Consumer Reports has updated our mattress Ratings, and the best we’ve tested provide plenty of support, resist bounciness, allow easy movement, and should last for many years before you need to replace it. You won’t find scores for comfort in our Ratings; that’s an individual judgment. But here’s a look at some mattresses that did especially well in back and side support. If you sleep on your back Our tests for back support graph the spine’s natural curves for a range of adults, and then we record how consistently mattresses maintain that curve. Charles P. Rogers Powercore Estate 5000, $1,500 This innerspring isn’t the best choice if you occasionally roll over to your side, but it delivered better back support than any other innerspring—or foam bed—in our tests. We tested its firmness as medium. Spring Air Back Supporter Natalie, $1,200 Sold at Costco, this memory foam bed also wasn’t notably good for side sleepers, but for the back, it was impressive.
The manufacturer claims the mattress is “ultra firm,” but we judged it as medium. Sleep Number i8 Bed, $3,000 Our testers judged this adjustable-air mattress, topped by foam, as soft. But this and its lower-price sibling were among the very best at back support. With these, you can adjust firmness one half of the bed at a time—helpful if two sleep partners like a different feel. Sleep Number c2 Bed, $700 This adjustable-air mattress fared almost as well but for more than $2,000 less. One primary difference is this bed’s firm feel, likely because of the considerably thinner foam topping. Roll over now and then? Both these Sleep Number beds were impressive for side sleepers as well. If you sleep on your side For our side-sleeping test, we check how well a mattress keeps the spine relatively horizontal when someone is lying on his or her side. All three of our top picks for side sleepers also fared above-average at back support. No mattress, however, received our top score in this test.
Serta Perfect Day iSeries Applause, $1,075 This innerspring has gotten a bit difficult to find, but it’s a winner if you can locate it. We judged it as medium, which apparently didn’t hurt in our tests; it’s the top-Rated innerspring. Beautyrest ReCharge Hybrid Jeffrey’s Bay, $1,800 While pricey, this Beautyrest was among our top innersprings, and we judged it as medium. One caveat: Couples might find it a bit bouncy if one partner gets up during the night. Casper The Casper 10”, $850 This online company produced a winner in this memory-foam bed, which we judged as medium. You might wish you could try it out—and if you're shopping in New York City you can—but we found its return policies to be very generous. Need a new mattress? Our online mattress Ratings now include almost 40 models, along with companion, survey-based Ratings of mattress stores and brands. Be sure to see our mattress buying guide before narrowing your choices. —Ed Perratore (@EdPerratore on Twitter)
If you sleep on your side and have the wrong mattress, it can lead to shoulder pain or hip pain. A good mattress for side sleeping should conform to your body, taking the pressure off your hips and shoulders and aligning your spine so that your muscles can relax. Thus for side sleepers specifically we recommend buying a mattress online. Don’t get roped in by a two-minute test in a store — that will tell you nothing about ultimate feel and durability in the long run. Online companies typically have a trial period (up to 100 nights in some cases) where you can return the mattress for a full refund if it doesn’t suit your preferences. You should definitely do your research before buying, but at least this trial process takes away the risk of you being stuck with a mattress for years that actually isn’t a great fit. I have reviewed a number of mattresses that claim to be good for side sleepers, however I’ve narrowed down my top 4 for the purpose of this review.
My top 3 are: These mattresses are not necessarily #1 in my overall mattress reviews, but they do rate the highest when considering side sleepers. Note these are all high-quality mattresses that I consider very durable, with GhostBed as an option for those with a little less of a budget. Amerisleep is very high quality memory foam and ranks at the top of my memory foam mattress list as well. They have a few models, for side sleepers I would go with a softer option (their Liberty, Colonial, or Independence are good choices). Amerisleep in general is very comfortable (in my opinion) and very good value (get an extra $50 off here). They also have some unique cooling features in their foam and some very cool features in general, learn more in my full Amerisleep review. Layla is a relatively small and unknown memory foam mattress mattress company, but we need to mention them due to their great specs and price. Layla easily compares to models that are 3x expensive in stores (see more details on their website).
The mattress is flippable, with two relatively soft options for sleepers. Read my Layla mattress review for a full analysis of the specs. Layla also delivers only online, passing on some of the savings of not having retail stores to buyers. Layla stands out from the competition in my mind because the memory foam is copper infused, so it sleeps cooler than most memory foam mattresses. Loom and Leaf is designed to be a luxury memory foam mattress at an affordable price (see more HERE). The mattresses is sold only online, so it can compete with some of the top memory foam brands in terms of specs (think Tempur-pedic) at a fraction of the price. They’re not marking up the product by a huge margin just to fund retail locations. The company uses very high quality memory foam that offers side sleepers great support. Learn more about this mattress in my full Loom & Leaf review. Loom & Leaf is made by an online innerspring mattress company (Saatva) that has been in the game a long time.
They wanted to take on the high-end of the memory foam market, and Loom & Leaf is doing just that. The mattress comes in three firmness settings: soft, medium, and firm. For side sleepers, we definitely recommend either the soft or the medium. The great thing about memory foam (especially quality memory foam like you get with Loom & Leaf) is that it has the best tradeoff between comfort and support while providing great orthopedic benefits. People often tell us their backs feel better after sleeping on these mattresses. GhostBed is similar to a lot of medium tier mattresses on the market (think Casper competitors), however they have made a few key changes that makes them one of my preferred mattresses in the price range, and a good fit for side sleepers. They added an extra inch of comfort layer foam (the mattress is 11 inches total), which as discussed is good for pressure relief and spinal alignment. They also invested in higher quality foams throughout, which gives me more confidence in the durability.
Finally, GhostBed comes out of Nature’s Sleep, a company that’s been doing large volume in the mattress game for a long time. Nature’s Sleep appears to have leveraged their volume to edge out even the biggest online players in terms of price. Get the full read on this mattress in my GhostBed review. If you sleep on your side, you are going to be naturally putting a lot of pressure on your hips, shoulders, and neck, which can cause tension throughout the spine. To sleep comfortably, you want a mattress that is soft enough to relieve those pressure points. Foam mattresses tend to be great at relieving pressure points and can be ideal for this aspect of sleeping on your side. If a mattress is too firm, it will cut off a lot of the blood circulation in your body, and it will potentially cause major aches and pains because it doesn’t contour to the widest points in the hips and shoulders. It could lead to waking up in the middle of the night a lot, as well as a significant amount of tossing and turning as your body struggles to find a supportive position.
A mattress that is too firm is something you want to avoid if you spend most of your time sleeping on your side. As I mention in my Tempur-Contour Supreme review, not all mattresses are suited for side sleepers. It is critical for your health that you find a mattress that contours well to your body and supports the natural alignment of your spine. If you sleep on your side and the mattress is too firm, your neck won’t be properly supported and your spine will be thrown off its natural alignment. This could lead to back and neck pain fairly easily, which may compound over time. That’s yet another reason why purchasing online from a company with a 100 night free trial can be so beneficial. You truly get to test to see what works for you! If the mattress is too soft, you could sink in too much and your spine will be too curved. This could similarly lead to pain across your body. A mattress that is too soft is not ideal either. There is no one best mattress brand or type for sleeping on your side.