We round-up the best pillows for keeping your head supported and your spine aligned during sleep.
Choosing the best pillows for you begins with knowing your dominant sleeping position, whether you’re a stomach, back or side sleeper. Some people move between different positions at night, trying to get comfy, and therefore need a pillow that will quickly adjust to their movements and the shape of their head. We have three of those in this guide. Side sleepers are often more comfortable on a high loft pillow to plug the gap between their head and shoulders, while back and stomach snoozers need a low profile pillow to avoid pushing their neck out of alignment. We have all types of pillow right here, with top picks for different budgets, from affordable to luxury. Because pillows can have such a big impact on your sleep – and seeing how sleep is so important to your overall health – it’s worth taking a minute to pick a good one. The best pillows for sleeping don’t have to cost you the earth, though – one of our favorites, the Beckham Hotel Collection Gel Pillows, costs less than $40 for two. So much like the best mattresses, there will definitely be a pillow to help you sleep better. Depending on your preferences and the feel you want (soft, medium or firm), you’ll find bed pillows made from all sorts of natural and synthetic materials. These include memory foam, microfiber, feather, down, Tencel, latex and wool (both naturally cooling materials). There are some big household names behind many of our best pillow recommendations too, including Purple and Casper. Let’s take a look at them now… Coop’s adjustable pillow is a fantastic all-rounder and the ideal solution for people who want to create a customised pillow to suit their needs. The medium-firm pillow is filled with cross-cut memory foam and microfiber, and has a removable cover made using polyester and bamboo-derived viscose rayon to help keep you cool at night. So far, so standard for a bed pillow. But the Coop’s unique selling point is that you can add or remove the memory foam / microfiber fill to get the perfect loft and density for your sleeping style. There’s even an extra half-pound of fill included if you want a super-plump pillow. This reasonably priced pillow comes in Queen and King sizes and includes a 100-night trial so you can decide whether it’s the right fit for you. There’s also a 5-year warranty. Coop recommends this pillow for side sleepers, but we think the adjustable nature makes it the best pillow for most people. The Casper Original Pillow feels as plush as a down pillow thanks to the millions of hypoallergenic microfibers that are used to fill it. We found it to be extremely soft and comfortable during sleep and relaxation. This high level of neck comfort is combined with an equally soft cover that contains a breathable percale weave to help keep sleepers cool at night. The big selling point of the Casper Original Pillow is how quickly it adapts to different sleeping positions, making it an ideal choice for combination sleepers who move from side to stomach to back sleeping during the night. The pillow offers stable neck alignment, thanks to a two-inch gusset. However, this design feature could mean the Casper Original Pillow isn’t so suitable if you sleep on your side, being too firm or high for a dedicated side sleeper. It’s a little high maintenance though, as the pillow’s fill needs to be fluffed daily to keep its shape. If you mainly sleep on your side, then the Beckham Hotel Collection Gel Pillow is a great choice for you. This is a genuinely supportive and comfortable pillow for side sleepers, with a thick build-quality that keeps its shape throughout the night. What’s more, it’s also hypoallergenic. The special gel-fiber filling is designed to feel as plush as down but comes without the allergy issues that might be associated with it. The pillow is dust-mite, mold- and mildew-resistant too, so it’s an ideal choice if you want to maintain a healthy sleep environment. The Beckham Hotel Collection Gel Pillows are sold in packs of two, which makes them incredibly good value for money – ideal if you need pillows for a guest bed, for instance. The affordability of these pillows makes them a no-brainer if you’re on a budget and looking for something that will last you a long time. Plus they are robust, so should see you sleeping soundly night after night. Pillow loft is important for every position you sleep in, and if you’re a stomach or back sleeper, you’ll need a shallower pillow than side sleepers otherwise your neck will be bent forward and out of alignment, causing neck pain. The Tempur-Pedic Tempur Cloud Pillow is great for back and stomach sleepers thanks to its low profile. While Tempur-Pedic describes it as an extra soft feel, we’d say it’s more soft to medium-soft. Like the brand’s famous pressure-relieveing mattresses, the Tempur Cloud Pillow is made using NASA-developed Tempur material.
