The Top Mattress for Every Kind of Sleeper

Everyone sleeps differently, and that means that there’s no one mattress that will work for everyone.

Whether you’re a back sleeper, side sleeper, or stomach sleeper (and everything in bewteen), there’s a mattress out there for you.

But if you want to avoid sleepless nights or get rid of that annoying back pain, you’re going to have to do some serious research.

There are hundreds of mattress reviews out there to pore over, but that takes a lot of time and effort, especially considering the amount of bad information and biased articles.

That’s why we’ve surveyed all the information that’s out there and combined it with our own in-house research to create this guide to the best mattresses for every kind of sleeper.

It’s not just the brand of mattress that matters – there are dozens of different materials and designs that can go into a mattress, and every kind of sleeper will find some more comfortable and supportive than others.

There are a surprising number of latex memory foam mattresses in this guide – probably because latex memory foam provides a little more support and breathability than traditional memory foam.

So if you’re ready for a sound night’s sleep but aren’t sure which mattress will work for your sleeping style, read on!

The Best Mattresses For Back Sleepers

When you imagine someone sleeping soundly, chances are your mental image is of someone dozing away on their back.

Most medical professionals agree that sleeping on your back is the best position for spinal health.

If you’re on a well-made mattress, it will cradle your spine in proper alignment and keep weight off your joints and pressure points.

Unfortunately, sleeping on your back on an old or worn-out mattress can do just the opposite.

Instead of gently guiding your spinal cord into its proper position, the large depression that eventually wears its way into the middle of most old mattresses will leave your back improperly aligned, and can lead to back pain and a worsening cycle of bad sleep from that pain.

Back sleepers should look for a medium firm mattress – anything too soft or too firm can disturb the delicate balance of your spinal cord. Most new mattresses come with a comfort guarantee or trial period, so take advantage of it.

If you spend most nights comfortably on your back, these mattresses may work for you:

Leesa

The Leesa mattress is a three-layer foam mattress that gives back sleepers the medium firm mattress feel and support they need for a great night’s sleep. It’s comprised of a 2” layer of latex Avena foam on the top, 2” of memory foam, and 6” of dense support foam.

This construction is durable and provides for excellent airflow, meaning that you won’t be sweating after an hour lying in bed.

The latex Avena foam is what makes all the difference – while many manufacturers only use 1” or 1.5” inches of foam to provide a comfortable top layer, the full 2” of Avena foam on the Leesa gives you unparalleled comfort.

Even without sheets on it, the Leesa mattress is an eye-catcher with beautiful design. If you’re a back sleeper, this should be the first bed you check out.

Read our Leesa review here.

Loom & Leaf

Saatva is an up and coming direct-to-consumer mattress manufacturer that’s gained a devoted following from their top quality products and great customer service.

The Loom & Leaf is their memory foam premium mattress, and it delivers some luxury-quality features at a fraction of the price of a standard luxury mattress.

It’s a multi-layered memory foam mattress that features plant-based memory foam along with medical grade cooling gel to stop you from overheating.

With 4 layers of memory foam along with a thin layer of memory foam integrated into the liner, the Loom & Leaf’s construction gives back sleepers great comfort and allows for air to circulate through the mattress.

The 4-layer foam is a back sleeper’s delight – the top layer is 2” of gel foam, supported by 2.5” of visco-elastic memory foam, 2” of transitional support foam, and 5.5” of high density support foam.

All that foam cradles you with comfort and support without giving you that sinking feeling common to many memory foam mattresses.

You can find our Loom & Leaf review here.

Nest Bedding Alexander Hybrid

The Nest Bedding Alexander Hybrid mattress is a little different from many of the other beds we recommend for back sleepers: instead of a full memory foam construction, the Alexander Hybrid uses a combination of memory foam and pocketed coils to provide both comfort and support.

This combination of materials provides maximum airflow and cooling to the mattress while maintaining comfort and minimizing motion transfer.

It’s also superior when it comes to edge support – when you’re putting on your socks in the morning or sitting on the edge of the bed, many memory foam mattresses will leave you with a big divot in the foam on that spot. The Alexander Hybrid maintains its edge shape surprisingly well, and won’t leave you at risk of slipping off the bed.

You can find more about it on the Nest website, and use our coupon TED100 to get $100 off any mattress.

Novosbed

The Novosbed was created to provide a memory foam alternative to high end innerspring and hybrid mattresses.

It’s a very thick mattress, constructed from three layers of foam – 2” of ultra-dense memory foam on top to enhance comfort and airflow, 2” of slightly denser foam below that for pressure relief, and 7” of support foam holding it all together.

The Novosbed comes in three firmness levels – for your typical back sleeper, we recommend the “medium firm” model. In addition, this mattress features the Comfort+ system, which allows you to modify the firmness level by adding an extra layer in a seamless way.

More details can be found in our Novosbed review.

The Best Mattresses For Side Sleepers

When it comes to back pain, pressure points, and injuries resulting from sleeping, side sleepers face more hazards than back sleepers.

Since there are significantly more curves on the side of your body (your shoulders, hips, and knees), there are more opportunities to create tension and pressure with a poorly picked out mattress.

That means that side sleepers need to be on the lookout for hip pain and shoulder pain. If you’re looking for the best kind of mattress for side sleepers, it’s likely you’ll want to find one on the softer side.

A softer mattress can give you the support you need while gently cradling your hips and shoulders to prevent stress and injury.

You may notice that many of the mattresses that are best for side sleepers are made of latex foam. There are a few reasons it keeps popping up:

• First, it provides the perfect level of “give” while still being supportive for side sleepers.
• Second, it circulates air better than standard memory foam and keeps you cool and comfortable all night long.
• Finally, latex memory foam can be more durable and keep its shape better than standard memory foam – which also means that latex memory foam can stave off the arrival of common problems like indents or depressions when you sleep in the same place night after night.

If you’re a side sleeper, one of these mattresses might work out perfectly for you.

Amerisleep Liberty

The Amerisleep Liberty is a great bed for side sleepers – its plant-based memory foam provides just the right amount of support without being too firm for comfort.

Like many modern memory foam mattresses, the Amerisleep Liberty features a three-layer construction:

1. The first layer is 3” of Bio-Pur plant-based memory foam, which provides fantastic softness and comfort;
2. the second is 2” of Affinity foam (slightly firmer than the Bio-Pur foam) for support, and
3. the third is a 7” layer of high density foam to act as the foundation of the mattress.

This mattress is currently our top pick in our Best Mattress Guide, and you can read our review here.

Loom & Leaf

While we mentioned the Loom & Leaf as a great bed for back sleepers, it’s one of the top rated models for side sleepers as well.

The “relaxed firm” model will give you the yield and comfort necessary for side sleeping without too much firmness to irritate pressure points.

They even give you 75 days to try it out and make sure it works for you.

In case you missed it above, you can find our Loom & Leaf review here.

Helix Sleep

Helix Sleep is making waves with their fully customizable hybrid mattresses. Helix customers fill out a brief survey about themselves and their typical sleeping habits, and the Helix team puts together a custom-built bed to meet the customer’s needs.

It's even possible to customize each bed side differently, so that couples don't have to compromise.

Constructed of a mix of memory foam and pocketed coils, Helix mattresses provide just the right amount of comfort and support for side sleepers.

Make sure to be honest about your sleep habits while filling out the survey, or you risk getting a mattress that’s not quite right for you.

We recently reviewed the Helix Sleep mattress here.

Brooklyn Bedding Latex Mattress

Brooklyn Bedding has been in business for over 20 years, and they’re known for the high quality of their latex memory foam mattresses.

Brooklyn Bedding latex mattresses come in three levels of firmness, and if you’re a side sleeper, the best kind of mattress from their selection is the “soft.”

The two layers of different latex (Talalay and Dunlop) that top the Brooklyn Bedding mattress are the real selling point – they give you comfortable support instead of that sinking feeling that so many memory foam mattresses have.

It also comes with a comfortable pillow top cover for extra softness.

If you’re considering going with Brooklyn Bedding, don’t skip our full Brooklyn Bedding Latex mattress review.

Tuft & Needle Mattress

Tuft & Needle mattresses are comfortable and come at a very reasonable price.

They’re constructed from a unique polyurethane foam (known as “poly foam”) that gives you most of the support of a regular memory foam mattress at a significantly lower price point.

Poly foam also offers more breathability than your average memory foam mattress, meaning your bed won’t turn into a furnace after a few hours of sleeping on it.

Even better, while most memory foam mattresses give off an unpleasant chemical odor when they’re first unpacked, there have been next to no complaints about odors with their unique poly foam.

Tuft & Needle is a relatively new company, but customers have been raving about their comfortable, inexpensive mattresses.

To get the whole scoop, read our Tuft & Needle mattress review.

Brentwood Home Bamboo Gel 13 Memory Foam Mattress

The Brentwood Home Bamboo Gel 13 memory foam mattress was designed with side sleepers in mind.

It’s a little softer than your typical memory foam mattress, with a three layer construction consisting of a top layer of gel memory foam and two support layers of ventilated memory foam to prevent overheating.

It even comes with a New Zealand wool liner that acts as a natural microbial barrier to keep your mattress fresh and clean.

The biggest selling point is its incredibly low price – at under $600 for a queen size mattress, the Brentwood Home Bamboo Gel 13 memory foam mattress is a great pick for budget-conscious side sleepers.

You can find more information here.

Sleep Innovations Shiloh 12-inch Memory Foam Mattress

The Shiloh 12-inch memory foam mattress features a dual-layer construction that provides a great night’s sleep for side sleepers.

The 2.5 inch top layer of SureTemp memory foam has a very comfortable level of give to it, and 9.5 inches of Support-plus foam on the bottom provides the support you need to prevent pressure points from forming.

They also provide a poly-cotton blend mattress cover for added comfort.

If you’re considering picking up a Sleep Innovations bed, make sure to read our Sleep Innovations review, which takes a look at every mattress they offer.

The Shiloh can be purchased only from Amazon.com usually for less than $450.

The Best Mattresses for Stomach Sleepers

Stomach sleeping can lead to serious problems without proper support. While sleeping on your back or side allows your spinal cord to properly align on most mattresses, stomach sleepers are at much greater risk of back pain and spinal issues.

Stomach sleeping creates a great deal of pressure on your thoracic and lumbar spine, and many stomach sleepers wake up with aches and pains that just won’t go away.

In fact, many people end up sleeping on their stomach to avoid pain from existing back and joint issues – while it can provide some temporary relief, in the long term it can actually make the original problems worse.

Stomach sleepers should look for a firm mattress. Anything too soft will provide too much give under your hips and put immense pressure on your lower back, leaving you susceptible to long-term back pain.

Most stomach sleepers sleep with their arms extended and wrapped around their pillows, which can lead to nerve and joint pain in the shoulders.

With a firm mattress, there’s a much lower risk of developing these problems.

Thankfully, if you just can’t get to bed on your back or side, there are ways to mitigate the potential problems that can come with stomach sleeping.

Most importantly, you should use a body pillow to take pressure off your lower spine. However, it is imperative that you place it correctly, otherwise it can backfire.

Getting more than one pillow might make sense to make sure you have all the support you need. On the high end, you can get large body pillows constructed of memory foam that can act like mattress extensions.

If you’re looking for a natural alternative, a buckwheat pillow provides firm support without any petroleum-based chemicals.

If you’re a stomach sleeper, these mattresses might give you the good night’s sleep you’re looking for.

Loom & Leaf

You may be surprised to see the Loom & Leaf showing up yet again – it’s a testament to just how well-liked this mattress is.

The Loom & Leaf comes in two firmness levels: Relaxed Firm and Firm. If you’re a stomach sleeper, give the firm option a try.

It works great with or without a bed foundation, but failing to use a foundation or using a non-standard foundation could void the warranty. Before you buy one, read our in-depth Loom & Leaf mattress review.

Leesa

As mentioned already above, Leesa provides a top quality memory foam mattress at a very reasonable price.

They also have a very helpful initiative by which they give to shelters one free mattress for every 10 they sell. We praise them for their big heart.

They only have one mattress – its three-layer design provides great support, durability, and air flow. The top layer is constructed of 2 inches of Avena foam, a 2 inch memory foam support layer, and a 6 inch high density memory foam support layer.

The Leesa only comes in one level of firmness, and it’s on the firmer side of medium firm – just right for stomach sleepers.

If you’re still figuring out if a Leesa is right for you, read our comprehensive Leesa mattress review.

Purple

You’ve probably seen ads for Purple online – they’ve been making a major push to establish themselves as innovators and leaders in the mattress market.

The Purple mattress gets its name from the unique purple-colored Smart Comfort Grid that forms its top layer.

Purple claims that the Smart Comfort Grid provides just the right amount of support for your back, hips, and shoulders, and customers seem to agree.

Stomach sleepers will find the Purple mattress to be supportive and comfortable.

Because of the unique top layer, the Purple mattress can’t really be called firm or medium firm – it reacts to the individual pressure points on your body, and the firmness level depends on how much pressure you apply. A very innovative approach indeed.

Purple keeps their prices low by selling directly to consumers and cutting out the markups and sales process that can tack on hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars at your typical mattress store.

You can find more information on the Purple website.

Amerisleep Americana

The Americana is Amerisleep’s flagship firm mattress. With two layers of high quality, environment-friendly Bio-Pur and Bio-Core foam and a top layer of Celliant fabric that converts body heat into soothing infrared radiation.

The modern memory foam doesn’t give off any nasty chemical odors when it’s unpacked, so you’ll be ready to hit the hay as soon as it’s out of the box.

Stomach sleepers will appreciate the firmness and coolness of the mattress, and the durable construction will give you many years of comfortable sleep.

One of the major advantages of Amerisleep’s unique foam is its resilience – while typical memory foam takes about a minute to bounce back to its original shape when you get out of bed or change positions, the Americana returns to form in just four seconds.

Learn all about it on the Amerisleep's website.

Brooklyn Bedding

We mentioned Brooklyn Bedding’s soft latex mattress previously as a great option for side sleepers, and they’re good enough to get a second mention in this section.

The Brooklyn Bedding firm mattress provides great support and comfort for stomach sleepers at a very reasonable price.

While some customers had complaints about sinkage in the less firm models, the Brooklyn Bedding firm mattress doesn’t have this issue.

The mattress is constructed from three layers – a 2 inch Talalay latex layer on top, followed by a slightly firmer 2 inch Dunlop latex layer, all supported by a 6 inch, high density polyfoam layer.

The polyfoam provides great breathability and stops the mattress from overheating, while the two layers of latex foam give stomach sleepers just the right amount of support.

For even more details and customer comments, take a look at our Brooklyn Bedding mattress review.

Finding the Best Kind Of Mattress For Your Sleep Style

There’s no one mattress that will work for everyone, but there are some rules that can help you find the best mattress no matter what kind of sleeper you are.

In most cases, you’ll find that:

• Back sleepers are most comfortable on a medium firm mattress. Latex memory foam, memory gel foam, and traditional memory foam are all great materials for back sleepers.
• Side sleepers are most comfortable on a soft mattress. Latex memory foam and memory gel foam mattresses tend to work best for side sleepers.
• Stomach sleepers are most comfortable on a firm mattress. Latex memory foam and memory gel foam mattresses are usually best for stomach sleepers. Stomach sleepers should also consider buying a body pillow to alleviate pressure on the hips and back.

Do you sleep the same way every night? Does your mattress work for your sleep style or do you toss and turn? Tell us about it in the comments!