The ratings don't lie — we know people take their sleeping seriously, which is why we combed the reviews for the top pillow picks to suit each degree of firmness. Here are the best pillows for overall comfort, as well as for those specific kinds of sleepers. The Best Mattress Protectors to Safeguard Your Bedding Investment 12 Gorgeous Glass Coffee Tables at Every Price Point 10 Artful Decals to Easily Switch Up Your Wall Decor 6 Butcher Block Kitchen Islands for All of Your Food Prep Needs The Best Mattresses to Ensure More Satisfying Shut-Eye 10 Lap Desks That Create An Impromptu Workspace Anywhere 10 Gorgeous Marble Tables That Elevate Any Aesthetic 11 Sublimely Soft Bath Towels That Are Crafted To Last How to Make a Gigantic Knit Blanket in Less Than 4 Hours Our 30 Favorite Home Decor Destinations to Shop OnlineThe traditional mattress industry is a racket. Vox wrote a long story last August teasing out all the ways mattress retailers rip you off, and showing how new, online, high-quality bed-in-a-box brands can help you skip the scam.
But let's say you've decided to buy online — which company should you go with? It turns out the answer has a lot to do with how you sleep. As a person with a bad back, I spent a lot of time researching which one to buy before settling. The online mattress industry still lacks clear, easy-to access comparison information, and most companies only make one model. I tried out my two final choices in person. Here's what I learned. For back and stomach sleepers: Casper Unquestionably the most famous of the bed-in-a-box brands, Casper blankets the internet and the New York City subway system with its ads. So when I decided to buy a new mattress online they were my first choice. A visit to their Manhattan showroom revealed a comfortable mattress. But I found it a bit too firm for my tastes. The reviews site Sleep Like the Dead has this to say about the differences between different sleep styles: BACK sleepers tend to prefer medium to firm firmness. Back sleepers often do not require a soft mattress because pressure on the body is more evenly distributed than is the case for stomach and especially side sleepers.
Back sleepers with large buttocks in proportion to the rest of their body may prefer medium (or even soft) firmness as opposed to firm to minimize pressure. SIDE sleepers (especially those of average to below average size) tend to prefer medium to soft firmness. This is due to the fact that pressure tends to be focused on the hips and shoulders, a fairly small surface area. If a side sleeper has shoulder pain, it likely means they have too firm a mattress and or too low a pillow. STOMACH sleepers (also known as front sleepers) tend to prefer medium firmness. Too much firmness for these sleepers can result in pressure on the knees and front of hips, while too much softness can cause the sleeper to sink too far into the mattress perhaps undermining neck / head alignment and or ease of breathing. The medium-firm Casper mattress, perfect for back and stomach sleepers, was a bit too tough to conform to my body on its side. A Full-sized Casper costs $750. For side sleepers: Leesa
Softer than the Casper, Leesa offers a bed-in-a-box perfect for side sleepers. Unfortunately, they don't have a showroom in my area. But both Leesa and Casper have excellent return policies so I decided to place an order and see how I liked it. After about a month, I can report that the Leesa is perfect for my side-sleeping, back-aching, medium build. Back sleepers with large buttocks and more heavyset stomach sleepers might also appreciate the brand's softer cushion. Full-sized Leesa mattresses retail for $715 after a $75 discount code is applied. A cheaper alternative: Tuft and Needle For those who want to spend less than Casper / Leesa prices on a mattress, but still want to circumvent the sketchy mattress store's cheapest offerings, Tuft and Needle may be a good alternative. I haven't tried one out personally. However, Sleep Like the Dead reports that T&N's mattress is well made but very firm. It may be a good option for back sleepers who don't mind a harder bed.
A Full-sized Tuft and Needle costs $500.What makes the best mattress for side sleepers? Being a side sleeper myself, I can personally attest to firmness, support and pelvic rotation all being factors in determining the best mattress. Side sleepers can suffer from back, neck and hip pain but tend to have better air flow and snore less than back sleepers. In this guide we outline what the criteria are for choosing the best mattress for side sleepers and give our recommendations for which mattresses we like the best. FAQ: Read about our overall favorite picks in our Top 10 Best Mattresses of 2016 Guide Firmness is a very important factor. A mattress that is soft to moderate on the firmness scale is going to the best option for side sleepers. In order to provide the proper support that side sleepers need, the mattress must be able to conform to and contour the curves of your body. A soft or medium firm mattress allows your body to sink into the mattress a little bit more than one that’s very firm which helps it to hug your body.
This ability to conform and contour to your body’s shape will alleviate pressure on your neck and back as well. Support is the other important factor in choosing the best mattress for side sleepers. As a side sleeper, your spine may be misaligned due to this sleeping position. A mattress with the best support is going to relieve pressure points throughout your body and keep the spine, neck and back in alignment. Be sure to understand that a softer mattress on the firmness scale can still provide great support because this type of support is not relative to a mattress being firm or soft. When shopping for the best mattress for side sleepers, you want to look for a mattress that contours to the shape of your body. Memory foam mattresses are especially advantageous for side sleepers due to the ability of the foam to contour to your body and provide support and alignment to the spine. We should note that a side sleeper’s body position can change drastically even during one nights sleep.
Some popular positions are: Due to a side sleepers’ varying positions on a nightly basis, mattress support is crucial in providing your body the contouring it needs throughout the night. Pelvic rotation is the result of misalignment of the back muscles and lumbar spine. When you sleep and twist or curl your legs up in the opposite position to your upper body, you cause pelvic rotation. This can lead to or worsen any lower back and neck pain so it is important to choose the right mattress to prevent this. You can do a few things to help with pelvic rotation, such as sleeping in a side position that keeps your spine in alignment and using a pillow between your legs to maintain spinal alignment. Choosing the proper mattress such can help prevent pressure points that may cause you to adjust your sleep position during the night which causes pelvic rotation. We recommend that for side sleepers, you choose a mattress that has: These mattresses are some of our favorites for side sleeping.
While not an exhaustive list, they are the best of the ones we have tested as we are side sleepers ourselves. The Loom and Leaf is an excellent choice for side sleepers, for a variety of reasons. This 12″ thick mattress is made up of 5 different layers of high quality foams and other materials including medical grade cooling gel in the comfort layer. The Relaxed Firm model provides enough softness for comfortable sleeping on your side, while at the same time providing excellent support for the spine and body. The Loom & Leaf is one of the best mattresses for side sleepers due to the exceptional comfort and support, as well as the classic memory foam feel of hugging and contouring the body during sleep. The Loom and Leaf doesn’t make you feel like you are sinking into foam like other mattresses, however, which is something that other lower quality mattresses in this price range can’t promise. The Loom & Leaf is available in two different firmness models, a Relaxed Firm, which we rate as a 5-6 out of 10 (10 being firmest), and the Firm model, which we rate at an 8 out of 10.