Best Mattresses for Combination Sleepers (2023)

Buyer’s Guide – Best Mattress For Combo Sleepers

The first thing to consider when you look for the best mattress for combination sleepers is this: of the sleeping positions you find yourself in throughout the night, which one is the one where you spend the most time? The reason this is important is that each sleeping position has an ideal mattress type. However, you can only sleep on one bed at a time, so it’s best to buy a mattress that will be adequate for the way your body situates itself most of the time.
In addition to identifying your preferred way of sleeping, we also suggest getting a mattress that provides an ideal blend of support and cushioning. You need extra cushioning for times when you’re on your side, but if it’s too much, it’ll put your spine at an unnatural angle when you roll to your back or stomach.

Support & Comfort

No matter what position you find yourself in, proper spinal alignment is key. Unfortunately, it’s not something everyone thinks about often. When you lie down, your spine should be in a straight line.
So, if you’re on your side, your shoulders, torso, and hips should all be at the same level. A too-soft mattress could make part of your body dip out of this line. Likewise, a bed that is too firm may cause parts of your body to buckle, which is not ideal for optimal health and sleep hygiene.

Finding the Right Firmness Level

Your ideal firmness level depends on two factors:

Your Dominant Sleeping Positions

While side sleepers need a softer surface to contour their denser body parts like shoulders and hips, back sleepers need a slightly firmer mattress to keep their body parts level with each other. And finally, stomach sleepers require the firmest mattress of them all in order to prevent their stomach and torso from dipping unnaturally and throwing off the curve of the spine.
Need more info? Check out our full mattress firmness guide here.

Your Weight

The heavier you are, the firmer the mattress you need. Along this line of reasoning, if you’re a lightweight person, you will probably need some softer mattress. Here’s why: if you don’t weigh much, you’re not going to sink into the bed as significantly as someone who weighs more. When you lie down, a firm bed could feel like concrete because you don’t have enough weight to sink into the surface.

Conversely, when you’re heavy, you’ll need a firmer surface to support your weight. Otherwise, you’ll sink too deeply, and you’re more likely to feel uncomfortable.

Soft mattresses tend to work well for people between 100 and 120 pounds. Medium-firm mattresses work best for individuals over 120 pounds and under about 250 pounds, which is most of the population. If you are hovering near the 250-lb mark, or you’re above it, you should consider seeking out a firm mattress.
When in doubt, the best choice that has universal appeal is a mattress that’s medium-firm.
Want to know more? Check out our top rated mattresses for heavy people here.

Slow vs. Fast Response

We briefly mentioned response when we discussed memory foam mattresses. This type of mattress has “slow response” because it retains its shape even when you stop putting weight on in it. And yes, memory foam mattress will go back to normal, but it’s a slower process.
Fast response is a feature of latex and innerspring beds. These have spring or bounce. You’ll find that even if you put all your weight in one area or jump on the bed, the material recovers quickly.

Sinkage and “Hug”

When we say “hug,” we don’t mean that your mattress will literally hug you, although that would be nice. Rather, hugging means that when you lie down, you’ll sink into the mattress slightly and you’ll have the sensation of being enveloped by the part of the bed where your weight is concentrated.
The sinkage and hug that is commonplace among memory foam mattresses are ideal for side sleepers, though combo sleepers need to watch out, especially if one of those preferred sleeping positions is on the stomach. A memory foam mattress can cause a stomach sleeper’s pelvis to sink downward, depending on its construction, uncomfortably arching the back. A coil bed won’t have the issue that memory foam mattress does.

Motion Transfer

Combo sleepers are known for tossing and turning, so having a bed with superior motion isolation is key. Motion isolation simply means that when one partner moves or gets up, the person on the other side of the bed won’t feel it because all of the motion is concentrated in the area where the person is moving.
Memory foam performs best here, though some hybrid and latex beds are also excellent at minimizing motion transfer. Coil beds are subpar here, so if you sleep with a partner that is easily disturbed, you probably want to avoid coil beds, which wake you up whenever someone moves.