My husband and I were talking the other day about how we often wake up with a backache… so we may be looking for a new mattress! It got me thinking about how important sleep is — so let’s discuss mattresses, pillows, cooling gels, and other products you love to help you get a good night’s sleep!
In the past we’ve talked about tips for optimizing SLEEP itself, as well as pajamas and the best sheets — but not for actual mattresses, pillows and more!
Quick hits: tell us your favorite:
- mattress
- pillow
- “sleep extra,” if any
So do tell, readers — what are your best tips for finding the right mattress? What products have you tried and loved? Have you tried some of the best products that SHOULD work for your “sleeping style” and… not liked them? How many mattresses/pillows have you returned; how many have you just chucked in a closet and said, welp, that was a mistake, and started the hunt anew?
For my $.02, I JUST went through this with a pillow. In the past, I’ve liked side-sleeping pillows with an indent, but I just got one of the top-rated ones and MEH. (Maybe I just need to take out some of the stuffing. I have a short neck.)
Other products I’ve heard of that are supposed to be incredible for sleep include some of these (below) — but readers, I’d love your thoughts! What do you swear by for sleep?
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I’ve heard great things (from both the Corporette readers and Wirecutter!) about how great Tuft & Needle mattresses are — so that’s what my husband and I are leaning toward in our mattress research. They start at $445 for a full mattress (Presidents’ Day sale pricing).
I am still on the hunt for a great side-sleeper pillow — I love the fill and feel of this one I just got from Nest Bedding, but I feel like the indent for the side gets too big or something when I’m sleeping.
I will also note that all of the cool-gel pillows I’ve bought in recent years have been really amazing. I have one that’s too hard and one that’s too soft, so they’re sort of “alternate pillows” we keep in the middle of the bed — but if you run hot at night, the cool gel pillows are amazing.
Another product I’ll give a shoutout to is a knee pillow. SUPER SEXY, I KNOW. But I got started with these during one of my pregnancies — they’re supposed to help your alignment — and over the years changed to one of these more compact versions. (We’ve bought two of the pictured knee pillow over the years and like them; they’re $20 each at Amazon.)
They all come with a zippered outside that you CAN take off in theory, but I find it a pain so I just cover mine with a toddler-sized pillowcase we have left over from when my kids were small (similar to these).
One final product that I’ll give a shout-out to (I haven’t tried it, though!) is the chiliPAD. My friends who are about 5–10 years older than me and dealing with perimenopause and menopause swear by this, even though it’s crazy expensive. From the product page:
We sleep deeper + with increased recovery at a cooler body temperature. Our core body temperature should naturally drop every night, but for lots of people and lots of reasons it doesn’t. With Chili, personalize your sleep microclimate.
The system starts at $499 for a half-queen. Amazon has a number of similar options; there are also cooling-gel toppers you can try.
FINALLY, I love my weighted blanket. Everyone in my family has one at this point. It’s tough to reconcile the weighted blanket with the need to be cool, so the ones with cooling features do help.
If you’ve had problems falling asleep because your mind is racing, the weighted blanket is just a big giant hug that helps you calm down and get to sleep. We have two of the pictured versions, one Magic Blanket, and a few random other ones — and I’m drooling over this cooling one from Bearaby.
The pictured one has coupons today (up to $20, it looks like) — the weight should be no more than 10% of your body weight.
Readers, over to you — what are your favorite mattresses, pillows, and more? Do tell!
