Memory foam beds were initially developed, by NASA,  in the 1970’s to assists the astronauts to manage the overwhelming G forces upon lift off and reentry. This project was not successful and in the 1980’s another use for memory foam material was found, and it was redesigned to be used for sleep.

Memory foam beds hit the market in the early ‘90’s. Initially, they were not very well received by the public. The mattresses were very expensive. They were also difficult to manufacture, making them out of reach for the general public. In following years progress in manufacturing allowed the price to come down and they began to be used initially as hospital beds.

Memory foam beds were just the beginning. Realizing the comfort of the product memory foam companies went on to produce other products. Some of these products were compliments to the mattress, and yet others had completely different uses. For examples they began producing mattress toppers, pillows, office furniture, automobile seat padding, infant cribs, car seats, wheelchair cushions, hip pads, sweat pads, computer cases, movie theater seating, pistol gloves, ear plugs and tennis racquets. As you can see, some of these products have nothing to do with sleep.

Memory foam beds are made of open cells that are billions of balloons with holes in them. This allows warm air to escape so it is not warm when you sleep on it. Not only that, but the heat allows the mattress to contour to your body while you are laying on it, and come back to its’ original state when you get off.

A regular foam mattress does not allow the heat to escape so it will get warm as you lay on it, and it does not conform to your body. The regular foam mattress forces you to adjust your body, the memory foam bed adjusts to your body so it relieves pressure points and at the same time supports your weight.

Memory foam beds are temperature sensitive which means it could be too soft during high temperatures. This does not mean that there is a defect in the product but this is how it really is. For those who live in such climates, getting a thicker foam mattress is enough to do the trick.

You now know some of the basic facts about memory foam beds. These facts should give you a start to knowing if a memory foam bed is the right choice for you and your family.