What To Consider When Purchasing A Pillow For Side Sleepers
In your research for a pillow that is compatible with side sleeping, youll no doubt come across pillow manufacturers who claim their products are suitable for all sleep positions, or that their pillows construction and materials offer universal comfort for all sleepers regardless of body type or personal preference. These marketing claims are misleading. Each pillow is uniquely designed to provide a distinct feel. Given the demands of different sleep positions, any pillow you select will be better suited to some sleepers and less so for others.
Rather than using marketing jargon to guide your pillow search, focus on the following attributes instead.
Does Your Mattress Make A Difference In Your Pillow Choice As A Side Sleeper
The short answer is yes. “In order to maintain your head and neck in neutral alignment, you will want to consider your mattress type when selecting your pillow,” says Dautovich. “If you have a softer mattress, you’re more likely to sink compared to a firmer mattress.” Be sure to choose a pillow that will fill the gap between your head and the mattress. If you have a softer mattress, this may mean choosing a thicker pillow.
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How To Position Your Pillows As A Side Sleeper
Before you drift off to sleep, consider positioning your pillows like this to improve your sleep posture and prevent pain.
- When you lie down on your pillow, make sure your ears are in line with your shoulders and your chin is neutrally positioned. Tucking your chin against your chest or curving your neck down can lead to pain over time.
- Place a second pillow between your knees and lift them up towards your chest. This helps keep pressure off your knees and hips, which means your back will stay straighter at night.
- Make sure your arms and hands are below your shoulders. Some people find hugging another pillow near their waists can make this more comfortable. You can also try using a body pillow as a between the legs and under the arm solution.
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What Should Side Sleepers Look For In A Pillow
The main thing a side sleeper should look for in a pillow is a thicker and firmer pillow. Pillows with a medium-firm feel to them will support your head and neck when lying down and help to keep your body aligned. Side sleepers may also want to consider a pillow between your knees for spine alignment. That’s why we recommend going for firmer materials like memory foam and latex.
Frequently Asked Questions On Best Pillow For Side Sleepers
Looking for the best pillow for side sleepers? It can be a little challenging to find one that answers all your needs with so many to choose from. Check out this really useful FAQ on side sleeping pillows that includes the best answers.
If youre a side sleeper, youll want to get a pillow thats thick enough to support your head and neck. In addition, youll need a firm pillow to give you enough support, so your head, neck, and spine are in alignment.
The best pillow that is ideal for side sleepers is one thats a little thicker than most, with firm support and some contouring to provide space between the mattressand your head. In addition, your pillow should fill in the gap between your ear and your shoulder without causing neck pain or forcing you to turn your head at an odd angle.
The ideal pillow is a matter of personal preference, body type, and sleeping style. The goal is to keep your spine in alignment from head to toe, so you wake up feeling rested and pain-free.
Side sleepers need a pillow that fills in the distance between their ear and outside shoulder. If youre a side sleeper, its best to go for a thicker pillow to keep your neck aligned.
Many people like memory foam pillows because they offer a lot of support and are highly conforming they mold to the shape of your head and neck. Another good option is a down pillow, which offers great support and comfort.
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How To Sleep On Your Side
As you now know, side-sleeping has many benefits. But if youre a back or stomach sleeper, it can be difficult to shake up your habits.
Need some help? Here are a few tips to follow if you want to join the side sleeper club.
- Opt for a medium-firm mattress that offers a good balance of comfort and support, such as one of the best mattresses for side sleepers.
- Find a pillow that helps you maintain a neutral alignment. Again, when youre side-sleeping, you want to ensure your ears line up with your shoulders.
- When resting on your side, place your arms and hands beneath your shoulders.
- If you suffer from joint pain, place a pillow between your knees.
- Lift your knees toward your chest to alleviate back pain.
Who Will Use The Side Sleeper Pillow
Before you buy, you also need to consider who will be using the pillow and their unique needs. For instance, a pregnant woman is almost always going to prefer sleeping on her side. She would likely require a pregnancy pillow thats slightly different than a regular side sleeper.
Pregnant women could take advantage of full-body pillows as they are capable of providing them with good support. Not every regular person would need one of these, though.
At the same time, the pillow should complement the users preferences. For example, fans of pillows with a luxurious feel would be better off with a latex pillow, or if contouring is the top priority, a regular memory foam pillow would be ideal.
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The Best Pillows To Buy Now
The Coop Home Goods Original Adjustable Pillow is the best choice for anyone who wants to create a custom pillow without spending much money. It’s packed with CertiPUR-US certified, non-toxic memory foam and microfiber, and you can add as much or as little fill as you need to achieve the perfect loft for your sleeping position .
The pillow also has a removable cover made from a naturally cooling, bamboo-derived viscose rayon material called Lulltra. Coop Home Goods recommends this pillow as the best choice for side sleepers because it can be made deep and plump, but because it’s adjustable you can tailor it to suit any sleep position. You can also buy it in queen size or king size to better suit your bed.
In terms of reviews, The Original Coop Home Goods Adjustable Pillow is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon, generated from over 48,000 Amazon customer user reviews, and 4.6 out of 5 stars on the brand’s own website. Customer praise its ability to hold shape well, though some said the washable cover bobbles after a while.
For added peace of mind, the Coop Home Goods Original Adjustable Pillow comes with a five-year warranty, plus a 100-night trial, so you’ll have plenty of time to make sure that this really is the best choice for you.
Before you buy, check our Casper promo codes page for the latest discounts and offers.
The Casper Foam Pillow with Snow Technology easily achieves its one goal of keeping your head cool while you sleep.
How We Chose Our Products
Our team of sleep specialists tested many pillows currently on the market, using proprietary analysis and hands-on testing to find the best of the best for our readers. When building our roundup for the best pillows for side sleepers, we paid special attention to support, durability, loft, and quality of materials.
Pillows made for side-sleeping require different attributes than pillows made for other positions like stomach-sleeping, so we made sure to keep this in mind when it came to selecting pillows with a proper loft. Additionally, we featured pillows that should maintain their support and durability through the night to keep your spine properly aligned. Lastly, we wanted to place an emphasis on pillows featuring quality materials.
For more, we encourage you to check out our Buyers Guide at the bottom of the page. There we take a deeper dive into all of these attributes so you can make the most informed purchase possible.
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Pillow Construction And Health
How a person sleeps can directly affect the pressure points that need support.
Side sleepers often put the most stress on their hips and shoulders. They may also find that their neck is out of alignment if they do not use a supportive pillow.
Side sleepers typically benefit from a sturdy pillow that is high enough for the neck to maintain a neutral position.
Additionally, according to a , side sleeping may help with specific health conditions, such as obstructive sleep apnea.
Conversely, an older
Ten Reasons Why You Should Buy The Best King Size Pillows For Side Sleepers
It’s not often that you can find the best king size pillows for side sleepers under $500, $200, $100, or $50 in the market that can give you ten reasons to buy it.
However, this is precisely what I’m going to do for you today. The best king size pillows for side sleepers will be discussed in detail, and all of its qualities will be thoroughly examined so you know whether or not it’s perfect for your needs.
The best king size pillows for side sleepers is a fantastic invention with many uses, but most importantly, it’ll help make your life much easier!
It’ll save time and energy because it does things automatically, which means less work on your end.
Check out the rest of this blog post if you want to learn more about why buying the product makes sense for anyone who wants to live a better life!
1. Buying the best king size pillows for side sleepers will save you money
The best way to save money is by purchasing the best king size pillows for side sleepers. Buying a lower quality item will cost you more in the long run because it won’t last as long and may need to be replaced sooner than if you had bought an item of higher quality that lasts longer.
You might pay less now with these things, but they end up costing much more over time when you factor in all their hidden costs.
If this sounds important to consider before making purchases, take some time today and think about what makes sense for your situation based on where.
6. Product has an excellent warranty
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How To Choose A Pillow For Stomach Sleepers
There are multiple factors for stomach sleepers to consider to ensure spinal alignment and full-body support. Understanding the following key factors is an essential part of shopping for a pillow. These include pillow loft, size, shape, and moldability, all of which affect the angle of the head and neck.
Every sleeper has unique needs and preferences, but there are common issues that stomach sleepers face. Some pillow materials are better than others, and additional measures may need to be considered.
Parachute Down Side Sleeper
From $159 at Parachute
Down pillows can fall flat throughout the night, but the Parachute down side sleeper pillow has a side gusset, and when we tested this pillow it kept its shape fairly well. It contains some feathers as opposed to 100% down, which is not ideal, but we found the feathers didnt poke through the material or make too much noise. It also comes in a down alternative version for those that are allergic to down or prefer synthetic fill.
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Eli And Elm Pillow Review Verdict
Weve made it to the end of our review, and its time to deliver our true, final thoughts. Its no doubt an expensive pillow, and sleepers can get their hands on something thats much cheaper. With that said, its made with quality materials, a customizable design, and is made to accommodate side and back sleepers of all sizes.
As such, if youre a side sleeper whos tried to find pillows but you keep waking up with back or shoulder pain, you may want to consider this pillow. Its ergonomic design is specifically designed to provide ample support, and we think it did the job really well.
Review team
McKenzie Dillon has been a member of the Slumber Yard team for two years and counting, and her resume includes hundreds of sleep-related articles from mattress review products to helpful blogs containing sleep tips, news, how-to guides, and more.
Unlike other review sites, the Slumber Yard team personally tests and assesses each sleep product on YouTube and our website through a series of practical, hands-on inspections and assessments, with utmost commitment to honesty and authenticity. Youll find our images and videos on every review, which is part of what makes the Slumber Yard the most trusted source of mattress and sleep accessory reviews on the internet.
In addition to reviewing beds, the Slumber Yard team also sources the best discounts and coupon codes you’ll ever find on mattresses and other bedding products. Click the link below to see the deals we’ve found today.
Down / Down Alternative
Down and down alternative pillows often feel soft, fluffy, and luxurious. Down alternative pillows offer a similar fluffy feel, but are more eco-friendly. You also dont have to research manufacturing and sourcing to be sure that your new down alternative pillows are cruelty-free.
Since down compresses more easily than other pillow materials, I recommend it more for back sleepers and stomach sleepers than side sleepers. However, a firmer down option can also work for side-sleeping. My best down pillows and best down alternative pillows roundups include some great side sleeping options.
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Our Pick: Nest Bedding Easy Breather Pillow
*At the time of publishing, the price was $50.
In four years of testing, the Xtreme Comforts Shredded Memory Foam Pillow has consistently outperformed many pricier pillows, but in recent testing two of the four Xtreme Comforts pillows we tried had a strong chemical odor that made them unusable . If you get one that doesnt smell, its a great pillow that typically costs about half the price of our favorite shredded-foam pillow from Nest Bedding. It offers comfortable neck support without being too stiff, a problem with many loftier pillows. The breathable, micro-perforated cover, a bamboo viscose and polyester blend, keeps hot sleepers cooler, and the removable shredded-foam fill makes the pillow easy to adjust for your body. Although its lumpier than the Easy Breather, and the texture took getting used to for some of our testers, most of our back- and side-sleepers, as well as a few stomach-sleepers, have liked it over the years. This pillow gives much better support for my neck than any down/synthetic down pillow I have owned in the past, one side-sleeper told us.
The Xtreme Comforts best surprise is its low price, half as much as that of the other shredded-memory-foam pillow we liked, our pick, the Nest Bedding Easy Breather. And despite the Xtreme Comforts popularity with our testers, it wont work for every body, so a 30-day return policy gives you the flexibility to try it without risk.
A Pillow That Can Be Customized To Your Side Sleeping Needs
Coop Home Goods
Fill: Shredded memory foam | Trial period: 100-night sleep trial | Adjustable: Yes
The pillow thats right for someone else might not be perfect for youthats why Coops pillow is adjustable. You can remove or add the foam fill until you find the firmness level thats just right for you. Its also GreenGuard Gold certified and contains no toxic or harmful chemicals. Also worth noting: The cover and fill are machine-washable, so you can keep both your pillow cases and your actual pillow super clean.
What the reviews Say: With nearly 50,000 ratings, the vast majority of which gives five stars, its a winner for lots of folks: I am a side sleeper who desires a great deal of support. Because this pillow has pieces of memory foam instead of a solid piece, it does not condense and it is airy, providing airflow keeping it cool. My highest recommendation!
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How To Choose A Pillow As A Side Sleeper
To best keep your head, neck, and back in neutral alignment, look for a medium-firm to extra-firm pillow that keeps your head around 3 to 4 inches above the mattress. Pillows that have wide side gussets are better at maintaining this height over time.
You may also want to look for a pillow that wont go flat over time.
If youre looking to avoid certain chemicals, like volatile organic compounds , look for brands whose pillows use CertiPUR-US or Greenguard Gold certified materials to narrow down your options.
Dmi Side Sleeper Body Pillow
The DMI Side Sleeper Body Pillow offers the perfect solution for side sleepers. Designed with a unique, contoured shape and curved end that is ideal for cradling your head and supporting your neck, this pillow helps to reduce painful tension and pressure on nerves.
The DMI Side Sleeper Body Pillow is a great choice for side sleepers and is also an excellent solution for those who are pregnant or have recently had surgery. This pillow is designed to provide long-lasting support as it retains its shape night after night.
Key Features
- Naturally antimicrobial and resistant to mold, mildew, bacteria and, dust mites
- Cradles body to help alleviate back pain
- Ergonomic design to fit the body shape and size of the sleeper
Cons
- The pillow is thick, It might take time to get used to it.
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