First night in my ancient Duetto

Hello on a lovely sunny weekend.

Just spent our first night aboard our 1999 Transit based Duetto - actually our first night in a motor home too. (Campsite near Hamble)

Pulled out the sofa and laid flat the chair to create the single large sleeping platform - took a little while but with practice our time to do this will drop.
Made up bed (sheets, pillows, duvet) and settled down for a good snooze. That was the idea anyway.
Woke up in the night - hip ache and back ache taking it in turns to ensure that we saw the sun rise!
All caused by the bed - I normally sleep like the proverbial log.

So, what I am hoping is that someone has a suggestion or two about how to make the bed more comfortable.
Many thanks.

I look forward to reading other comments on this!

They are fairly firm and all i can say is the more nights you spend sleeping in the van, the easier it will get but it does take time to get used to. After all it's a completely different 'bed' you normally sleep on! You could try using some foam matting which could be rolled up when not in use.

Probably not what you are suffering from if you have aches but I am very affected by how level the bed is. If my head is even slightly lower than my feet I don't sleep well.

Mattress topper or Duvalay will iron out the bumps

I sympathise as we when we first got our Duetto we played musical beds for some time, trying the various permutations.

Some things to consider- with beds set up as a double, try sleeping across the van if you aren't too tall - try a few night with heads to off side and then near side. Similarly, try sleeping length of van with heads to front and rear.

We finally settled on the single beds set up with heads at rear, using base of rotating seat as feet end of near side bed. We store the long seat rest across the dashboard overnight. Easy to place there via front passenger door once you get the knack. We have been married nearly 40 years so the single beds rather than a double aren't too much of a concern! It also means access to the loo is easier as is getting up to make the morning tea!

Good luck with your new van. Bev

Paulmold wrote:Mattress topper or Duvalay will iron out the bumps

This, along with rotating through the points of the compass will probably be my next steps. That having been said I hate the idea of adding weight - I have spent an inordinate amount of time trimming things out of the vehicle but perhaps a good night's sleep is more important than anything else.
Thanks everybody for your suggestions.

2002 Duetto owners: just to add a vote for 'ZoneSleep' more expensive than Duvalay, but we think worth it - you can get it made to measure - definitely makes a difference. We store ours under the 'sofa' - it just fits along with the two square infill cushions. We store our 'soft' bedding in the 'wardrobe' and use the cab overhead locker for clothes.

(Writing from an Aire in Eastern France - with the joys of SFR Fon and Motorhome WiFi)

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We had a 1999 Duetto for 7 years, 130,000 miles and a total of 112 weeks actual usage and never had a problem (longest single trip, just on 10 weeks). We slept across the width of the van and never used the three infill cushions at all. A possibility, particularly if your cushions are the originals, is that they simply need replacing i.e. they could be worn out.

We weigh 11 stone and 9 stone, so without wishing to be overly nosey. how much do you weigh and could this be a factor?

Duvalet is good for me too.

Jenvid wrote:2002 Duetto owners: just to add a vote for 'ZoneSleep' more expensive than Duvalay, but we think worth it - you can get it made to measure - definitely makes a difference. We store ours under the 'sofa' - it just fits along with the two square infill cushions. We store our 'soft' bedding in the 'wardrobe' and use the cab overhead locker for clothes.

(Writing from an Aire in Eastern France - with the joys of SFR Fon and Motorhome WiFi)

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You give me hope - Thank you for the link, will check out Zone Sleep.

Spospe wrote:
We weigh 11 stone and 9 stone, so without wishing to be overly nosey. how much do you weigh and could this be a factor?

Nice theory but we weigh a little less than you although perhaps if we each had a bit more "padding" it would be a little more comfortable. Who knows!
Cushions seem not to have deteriorated and are fine for sitting on.
I think I'll be going down the overlay mattress route.

we use memory foam mattress toppers in our 1992 autosleeper rapsody work well.light to carry also.g

We had a 98 Duetto and used a padded mattress protector as the storage space was not enough for memory foam type.
We never had a problem sleeping but slept with way with feet at door side.  And we always have to have our heads higher than feet to stop headaches.
We now have a 88 Frisky project and the bed in the Duetto was like a feather bed in comparison to the Frisky.

hi had quite the opposite experience, spent 1st night in duetto driving back from scotland in a service station, very comfortable bed however did get cold :)

Mattress topper would do the trick for you, or blow up mattress maybe...

mines a 1998 btw

I am with you Oddsnends about the necessity of a good night's sleep and I know the Bombay Saphire Gin distillery too - nice place!

I have purchased a three inch thick memory foam mattress topper and Coolmax cover (standard double size) for the exteremly reasonable price of £59.99 from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
It arrived today - we shall try it out next weekend and report back.
My initial thoughts are that the space and weight "consumed" by the mattress topper will be well worth it.

We recently bought a new memory foam mattress topper for our bed at home and I cut the old one up into two singles to use in the van. Made the Duetto seats very comfortable to sleep on. Mind you, we always sleep like logs when we are away. It's either the fresh air or the red wine!

Hi
After my first night someone on this forum suggested a 2 inch double mattress topper from ASDA. You can find it on their web-site. From memory it was £70. I cut this down into 2 single toppers which we use in the Topaz and then we covered them in a cotton based covers to minimise sweating. It solved the sleeping problem, but leaves the problem of how and where to store it. We used a vacuum bag to reduce the volume to store and this has worked well. 
Good luck,
Elvereater

A bit late but I will just add my thoughts about Duetto beds. We always used our bed as a double heads at the front. Used the front seat backs to lean on whilst watching the TV. We had a £25 pound mattress topper then a sleeping bag opened out with a seasonal thickness duvet on top.
I have slept in some very uncomfortable places during my army days and my friend said we are too old to sleep on the floor sober. We bought the Duetto, 1996, because I couldn't fit across the seval van beds, I am 6ft. I am sure with the right combination of mattress topper etc you should have a good nights sleep.

I just use a sleeping bag in my van but possibly arrange my 'layout' differently to anyone else. 

As a single person 'flying solo' i can choose either side but have found the single bed layout best suits me using the single seat by the sliding door down....but i swivel the passenger seat completely around so the seat squab forms the bottom end of the bed. This avoids carrying the extra 'filler' piece needed when the seat is the 'right way' round and as i also use the passenger seat to watch tv or relax in, that's already pushed forward to the dashboard so making the bed takes me no longer than a few seconds.

Always have used a 2" mattress  topper. Very reasonable prices on eBay.

I think you are a pair of softies. We have had our 1998 Duetto many many years. Always had either two or three dogs with us four French Bulldogs and one Pug. By the time you have negotiated who's sleeping where you are that knackered you sleep like a dream. You'll be buying an awning next!

lol bongobeanie!  

We share ours with the pictured Labradoodle and know what you mean.

bongobeanie wrote:I think you are a pair of softies. We have had our 1998 Duetto many many years. Always had either two or three dogs with us four French Bulldogs and one Pug. By the time you have negotiated who's sleeping where you are that knackered you sleep like a dream. You'll be buying an awning next!

No.
Taken the awning that came with the van off as it adds too much weight and the thing is slow enough anyway.
Softies - well probably - I feel I have done with the days of sleeping on the ground, in a ditch, half way up a hill, etc.

Just got back from a night in the van with my new mattress topper - perfect night's sleep.
Thanks for the advice everybody.