Does Your Pillow Match Your Preferred Sleeping Position? 

Do you often wake up with a crick in your neck? Or pain in your lower back? This could be a sign that your current pillow and the pillow stuffing inside it doesn’t quite match your style of sleeping. 

Is this a real thing? Yes, it is very real and can have a huge impact on your quality of sleep. 

Let’s face it, your pillow’s main job is to support you in your go-to sleeping position. If the pillow you’re using doesn’t have the criteria needed to carry out this job, then you could face night after night of uncomfortable sleep. When it comes to purchasing a pillow, your chosen product should tick the following boxes: 

 

• Align your head, neck, and spine
• Maintain a healthy posture by supporting the natural curvature of your spine

The tricky part is that we all have our preferred sleep position. Whether that is curled up on our sides in the fetal position or lying on our front, resembling a resting starfish. Each of these sleep positions will require different pillow fill and stuffing criteria to keep you both supported and comfortable at night. 

 

Which Pillow To Choose Depending On How You Sleep

Now that you’ve discovered that your slumber habits should play a larger factor in the bedding products that you buy, we’ll take a look at the exact kind of pillows that are best for your sleeping position of preference. 

Here we’ll be looking at the three core sleepers: side sleepers, stomach sleepers and back sleepers.

 

 

Best Pillow For Side Sleepers

 

To keep a neutral spine position while sleeping, a side sleeper should purchase a pillow that has firmer support and a high loft count. 

The reason loft is important when sleeping on your side is that a slightly taller pillow will help to prop up the head, keeping it in line with the spine. Additionally, it will help to relieve any pressure in the shoulder area and prevent the shoulder from digging into the mattress. Aim for a medium-firm level of support to keep your head and neck in line while sleeping. 

The best pillow for a side sleeper should ideally be amply filled with a firmer polyester pillow filling and offer a triple chamber layer of comfort.

 

Best Pillow For Stomach Sleepers

 

If you prefer to sleep on your stomach, then you may not be surprised to hear that you’ve chosen one of the trickiest sleep positions for maintaining a healthy posture. That’s because sleeping on your stomach can put extra pressure on the upper cervical spine and the neck. 

Don’t worry just yet - there is still a perfect pillow match for you. 

Stomach sleepers will need to opt for a pillow that is of lower loft and offers soft support. As you will want to maintain a neutral spine position, the lower and softer the pillow is, the better. If your pillow is even the smallest bit too high, it will cause your neck to crane upwards and cause neck pain. 

When we say soft, we don’t mean so soft that your head is lying completely flat on the mattress. Rather, a stomach sleeper’s pillow should offer a cushy barrier between the head and the bed itself. The best pillow for a stomach sleeper would be one that has a compressible stuffing such as plush Hutterite White Goose Down or a down alternative pillow stuffing such as microgel. 

 

Best Pillow For Back Sleepers 

 

When it comes to sleeping on your back, you may be considered as the Goldilocks of the bedding world. Your pillow should be not too firm and not too soft meaning that medium firmness and support are just right!

By purchasing a pillow that offers medium firmness and support, you will be ensuring there’s no pressure in the neck and shoulder area while keeping your head supported enough to match the natural ‘C’ shape of your spine. 

The best pillow for a back sleeper is one that is stuffed with either low profile polyester fibers or down with a feather core as these materials are designed to conform to pressure helping the head to feel cradled while kept in neutral alignment with the neck. Try Westex’s Hutterite White Goose Down Around pillow. 

 

A Match Made In Pillow Heaven: Sleep Like You’ve Never Slept Before 

 

Just like how there is an art to fluffing pillows, there is also somewhat of an art to purchasing the correct pillow for your sleeping position. While you may need to carry out some trial and testing before you find the right one for you, once you do it is like sleeping on a cloud that’s only found in bedding heaven. 

A slight exaggeration? Maybe. Yet, once you find the right pillow for your preferred sleep position, we promise that you’ll sleep like you’ve never slept before.