Best Hybrid Mattress for Side Sleepers
Hybrid mattresses consist of two layers of different foams. For this reason, they are also called a combination of multi-layer mattresses. They often incorporate several thin layers of different types of foams. Get to know why you need a hybrid mattress for side sleepers.
However, not all hybrid mattresses are alike, and some are firmer and plushier foams at the top layer to cater to differing needs. These firmer hybrid mattresses help with maintaining a better posture while helping with spine alignment.
Individually wrapped springs are an essential part of hybrid mattresses. These springs move and bounce independently of the other springs. This makes hybrid mattresses perfect for motion isolation and bounce control.
Because they incorporate many layers of unique foams, they give an all-rounder sleeping experience by featuring air circulation, spine support, pressure relief, and motion isolation packed together.
Hybrid mattresses are very different from traditional mattresses that are not as responsive, conforming, and targeted. These feature very thin layers of multiple foams that often measure from 1-3 inches in thickness. This allows for a greater level of targeted support at different levels of the mattress.
Moving on a traditional mattress often transfers to the whole foam, making it more bouncy and unbalancing. Hybrid mattresses stop the motion transfer at the first or second layer, so it doesn’t get carried into the lower base. This gives them a highly comfy and elastic feel without the bouncy and firmer feel of a traditional mattress.
Why side sleepers need a hybrid mattress?
Side sleeping comes with its own set of problems. By sleeping on your side, you put a strain on your neck and shoulders, leading to the development of pressure points. If you use a mattress that is too firm, you can worsen your sleeping situation. A mattress that does not hold enough elasticity and flexibility to accommodate your shoulders and hips can make you feel more tired than relaxed.
A hybrid mattress gives you just the right level of elasticity to let you sink-in your sleeping side, but the thinner layers below save you from the “too squishy” feeling. The thicker and firmer foam at the base provides you enough support to align your spine and hips for a more relaxing sleep. It also prevents the neck and shoulder pain that side-sleepers often wake up with.
Many also come with better air circulation, which helps avoid the common sweat and heat buildup that results from sleeping on your side. Some even feature an egg-crate foam in the middle layers to improve air circulation and let the hot air move out. With better air circulation at multiple levels, they ensure that you don’t feel the need to toss and turn during sleep continuously.
Olee Sleep Store Best Value
Avenco Store
Zinus
Casper
Lucid
Five Best Hybrid Mattress for Side Sleepers
Olee Sleep Store
Features:
Motion isolation
The mattress features individual pocketed springs, which means other springs’ movement does not influence them. These springs only move when there is movement upon them and therefore reduce motion transfer. This motion isolation design is excellent for side sleepers who twist and turn or change sides throughout the night. The pocketed springs ensure that such activities’ bounce effect is eliminated for a better night’s sleep.
Conforming foam
The mattress’s top layers are built with body-conforming memory foam that allows your shoulders and arms to fully sink in. These foam layers are made decidedly elastic, so you don’t develop any pressure points when you sleep on your side. Conforming foam can prove useful for avoiding neck pain often resulted from side sleeping.
Gel-infusion
The cooling gel in this mattress eliminates heat buildup by enhancing the airflow for a cooler sleeping surface. This ensures an uninterrupted sleep throughout the night as your body remains sweat-free on your sleeping side. The gel infusion also helps with having a softer and more body-conforming surface to sleep on. It makes the mattress more flexible and responsive to the body’s shape, so you don’t feel any pressure on the curvy areas such as the shoulders and hips.
Avenco Store
Features:
5 Zone Division
The mattress is made with five different zones on the top layer to better adapt to each body area’s needs. It is made softer and more conforming on the shoulders area, so you don’t feel muscle pressure. The more peaceful zone is elastic enough so it contours to the shape of your shoulders and elbows, so you don’t feel like forcing them into the thick foam.
Meanwhile, it’s made more firm in the lower areas to support the back and hips and ensure proper spine alignment. These highly adaptive division zones help maintain a much better sleeping position by providing just the right level of support and elasticity to different body areas.
Individually wrapped springs
It incorporates independent springs in the lower layer to reduce motion transfer. It eliminates the bouncy effect and wobbly body movement that often comes with side sleeping. These springs ensure that whenever you change sides or posture, the movement’s impact is isolated and does not reach your partner.
In addition to these, they also provide you better balance throughout the night. The springs below your body collapse to create a sort of dent that gives your body extra support, so you maintain the position you initially fell asleep in.
Multi-layer support
The multi-layer design of the mattress enhances responsiveness and elasticity while maintaining firmer support at the base. By using dual layers instead of one, the mattress separates the motion in the top layer from the lower layers. This leads to a better sleeping experience as it ensures that your body doesn’t feel any bounce effects as you move on the mattress.
Zinus
Features:
5-Layer support
The mattress features five layers of foams that provide just the right level of softness and support. A 1.25 inch of soft comfort foam at the top layer allows you a deeper side-sleeping position by deeply letting your shoulders sink in.
The second layer is infused with a cooling gel that keeps your body cool throughout the night and eliminates sweat in your sleeping side. To ensure that your body does not feel too sunk-in with the combination of comfort and gel foam, 7.5-inch pocket springs are placed at the base. The 7.5 inches of support from the springs ensures better body alignment and relieves your spine’s pressure.
Fusion gel memory
The Gel infusion makes the foam extra flexible and elastic to provide you a softer and more body-conforming surface for the shoulders and hips. This helps accommodate the shoulders much more generously and prevents shoulder and neck pain that many side-sleepers wake up with.
Responsive Latex Foam
The mattress base is made with high-density ViscoLatex that mimics the feel of latex to give a stretchy yet supportive sleeping surface. It conforms enough to let you place your shoulders deeper but prevents the sinking feeling of softer mattresses. This makes it more suitable for people transitioning from a firm mattress who are not accustomed to the feel of a marshmallow-ey sleeping surface.
Casper
Features:
Targeted Support
The mattress features three different foam zones on the top layer to offer targeted support for different body areas. It is made softer and more elastic on the shoulders and neck zone to alleviate pressure while firmer on the lower parts to facilitate spinal alignment. This ensures that you don’t develop sore and tight muscles due to mismatched firmness.
Perforated Foam
The Casper Hybrid mattress features a layer of the new popular cooling design named AirScape. It’s built with a breathable foam with tiny holes that move all the body heat out of the mattress to keep the surface cooler. The perforated foam is also high in elasticity and contours to your body for more snuggly support. This layer is both fluffy and responsive, so it gives the top of the mattress some bounce level while the comfort layers on it absorb motion.
Elevated Support
The mattress is overall bouncier and more firm than other mattresses on the list. It keeps your shoulders and hips more elevated and in alignment with your overall body. You might not feel much pressure relief on the shoulders; however, it can be suitable for side-sleepers who do not like a squishy and sinking feeling of softer mattresses. The elevated support can also help with better spine alignment by balancing the body at the same level.
Lucid
Features:
Latex Layer
The mattress features a 1-inch layer of Natural Latex foam that is elastic and stretchy enough for a body-hugged sleeping surface. It avoids the sinking and cloudy feeling of a convoluted and conforming foam while retaining the softer support. It might be more suitable for side-sleepers accustomed to the feel of a firm and bouncy mattress as the latex is relatively plush and responsive. In addition to this, the latex’s natural elasticity contours only lightly to provide a better spinal alignment while providing pressure relief to the joints and neck.
Plush Foam
Below the latex foam is an ultra-soft layer of Plush foam, which creates the perfect combination of support and stretch. These two combined give you enough depth to sink in lightly, so your spine doesn’t curve unnaturally. The light contouring helps alleviate pressure on the sleeping side while also keeping most of your body parts elevated for a firmer and more supportive feel.
Spinal Alignment
The layers of latex, plush, gel, and dual-transition foam work in conjunction to provide a more elevated sleeping position to fix your spinal alignment. The latex and transition layers ensure that your body does not curve in too much to cause pain. This can help enhance the sleeping experience of people who sleep on their side all night as they can become more prone to an unhealthy and tiring alignment.
Types of Foam
A hybrid mattress can be made with layers of latex, plush, memory, Gel, and responsive foam; all packed together. To ensure that you get the type that suits your needs best, learn about what each foam can do for you.
A latex layer can be perfect for adding an extra level of stretch to the sleeping surface without feeling too sunk-in. Plush layers make the mattress extra soft and body-conforming to give a body-hugging, squishy feel. Gel foam can be useful for hot sleepers or warmer regions as they keep you cool with air circulation.
Level of Firmness
There are mattresses with low, medium, and high firmness levels. The firmness level is how dense and supportive the sleeping surface is. High in firmness, Mattresses do not sink-in or stretch much, which makes them less suitable for side sleepers.
However, they support the better body and spine alignment to relieve pain. For heavy side-sleepers, medium to low firmness levels may be the most suitable as they stretch and conform to your sleeping side.
Sleeping Position
Not all hybrid mattresses are perfect for side-sleepers. There can be substantial and robust mattresses that don’t accommodate the side-sleeping weight within the hybrid range. To check if your final choice is suitable for side-sleeping, look at the top layers’ makeup. If the top layers are made of Gel, conforming, latex, or plush foam, they will probably accommodate your arms and shoulders generously.
Hybrid mattresses can be one of the most adjustable and accommodative beds for a side-sleeper due to their plushy yet supportive build. Like everything, hybrid mattresses are not a one-size-fits-all thing. The mattresses reviewed above have been picked after considering a wide variety of needs and preferences. Whether you like a firm and elevated feel of a dense mattress or the cloudy and squishy feel of a soft mattress, We have got you covered.
Read Reviews for: Best Hybrid Mattress of 2021