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Pillow Recommendations for a Side Sleeper?


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I love my latex foam pillow. I got it at BB&B several years ago and have no idea what brand it is. It doesn't squish down like down and down alternative pillows, and something about it is (IMO) preferable to memory foam. At this point I can't imagine ever buying any other kind.

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6 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

I do too. Mine is from Sleep Number. 

2 hours ago, LauraClark said:

I've thought about those. Do you ever sleep on your back? I'm mostly side, but occasional back and not sure how those kind of pillows would work for that.

I don't sleep on my back, but I can lie comfortably on my back on mine. I would have to flip it around (on the same side) to use the low side if I slept on it, I think. 

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3 hours ago, LauraClark said:

I've thought about those. Do you ever sleep on your back? I'm mostly side, but occasional back and not sure how those kind of pillows would work for that.

I don't think I spend long on my back, but I don't find it uncomfortable when I do.

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I am a side sleeper only.

I have something like this.

Amazon.com: UTTU Sandwich Pillow, Adjustable Memory Foam Pillow, Bamboo Pillow for Sleeping, Cervical Pillow for Neck Pain, Neck Support for Back, Stomach, Side Sleepers, Orthopedic Contour Pillow, CertiPUR-US: Furniture & Decor

 

Although I think I got mine at Walmart or Kohls.  Best pillow for a side sleeper.  I sleep awful when we travel on normal pillows. 

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I have a Leesa pillow. It’s more than I have ever paid for a pillow before, but it is so much better than any other pillow I have had. I even travel with it 😂 Mine came from Pottery Barn but you can get it other places too.

https://www.potterybarn.com/m/products/leesa-pillow/

eta- I have had it about 3 years and it has held its shape.

Edited by TrulySusan
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I'm really sensitive to the height of my pillows (I've always travelled with my own pillows).  I used to mix-and-match the pillows in the house to find two mostly-flat pillows that together were the right height, but after my latest set got too flat and I was waking up with knots in my neck every morning, I splurged last year on this pillow: Eli & Elm side sleeper pillow     (Eli & Elm, Amazon - the Eli & Elm site has 20% off for the 4th). 

It's curved in a U-shape at the bottom, which I *really* like.  (When I was pillow shopping, and learned that such pillows exist, I realized it might be just the thing for me, because I was constantly trying to tug my pillows to snug around my neck without getting them under my shoulder.)  The filling's a nice mix of soft and firm - firm enough to not sink into but still feels soft to lay on.  It also has a zipper to remove/add filling, to customize the loft - but it's also good for rearranging the fill as, because of always sleeping in the middle of it, it inevitably smooshes out from the middle to the edges over time (which is essential for me, because I need it nice and fluffed in the middle.)  When I bought it, they didn't have a pillowcase to go with, so I just used a king-size protector and pillowcase, which has worked out very nicely.

I've had it for a year and I'm still pleased.  The neck knots quit happening, and also the tension in my face has relaxed a lot - I hadn't realized how much the badly-suited pillows were causing that till it relaxed with the new pillow.  And I can doze again - I had been getting up as soon as I woke up just because it was too uncomfortable to lie there.  I did have to learn how to fluff it effectively (punch in the sides forcefully, flip it over and punch it again - so I alternate which side it up every night), so I wasn't needing to unzip and rearrange the fluff every week or so, but once I got that sorted it's been the perfect pillow.  I'm primarily a side sleeper, but it's comfortable to lay on my back, too.  (The one downside is that it makes snuggling up to dh in bed harder, because you sleep in the middle of the pillow, not at the edges, and so it keeps me at a certain distance - no spooning up.)

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OP: Another place you might look is on the web site of Mr. Pillow.  I think they are in Minneapolis?  Look for Discount coupons and offers before you click to buy.   If you need more help, call them on the phone and explain how you sleep and your weight and they will help you.

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6 hours ago, Lanny said:

OP: Another place you might look is on the web site of Mr. Pillow.  I think they are in Minneapolis?  Look for Discount coupons and offers before you click to buy.   If you need more help, call them on the phone and explain how you sleep and your weight and they will help you.

I think you mean My Pillow.  But... just no. 

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My Pillow, dh went through many many different pillows and my pillow is the only one that works for him. He is a side sleeper. You can get My Pillow on Amazon, it’s faster shipping than it you order from the company.

http://MyPillow Premium Series Bed Pillow [Std/Queen, White Medium Fill] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WHBVBW3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_ZAZ64QX10RGSDRK4AS1B

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I have a medium down alternative pillow from Target that I’ve had for a few months now and it is wonderful. I don’t remember the brand and I ripped the tags off. I’ll look at it this weekend when I change sheets and see if there is a brand on the fabric cover. 

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17 hours ago, TechWife said:

I have a medium down alternative pillow from Target that I’ve had for a few months now and it is wonderful. I don’t remember the brand and I ripped the tags off. I’ll look at it this weekend when I change sheets and see if there is a brand on the fabric cover. 

You ripped off the tags!?!  Maybe you shouldn't admit that on a public forum!

(I know it's not really against the law for the consumer to take off the tags but that's the first thing that popped into my mind. 😜)

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Another fan of latex here. 

My whole family has latex pillows. You can get different densities and experiment. I’ve found them at department stores like Macy’s, BBB, or you can be fancy and order from Sleep on Latex or one of the other mattress companies. 

My adult dd asked for a Ghost pillow for Christmas, and she LOVES it. She’s a side/tummy sleeper like me. 

Off topic sort of....do any of you side sleepers ever wake up in the middle of the night with severe ear pain? Not inner or middle ear—the actual visible outer ear. 

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I have both sizes of the temperpedic neck roll pill - one is too small, the other is too big.  I always end up slipping "down" the pillow so my head is on the roll forcing my neck into a steeper angle, instead of the roll being under my neck.  both give me a headache.  I'm too cheap to give them away, so they're still clogging up a closet.

I've bought so many pillows over the years, including the "great for side sleepers" multilayer gel foam from costco (I took it back). . . I regret getting rid of one I got from my mom.  It was a bizarre pillow, and I've never seen another like it.

I did find a really interesting one while out bed shopping, and I may break down and order it to give it a try.

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On 7/3/2021 at 5:38 PM, J-rap said:

I think you mean My Pillow.  But... just no. 

No.  Costco had them in for a promotion.  Just, no.

On 7/3/2021 at 10:33 AM, WildflowerMom said:

I use this one…  https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B078X1XBM4?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

the only problem is that I can’t find a pillowcase for it.   And I do wish it were a touch firmer.   If I could sew, I could probably add a bit more stuffing and sew an easy case.   Anyway, this shape is perfect for me.  

Cool.  You could make a business of sewing pillows for that.  It doesn't look like those "L" pillow cases would fit it.

On 7/3/2021 at 3:27 AM, Pawz4me said:

I love my latex foam pillow. I got it at BB&B several years ago and have no idea what brand it is. It doesn't squish down like down and down alternative pillows, and something about it is (IMO) preferable to memory foam. At this point I can't imagine ever buying any other kind.

I had one as a kid, and I loved it.  I think it came with my parents latex mattress.  Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place.

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41 minutes ago, popmom said:

Another fan of latex here. 

My whole family has latex pillows. You can get different densities and experiment. I’ve found them at department stores like Macy’s, BBB, or you can be fancy and order from Sleep on Latex or one of the other mattress companies. 

My adult dd asked for a Ghost pillow for Christmas, and she LOVES it. She’s a side/tummy sleeper like me. 

Off topic sort of....do any of you side sleepers ever wake up in the middle of the night with severe ear pain? Not inner or middle ear—the actual visible outer ear. 

I have a donut shaped pillow for times my ear hurts. I use it on top of my normal pillow.

It's a pillow sold for people with fresh ear piercings.  I bought it on Etsy but the same seller isn't showing up.  

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3 hours ago, popmom said:

 

Off topic sort of....do any of you side sleepers ever wake up in the middle of the night with severe ear pain? Not inner or middle ear—the actual visible outer ear. 

Not since I started using a latex pillow, but back when I was using down or down alternatives -- yes, it happened fairly often.

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1 hour ago, Terabith said:

My facebook feed keeps trying to sell me on the cube pillow, but it looks terribly uncomfortable to me.  

I tried it. The comfort isn’t bad but it squishes down to about 3.5” thick, so it doesn’t really fill the shoulder space like it advertises. I need something that’s 5” thick after I lay on it to fill my shoulder space. 
 

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13 minutes ago, MerryAtHope said:

I tried it. The comfort isn’t bad but it squishes down to about 3.5” thick, so it doesn’t really fill the shoulder space like it advertises. I need something that’s 5” thick after I lay on it to fill my shoulder space. 

I've been wondering about the pillow cube!  Their ads are great... wasn't sure what to think about the pillow!

I've settled on using two pillows, one is fake down and the top one is real down.  I can adjust so they contour correctly to that 'shoulder hole'.  And yeah, that gets it up to the 5" or so that I also need.

And every now and then when I have an urge to lay on my back (sometimes in the morning when I am pondering the idea of getting up), I just flip up the top one so I'm just using the bottom one and I don't get a neck kink.

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38 minutes ago, happi duck said:

I use two pillows also.  The bottom is foam with a shoulder cut out.  The top is unknown (not foam) but I can squish it how I need it.  I don't like how foam feels against my ear and one pillow is never tall enough.

Yeah, my bottom pillow is squishy enough that I kind of make a shoulder cut out even if I don't intend to, lol.  I also don't like foam against my head.  I apparently have gotten very used to feather/down pillows. 

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20 hours ago, popmom said:

Off topic sort of....do any of you side sleepers ever wake up in the middle of the night with severe ear pain? Not inner or middle ear—the actual visible outer ear. 

Yes, me. Numb ears if the pillow is too dense. I have to punch a little divet for my ear every night pretty much with all pillows.

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15 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

I've been wondering about the pillow cube!  Their ads are great... wasn't sure what to think about the pillow!

I've settled on using two pillows, one is fake down and the top one is real down.  I can adjust so they contour correctly to that 'shoulder hole'.  And yeah, that gets it up to the 5" or so that I also need.

And every now and then when I have an urge to lay on my back (sometimes in the morning when I am pondering the idea of getting up), I just flip up the top one so I'm just using the bottom one and I don't get a neck kink.

What do you use for a bottom pillow? I have one I like but don't love. 

I complained a bit about their ads to them. They could have avoided wasting a pillow and me being out 20 bucks with clearer info on their site! 

Edited by MerryAtHope
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Just now, MerryAtHope said:

What do you use for a bottom pillow? I have one I like but don't love. 

It's some kind of faux down fill that I got at Bed Bath & Beyond.  I thought I'd use it instead of my old down one, but turns out it wasn't fat enough (too squishy by itself) and also I didn't like it against my head the way I liked the real down, so I ended up putting my old pillow on top of the new one, and that's worked well!

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6 hours ago, happi duck said:

I use two pillows also.  The bottom is foam with a shoulder cut out.  The top is unknown (not foam) but I can squish it how I need it.  I don't like how foam feels against my ear and one pillow is never tall enough.

Do you know what you use for the bottom? 

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I like but don't love my current set-up! I have two layers. For the bottom I use a Therapeutica travel pillow upside down. When you flip it, the back is a trapezoid shape rather than straight up and down, so there is room for the shoulder. I find I like that better than the curve like Eli & Elm style pillows because I tend to have my lower arm straight out instead of down by my body, and the curved shape doesn't allow for that. 

The top layer is stacked foam pieces that I can no longer find. It's not memory foam--it's just regular, really soft foam (softer than seat cushion foam) that used to be a 3/4" or 1" mattress topper and I cut it into squares. It takes 5 to get the inch or so of height I need out of them.

I've tried other options for the top, but I can't do memory foam. The "rebound" of memory foam pushes against my jaw and gives me TMJ pain. Pillows with various material that shifts (down, down alternative etc...) tend to shift too much as I sleep and I end up with neck cricks or TMJ.

For the bottom, I really love the angled shape that allows my shoulder room. It's just a little firm. Memory foam doesn't work for me on the bottom either--I find it pushes against my shoulder and gives me shoulder pain, or I find it compresses gradually throughout the night.

I feel ridiculous like the princess and the pea! 

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Side sleeper.  I have been on the Great Pillow Quest for years.  Recently found the Coop pillow on Amazon, and love it.  I did have to remove some of the adjustable stuffing.
 

I was sleeping with a slew of pillows that had to be arranged just so.  Now I just have the one.  It’s wonderful.

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I checked my wonderful pillow @happi duck- you’ll be glad to know that there is a sewn in brand label remaining 😀
It is this Casaluna pillow from Target. It’s the best pillow I’ve had in a long time. I elevate the top edge of it slightly with a firm pillow and sometimes I slip one of my arms under it. It’s lovely! @Jean in Newcastle- I hope you find a pillow match soon! 
https://www.target.com/p/machine-washable-medium-firm-down-alternative-pillow-casaluna/-/A-78684879?preselect=78632439#lnk=sametab

 

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  • 2 months later...
On 7/3/2021 at 1:24 AM, Jean in Newcastle said:

I have googled this.  Honest.  But I am overwhelmed by all the choices.  And the prices of some of them!  Any side sleepers have some pillow recommendations?  I am hoping for good neck alignment. 

Just wondered what you ended up trying and if you like it!

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3 hours ago, MerryAtHope said:

Just wondered what you ended up trying and if you like it!

My husband had this pillow https://relaxtheback.com/products/contourside-pillow-by-relax-the-back

I borrowed it and decided that while it isn’t perfect, it was a lot better than the two regular pillows that I was using. The height is pretty good but not exactly right . I thought that the  memory foam would be too hot but it hasn’t been. 

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