If you suffer from insomnia, then you know that it is more than just an inconvenience. While occasional difficulty sleeping affects almost everyone – 1 in 4 people report dealing with insomnia at least a few times a year – when it becomes a regular occurrence – what doctors call chronic insomnia – not being able to get to, or stay, asleep, can seriously make life difficult.
One of the things that you’ll often hear when insomnia is discussed is that whatever its root cause – and there are lots of different ones – sleeping on the right mattress can have a bigger positive difference than most people realize, until they try it that is.
But what makes a mattress a better choice for those suffering from insomnia? That, and the best beds for insomnia, is what we are going to look at here.
Our Top Picks
- Best Overall: PlushBeds
- Best Hybrid: DreamCloud
- Flippable & Cooling: Select Sleep Hybrid
- Best for Pressure Relief: Loom & Leaf
- Best Budget-Friendly: Puffy Lux
How Common is Insomnia?
In the most basic terms, the term insomnia is a sleeping disorder referring to an inability to get to sleep, or in staying that way for as long as you should. In reality, it is a lot more complicated than that.
About 1 in 4 Americans will develop insomnia each year.
Science Daily
To begin with, two types of insomnia are commonly diagnosed, primary insomnia and secondary insomnia. The latter is sleeplessness caused by an underlying medical condition, either mental or physical. Primary insomnia is the inability to enjoy a good night’s sleep without an apparent underlying cause.
To complicate things even further, there are different types of primary insomnia including, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the medical manual most professionals refer to when discussing or treating insomnia) and these include psychophysiological insomnia, idiopathic insomnia and paradoxical insomnia (a very different form of insomnia).
Once a patient is diagnosed with a form of insomnia, their treatment will vary according to their own unique situation. The one piece of advice that remains constant however is that you improve the environment you are (trying to) sleep in, which often includes a new mattress, one that is better suited to helping you combat insomnia.
Choosing the Best Mattress for Insomnia
So, you’ve been told – or have figured out for yourself – that a better mattress may help relieve your insomnia and finally get you on the road to better sleep. But what is a good choice for insomnia?
The one thing you are not going to find is that you can start shopping online – or head into a mattress showroom offline if you prefer – and see a mattress labelled ‘this is the right one’ (because they are say that, don’t they).
What you can look for when you begin mattress shopping however is certain characteristics and features that are likely to make certain mattresses better than others for those who have difficulty sleeping. There are some basics you can – and should – keep in mind as you shop though.
Here’s a look at some of the most important of them.
Support Level
Far too many mattresses do not provide the right level of support to provide a good night’s sleep for anyone, let alone someone who already has trouble sleeping.
What the right level is can’t be defined as a one-size-fits all thing but a good mattress should relieve pressure points – usually at the shoulders and hips especially, help better align your spine as you sleep and, for some, help make sure that if you move a lot in your sleep – either through habit or due to an underlying condition like Restless Leg Syndrome – that the effects of ‘motion transfer’ – which can easily wake anyone up – are minimized.
Temperature Control
Some people naturally ‘sleep hot’ and others – one good example is women going through menopause – heat up at night as a result of an underlying condition. Either way, that can be more than enough to wake you up and make it hard to go back to sleep.
Some mattress materials have a reputation for being cooler in general to sleep on. Latex, for example, has a well-documented reputation as ‘cool sleeping’. Some memory foams, on the other hand, are known to sleep hot. Newer memory foams, especially hybrid offerings that feature a cooling layer, solve that problem, but you’ll need to do a little research to figure out which offerings these are.
The material that covers the mattress can make a difference to average sleeping temperature too, so that is another consideration to keep in mind as you shop. As a general rule of thumb cotton is very cool sleeping, as is bamboo, and so both are worth looking out for.
Trial Period
The only place that people are actually allowed to sleep on a mattress in a bedding showroom is in a sitcom. In real life you may be able to ‘try one out’ for a few minutes but that is hardly long enough to discover if it really is the right mattress for you. And if you are shopping for a mattress online – which an increasing number of people are – you cannot try it out at all.
The good news is that many mattresses come with a ‘free X night’s trial’ that allows you to try them out in your own home for a number of nights so you can determine if you really did make the right choice and return the mattress without financial penalty if you didn’t. Looking for such a guarantee is always a good idea, whether you suffer from insomnia or not.
Price
People look at prices when they shop, and most look to get biggest possible bang for their buck. While that is only natural – and sensible – a mattress is not an item that you should scrimp on. The idea is that you will be sleeping on it for the next several years – most good mattresses last 10-13 years – and it needs to be up to that task, something that ‘bargain’ mattresses often are not.
That having been said, don’t overpay for a mattress simply because it’s offered by a ‘big name’ manufacturer. There are some great beds for insomnia out there offered by companies you may have never heard of before, and yet they are proving to be some of the best options out there.
Also Read: The Best Latex Mattresses for an Organic, Non-Toxic Sleep
Highest Rated Beds for Insomnia Reviews
The biggest question to answer now is what are the best-rated beds for insomnia? While we can’t provide you with a definitive answer – because everyone, and their sleep styles and challenges – are different – what we can do is tell you about what our eager (sleepy) testers found, and, also making use of the opinions and reviews of other mattress shoppers, offer you a look at 5 great beds for insomnia available today that you should give serious consideration when shopping.
1. Best Overall: Plushbeds’ Botanical Bliss
Why We Love It: This mattress ticks most of the boxes when it comes to a great mattress for insomnia and it’s durable and reasonably priced as well!
The Plushbeds’ Botanical Bliss is a 100% natural latex mattress that is offered in two different firmness levels and three different heights. It’s made up of three layers of supportive latex, as well as a layer of wool and is topped by a cotton cover.
This combination of materials offers both support and temperature control. Latex offers good support and pressure point relief but without the ‘sinking’ feeling that some mattresses can give you. It’s also a little ‘springier’ than memory foam, a feeling some prefer.
In terms of all-important temperature control not only is latex naturally cool, but the layer of wool, believe it or not, offers cooling as well. Wool isn’t always hot, and it actually has natural cooling properties of its own (otherwise sheep would be in real trouble in the summer) And the cotton cover only adds to the cool sleeping effect. Our testers found it did indeed sleep very cool, something lots of online reviewers agreed with too.
The Plushbeds’ Botanical Bliss comes along with a 100-night trial and a 25-year guarantee, both of which are great things to have, and easy Klarna financing may be a bonus for some as well.
PROS: Offers comfort, support and cooling, durable (latex is very long lasting), offers a little more ‘spring’ than some mattress offerings, specific cooling layers are great for hot sleepers, great for bad backs.
CONS: Not suitable for anyone allergic to latex, higher end of the budget.
View Plushbeds Botanical Bliss here
2. Best Hybrid Mattress: DreamCloud
Why We Love It: If you prefer a softer mattress – but one that still offers lots of support, then this is an excellent choice.
The DreamCloud mattress is designed to live up to its name; offering a softer sleeping experience while still providing the support needed for a joint healthy good night’s sleep.
This is what is known as a hybrid mattress, as it makes use of both the older spring technology and the newer (but now very familiar to many) memory foam technology found in so many mattresses these days.
This hybrid technology means that the mattress can offer a good balance of firmer support (thanks to the coils) and body conforming comfort (thanks to the memory foam) There are even more layers too; a layer of ‘low motion transfer foam’ to prevent a partner’s movements disturbing you too much and a softer memory foam top layer. The whole thing is covered by a cashmere blend cover for that ‘plush’ feeling.
In terms of a trial, DreamCloud offer customers the chance to sleep on their new mattress for up to a year – 365 nights – which is one of the most generous trial periods in the industry.
PROS: firm support and pressure point relief, prevents motion transfer, generous trial period, plush-feeling cover that feels very soft
CONS: Some may find it a little too firm for their comfort, difficulty fitting the mattress on some bed frames.
See latest price offer on the DreamCloud Hybrid Mattress here
3. Best for Cooling: Select Sleep Hybrid Mattress
Why We Love It: This is a great mattress option at an incredible value for those who have joint problems and tend to wake up in pain.
The Select Sleep hybrid latex mattress offers incredible comfort and pressure relief. Avoiding placing too much pressure on certain joints as you sleep – especially the back and shoulders – can be key when trying to prevent pain and get a better night’s sleep. Suitable for all sleepers, this hybrid latex mattress offers great stability, is durable, cooling and responsive.
The Select Sleep Hybrid is crafted from 5″ of 100% latex on the plush side and 2″ of natural latex on the firm side, 8″ Pocketed Coils, a dual sided quilted cover made from New Zealand Joma wool and organic cotton.
It features a 90-night trial, free shipping, 10-year warranty and ships in a box.
PROS: great for pressure point relief, latex is long-lasting, it’s bouncy, great motion isolation, very affordable
CONS: the wool odor is quite strong at the beginning which should dissipate within 2 weeks
See the Select Sleep mattress here
4. Best For Pressure Points: Loom & Leaf
Why We Love It: This is a high quality, durable mattress that you can expect will give you years of good sleep.
The Loom & Leaf mattress, which is offered by mattress specialists Saatva and comes along with a 120-night trial, is promoted as the ‘luxury memory foam mattress, and it lives up to its name in that department. The construction is excellent, and the mattress looks good out of the box. The materials used are high quality and those who have owned this mattress for some time says it is very durable and does not sag easily.
In terms of pressure point relief, which is provided by three layers of memory foam, including one cooling gel infused layer, most testers and many reviewers found that the Loom & Leaf did an excellent job, and not only were they not woken up by sudden pain but also woke with fewer aches and pain as well. Many also found that the gel layer worked and the mattress slept cool.
PROS: high quality construction and materials, excellent pressure point relief, cooling gel seems to work well, great for those woken by sudden heat, great customer service and support
CONS: some felt it did not offer as much motion control when sleeping with a partner as some other options
Check Price for the Loom & Leaf mattress here
5. Best Value: Puffy Mattress
Why We Love It: Good sleeping support and cooling at a very affordable price
Some people are not in a position to spend over a thousand dollars on a mattress, but that should hopefully not be a bar to finding a mattress that will help improve their sleep and relieve their insomnia. As it is under $500 (!) the Puffy Mattress does that quite well.
The Puffy Mattress is a single firmness memory foam mattress that is made up of three layers of memory foam designed to offer good support and minimize motion transfer. One of the layers also features a cooling weave designed to make sleeping on it cooler.
Our testers and many other reviewers found that this ‘budget’ option exceeded their expectations and offered a comfortable night’s sleep that was cooler than expected from a mattress made entirely from memory foam.
While some of the other mattresses on our list offer more in terms of pressure point relief, as a starting point when on a budget this option is more than adequate for helping improve sleep quality in general.
PROS: very affordable, offers good support, reviewers complimented the company’s customer service
CONS: does not offer the same level of pressure point relief as some of the mattresses on our list, so may not be great for chronic pain sufferers, some reported that the mattress slept hotter than they would have liked.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it, our look at in insomnia and the mattresses that some of the best options to help you combat it. All of them, have something great to offer, especially our top pick, the Plushbeds’ Botanical Bliss, which has something to offer for most people who suffer from insomnia and are looking for a better night’s sleep.
A mattress will not fix all the problems that may be causing your insomnia, but a great one certainly offers an excellent start in the ‘fight’ against this common, but combatable problem. We hope this piece has been helpful and that a good night’s sleep is something that’s on the cards for you in the very near future!