My Smiley360 Sleep Number Store experience (and a new bed for me - yay!)

My husband Andy and I visited the Sleep Number store in Hagerstown Maryland and met with Dave - a Sleep Number consultant who showed us the new DualTemp layer and the Sleep Number family of beds.

When I presented our consultant with the Smiley360 card he had never had a member visit on behalf of the program so I took a moment to talk with him about how Smiley360 empowers consumers by allowing their voice to be heard by brands and marketing companies in response to the products and opportunities we are given to test and respond to.  Within 20 minutes a second Smiley360 member visited the store with her family to try the DualTemp layer as well.  Dave was clearly excited by the opportunity to show us the Sleep Number products and let us test the dreamy, comfortable support of the 5" CoolFit Foam Contour pillow we would receive free from Smiley360 as an added mission bonus.  He said that the CoolFit pillow is what he sleeps on and what he would recommend to any guest of the store who was looking for a great night's sleep.

If you are interested in becoming a member of Smiley360 and getting to test awesome products and try new things that you often get to keep for free, click this link and sign up - I want to try Smiley360!

The bed on which the DualTemp layer was located was in the very front of the store, right in the window where anyone who was shopping in the mall could check it out.  It was a little intimidating to crawl into it, feeling like all eyes were on us, and I spent the first few minutes propped up in an awkward position while Dave adjusted each side of the DualTemp mattress pad's air flow and temperature to reflect our personal sleeping preference.  As my side began to warm up I relaxed a bit and just enjoyed the comfort of the warm air circulating beneath me and the added softness of the layer of comfort material built into the pad.

To learn more about it, you can check out the the DualTemp layer's information page here or by visiting a Sleep Number store for yourself.  If you're in the Hagerstown Maryland area, go see Dave for your own consultation - he was very helpful and gave us excellent product suggestions to get us the best deal on our new bedding.

My husband and I have vastly different preferences when it comes to sleep - I am under at least two layers of blankets all year long and love a soft pillowy mattress while he will kick off every layer even in the dead of winter and prefers a firm surface to sleep on.  For Andy's side he had cool air circulating (his side was accompanied by a special remote control to adjust the settings which was for demonstration purposes named "Sara") and mine which was being pumped with warm air (my control was named "Jason" although you can name your own remote when you purchase a DualTemp layer).  Dave also took the time to find our individual sleep numbers.  These numbers correspond to your preference of the firmness of the actual sleep number mattress.  A separate remote lets you customize the support of each side of your bed.  Andy was a 55 and I was a 45.

I was skeptical that there was a big difference between "his side" and "my side" so after several minutes we simply switched so we could see for ourselves.  Andy's side honestly felt like a totally different bed to me!  Even a ten point difference in firmness felt completely alien and he said that if his side of the bed were as warm as mine he wouldn't be able to take it for five minutes without running for the hills.

A nice thing about the DualTemp layer is that you can use it with your existing standard mattress system, and you don't need to purchase a sleep number bed if you don't wish to.  It is currently available in three sizes, extra long twin, queen and king.  My husband and I currently have a full size bed, but were so impressed with a different bed in the sleep number family that we chose to purchase it - a Flex Fit Plus model that has the capability of being adjustable and also has a massage feature.  Like our current full size mattress, the Flex Fit model we purchased wasn't compatible with the DualTemp layer although our consultant said that they may make them available in different sizes and also in a new design that are for the adjustable styles in the spring of next year.

Later on we transferred to a different bed that did not have a DualTemp layer and we saw through a video display how the variance in firmness of the mattress can help alleviate excessive pressure on your body that cause you to lose sleep.  Dave even sent us a snapshot of our pressure points taken as a "before and after"  with a special computer monitor.  It was easy to see how you could benefit by changing from a standard mattress to a Sleep Number system.


We were in the market for a new mattress and after experiencing the undeniable comfort that these beds provided and the ability to customize the firmness and also the position of the mattress we were hooked.  The model we ended up with - the P5 mattress in a queen size with a FlexFit Plus base - has a preset that is called "zero gravity" that we both loved and Andy was crazy about the fact that you could customize the mattress with targeted massage zones.  He will enjoy that immensely after a long day of standing on concrete.  He loved all of the beds we tried, but the P5 mattress was the first one where he was comfortable enough to close his eyes - I snapped a quick pic of him dreaming about his new bed...

We truly didn't expect to walk out of the store with a new bed purchase, but we had an amazing experience.  After posting a few pics of us on Instagram in the store on the mission I came to find that I have several friends and family members who are already loving their Sleep Number beds!  I can hardly wait for the two weeks it will take to be delivered and I do hope that someday I can add the comfort of the DualTemp layer to my new Sleep Number bed!

If you want to you can check out the Facebook pages of Smiley360 and Sleep Number because they often have offers available that you might want to check out.  You can follow them on Twitter at @SleepNumberSara @SleepNumberDeal or @SleepNumberGaby and @Smiley360.  They host great giveaways and have twitter parties and chats where you can learn even more about the brands you're trying and are interested in and they often have amazing prizes too.

Thanks for listening - hopefully this will be the last time I'm up posting at 2:00 in the morning instead of getting a good night's sleep!  Much love to everybody who is taking the time to read this and share my excitement - thanks!