Vin, why did you go with Sleep Number?

I've thought about Temperpedic but it feels weird so I want to stick with a regular mattress and want the best. We have a Sealy Postrepedic now and like it but I want to upgrade all my bed stuff soon.

I have a tempurpedic also. It's great... but gets too hot. I went with sleep number because with the plush one that we got, it's like a normal, plush pillowtop mattress... but the springs don't wear out. Plus... there are nights I need it firm... and others where I sleep with almost no air in it.

Me too.

Oh wait, are you talking about your mattress? LOL

I tried the sleep number thing once at a hotel in Dallas. I'm sure it was the bottom of the line, but I was so unimpressed that I wouldn't consider owning one.

There is a marketing lesson there...

yeah, bottom of the line sleep number is like a cot. Gotta get the 7000.

There's no hard and fast rules about how many hours sleep you should get.

I work with someone who gets about 2-3 hours a night at most! I usually get emails from her about 5am or before, and she's up way beyond midnight.

Its just the way we all work differently.

Actually, I'm jealous. I'd love to only need 3 hours a night!

I remember watching something on 20/20. Some doctor claims that humans need only 6 hours a night. And that as we get older, we need less sleep.

Jason: Do kids count as "un-natural?" In college I used to sleep in until 10-11 (even structured my classes around it)... but since I had kids 8 years ago, I don't think I've ever slept in past 7:00.

Suzanne: there is definitely no "right number of hours" -- my wife is useless w/o 9 or 10 hours a night... whereas I've been comfortable with about 6.

JR

There are always contradictions on health related stuff, even from the experts and scientist.

I've heard both, you may only need 6 hours sleep, and you still need 8 hours sleep as you age.

Just like anything else, this can very from person to person. I think there are other factors involved, like how how well you sleep, your stress level, diet, level of fitness, etc.

For me (I'm 42) 7 hours seems just right. If I sleep more then that, I'm tired.

I also like to take a power nap after dinner (30 minutes)

I don't know if the latest research--on which the 60 Minutes report was based--will pan out in the end...but the findings suggested that Americans of all ages were not getting enough sleep. And that the body needs 8 hours of sleep for repair and sustenance.

Those medical findings suggested that lack of sleep may play a role in obesity, diabetes, mental health--and other health related issues.

And it suggested that many airline crashes--as well as Chernobyl and the Exxon spill--happened on the lobster shift (nighttime)...and could possibly be attributed to sleep deprivation.

Here's an article that interviews one of the leading researchers on sleep. It discusses the research involved and the issues at hand: Sleep deprivation threatens public health,says research award winner