<p>D came back from freshman orientation said, the dome mattress is really hard. </p>
<p>Could you please advice which one is better, health wise and sanitation wise (can you clean it?).</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>The memory foam pads kept my S very hot. He hated his and we went to a synthetic feather bed topper which he can wash.</p>
<p>We bought a foam pad for our oldest who is very picky about his mattress. Worked well. He likes more firmness than feather would provide. </p>
<p>Washability is a must, in my opinion. Things get spilled on the bed that you just don’t want to think about.</p>
<p>We went CHEAP and bought those foam egg crate mattress toppers for use in the dorm. Then we also bought a waterproof mattress pad to put ON TOP of it. Every year, we simply THREW away the egg crate thing…they cost all of $12 at Target, BBB or most any other place. My kids did NOT like the feel of memory foam (and we didn’t like the cost) and neither liked the feel of a feather bed or synthetic feather bed either. We DID make sure that the mattress pad we bought was a little more padded than the cheapest one…Laura Ashley makes an excellent thick mattress pad (yes…even my son had that one).</p>
<p>The freshman dorm is unconditioned (in Boston area). I should take this “heat” into consideration. Thanks</p>
<p>Egg crate is not permitted in her school due to “fire hazard”.</p>
<p>Thanks you all for your replies.</p>
<p>Is there any way your child can try some of these different mattress toppers (do friends or relatives have them?)? The memory foam is a very different “feel” than other mattress toppers and some folks do not like it. The synthetic feather toppers feel different than the down ones. You might want to look at a very thick mattress pad (it will be expensive but not any more so than a memory foam topper plus mattress pad).</p>
<p>The memory foam topper that we bought is covered with a removable cover that is lightly padded. Does not feel hot. It was pricey but we still have the thing 8 years later and it is still in good condition. Other kids didn’t want it. A mistake we made was ordering the thing for an extra long twin. Regular size would have been cheaper. Now the thing is too long for a regular bed–who has XLong twins at home? Not easy to hack the extra off.</p>
<p>I love my memory foam. I’ve never had any heat problems. The place I buy them, Overstock.com, every size (queen, king, etc.) costs the same so I buy the largest one and cut off the extra to make memory foam pillows. I cannot recommend memory foam enough.</p>
<p>I second the Laura Ashley mattress pad- excellent! </p>
<p>We spent a fair amount on a feather mattress topper and unfortunately son ended up with feathers all over the place. Not sure what that says about him. For D we ended up purchasing a brand “Isotonic” (I think) that is a bit different than memory foam and not quite like the egg crates. We’ll put that on D’s bed with a mattress pad on top- hopefully she’ll survive.</p>
<p>My kids have the 2 inch Mem-Cool memory foam from Overstock. We put it under a nice mattress pad and the kids report being very comfy. No complaints of being too warm.</p>
<p>We had a really old egg crate one in the attic. S2 thought it might be hot so I picked up a feather topper on a great deal at BBB. He ended up using both, putting the feather topper on top of the egg crate, then a mattress pad. His dorm mattress had to be one of the thinnest on the planet. The fiitted sheet covered it all just fine. The only complaint I heard was that the feather topper slid around a little. He fixed that with man’s best friend…duct tape.</p>
<p>My daughter has the memory foam on her bed here at home - and loves it other than it slipping around. Thanks for the suggestion PackMom - Duct tape to the rescue!!!</p>
<p>I’m sorry but this thread just cracked me up, so many people with opinions on matresses (not that thats bad)</p>
<p>The beds at D’s school are hard, vinyl covered, and noisy! So far, this is our solution:</p>
<p>Laura Ashley Home Overfilled Mattress Pad, 100% Cotton, 220 Thread Count XL Twin $29.99 (can’t remember if the 20% off coupons work on this, I think so)
[Bed</a> Bath & Beyond - Laura Ashley Home Overfilled Mattress Pad, 100% Cotton, 220 Thread Count](<a href=“Bed Bath & Beyond | The Best Deals Online: Furniture, Bedding, Rugs, Kitchen Essentials & Moree”>Bed Bath & Beyond | The Best Deals Online: Furniture, Bedding, Rugs, Kitchen Essentials & Moree)</p>
<p>and will probably get something like this:
3.0" Visco2 Ventilated Mattress Enhancer XL Twin $89.99
[Amazon.com:</a> Sleep Studio ViscO2 Ventilated 3-Inch Thick Memory Foam Mattress Enhancer, Twin XL: Home & Garden](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Studio-Ventilated-Mattress-Enhancer/dp/B000LQG0DE/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1248284804&sr=1-15]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Studio-Ventilated-Mattress-Enhancer/dp/B000LQG0DE/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1248284804&sr=1-15)</p>
<p>Packmom – great thought. My X husband once said that I went throught life thinking that there was nothing ducttape, wd-40 and/or a coat hanger couldnt fix.</p>
<p>If I’m in California for college, will memory foam toppers be too hot? </p>
<p>I never even knew these things existed. or egg crate toppers. I’m so confused XD.</p>
<p>Some topppers are marked cool</p>
<p>We have given feather beds as high school graduation presents to three children (daughters) of close friends. They have been very popular with the recipients. All cold-weather colleges, though, with old, drafty dorms.</p>
<p>My son is one of those who hates being too hot, so we went with a fiberbed from BB&B. He loves it. He’s home for the summer, and says his dorm bed with the fiberbed and a thick mattress pad was more comfortable than his bed here.</p>