, set up between two trees outside my bedroom door, and it was just fine. (I couldn't sleep inside, my wife had a terrible medical condition requiring constant attention and infection control measures, so I slept where I could provide care but not cause issues.)

I want to sleep outside so badly. Sometimes in the summer, I stay outside in the lounge chair until very late and I'm so tempted to just stay there until morning. It's so peaceful and comfortable. I don't because I have no privacy fence, and I'd feel too exposed to people walking through the park.

I've never even been camping. DH was a Marine and "camped out" in Norway up near the Arctic Circle and swears he will never camp out again. I feel like I'm missing out on something. Maybe I'll at least find a couple of trees to string up a hammock. I have a private corner of my lot dedicated to my Zen herb/pollinator garden, so maybe I could set up camp back there. I'll take my dog.

[nswef]

Catherine, I quit Girl Scouts because of camping....outhouses...bugs...musty smelling sleeping bags, cots, cabins. But now at 68 something in me wants to at least sleep on the screened in porch one night. The sense of feeling exposed is a deterrent and skunks, bears, deer. The screened porch seems to be a good way to try it.

[bae]

I love some of the older homes in my mother-in-law's neighborhood that have sleeping porches up on the second floor.