What Keeps You Awake At Night?

With our lives busier than ever and the noise of constant information and modern day living difficult to switch off, it is no wonder why plenty of us struggle to get a good night's sleep. 

As a way of getting to know our fans and followers, we would like to find out what keeps you awake at night.

Is it ...


Your partner's snoring?

Or stress from work?

Could it be backache?

Or do your dust allergies keep you up?

Are your little ones keeping you awake?

Or is it the sound of the traffic outside?

Or maybe it's the internet that prevents you from getting a good night's sleep?

Leave a comment below with your reason by 11.59pm on Saturday 30th June 2012 and you could win one of our pocket sprung pillows! The winner will be contacted on Monday 2nd July 2012. 

If you suffer from bad hayfever, you might also be interested to know that apart from the pillow's springs and built-in air conditioning, it is also hypoallergenic.

Please make sure you include your @ Twitter name or sign in with your email address so that we can contact you.

(This competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Blogger, Facebook or Twitter.)

Sealy Celebrates Over Sixty Years of Sensational Sleep

Lie back on any Sealy bed and you will fall asleep on 125 years of mattress ingenuity. A journey that began in 1881 in the town of Sealy, Texas, when Daniel Haynes, cotton gin builder, filled a request for a cotton-filled mattress. And then another. And then another. His business grew exponentially, which led to more innovations and many patents. These mattresses became known as “the beds from Sealy”.

Fifteen years later, Haynes sold his patents to a Texas company that retained the Sealy name. Soon after, advertising exec Earl Edwards penned the slogan “Sleeping on a Sealy is like sleeping on a cloud.” And with that, Sealy mattresses became an American phenomenon. By 1920, Sealy had 23 licensed plants across the USA.

Then in 1950 came the milestone when the Company introduced its first Sealy Posturepedic brand mattress. A unique advanced coil design, with independently hinged springs, that combined both comfort and lumbar support. In 1956, Sealy became the first Company to display and advertise king size beds. The 1960's saw Sealy commission the first major research study to define the profile of the Sealy Posturepedic consumer. In 1967, Sealy Posturepedic TV commercials ran during prime time on national television - another first for the industry.

Sealy beds were first introduced into the UK in 1974 and have been made at the same site in Aspatria, Cumbria, ever since.  Over the last 36 years, the Sealy UK business has been at the forefront of mattress technology in the UK.

• Sealy were the first company in the industry to be awarded the British standard quality assured award.
• In 1986 they gained BS5750 accreditation (ISO 9002) – an industry first!
• They are frequent winners of the Furniture Industry ‘Bed of The Year’ & ‘Effective Consumer Marketing’ awards
• They were the first company to be awarded the FIRA (Furniture Industry Research Association) Gold Award – for product excellence.
• They were the first furniture company to achieve “Investors in People” standard
• We are a Sleep Council founder member.
• And just as importantly, we are the biggest bed brand in the world

Sealy now operate in over fifty countries across the globe and have a presence on every continent.  A Sealy bed is sold somewhere in the world every three seconds!

They have the biggest R&D facility in the industry (at Group Headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina). In an industry where size most definitely does matter, Sealy can draw on market information, scientific developments and consumer insights from around the world, to develop the most technologically advanced and thoroughly tested mattresses ever!

Sealy has one goal: to help the world sleep better. And with actions like utilising new sleep technologies and spending more on research, that goal gets closer every day. 

Where Do Mattresses Come From?

Having something comfortable to lie on, where we can rest and get a good night’s sleep, has always been a challenge. Our cavemen ancestors slept on the hard ground on piles of leaves, straw or animal skins – and near a fire if possible, to keep them warm and away from predators.

Those who could soon realised that being off the ground was a much better idea and considerably less draughty, cleaner and free from creepy crawlies. Wealthy Romans had mattresses filled with reeds, hay, wool or feathers, and sometimes these were raised on top of basic primitive metal, stone or wooden bedsteads. But the less well off and the slaves still had to make do on the floor. 

The word ‘mattress’ is actually derived from Arabic words meaning “to throw” or a “mat, cushion” and as a result of their involvement in the Crusades in the early middle ages, Europeans started to adopt this Arabic method of sleeping on cushions thrown on the floor. And the word ‘materas’ eventually descended into Middle English. 

Bed manufacturing has come a long way since then - with mattresses now containing a variety of materials as both fillings and technology have progressed over the centuries. Where once straw or feather mattresses were standard, 21st century consumers are now spoiled for choice with everything on offer in their bed: from water to foam to a variety of types of springs.

Although we have come a long way with our sleeping arrangements over the centuries, people today still suffer disturbed nights and struggle out of bed, bleary-eyed in the mornings, complaining of stiffness, back ache and general lethargy. What is amazing is that so many don’t realise all this could be easily cured if they would only invest in a proper supportive mattress to sleep on.  

Sleep expert Dr Chris Idzikowski found that swapping an uncomfortable old bed for a comfortable new one could account for an average of 42 minutes' extra sleep - four times that achieved by over the counter sleep aids. So, improving the quality of sleep can be helped enormously by making sure you're sleeping on the right bed.

However, until they lie down on one, unbelievably most people don’t appreciate just how great it is to sleep on a really comfortable and supportive mattress – and also just how many different types of beds and mattresses there are to choose from. And of course there is the confusion, how do you know which mattress is right for you?

Free Tickets to The London Allergy and Free From Show and a Chance to Win a Sealy Bed

The Allergy and Free From Show will be taking place at Olympia, London from 18th - 20th May 2012.

Sealy Posturepedic and Smart Fibres will be sponsoring the Seminar Zone, which will cover topics from 'Living Successfully With Severe Allergy' to dietary discussions including food allergies and tips on what to eat if you suffer from bloating or IBS. The seminars will also cover subjects such as eczema and how to manage allergy treatments.

On Sunday 20th May at 1pm, there will be a keynote session on 'How to avoid dust mites, pollen and other airborne allergens'. This session will be led by Dr. Robert Boyle who is a Consultant of Paediatric Allergy. 

Advanced tickets for the show are £7.50 and £10 on the door but Sealy fans can sign up for free tickets here!

There is also a chance for you to win a Sealy bed with Smart Fibres. Sealy's Smart Fibres contain Purotex that has probiotic friendly bacteria to keep dust mites at bay and reduce allergens for a fresher mattress throughout. If you want to find out more about Smart Fibres, click here.

If you are planning to be at the show, tweet us. We would love to know which seminars you are sitting in on. 

Here is the seminar timetable. Do any of the topics interest you?