
I'm a side sleeper — this is the one must-have mattress feature I'd look for in the Memorial Day sales
Since becoming the Sleep Features Editor for Tom's Guide, I feel like I've come to know exactly what I need to get a good night's sleep. While a nighttime routine and a consistent schedule are key, if you're sleeping on the wrong mattress you're likely to wake up frequently and find it hard to fall asleep.
As a side sleeper, I need a bed that will take the pressure off my shoulders, hips and knees, but not something that's so soft my spine will shift out of alignment. This year's guide to the best mattresses features beds we've tried and tested, and they offer different features for different sleepers. After testing a few myself, I've realized the one feature I need for a great night's sleep: A pillow top.
The best pillow-top mattresses cushion your body without causing that claustrophobic sinking feeling you get on some memory foam mattresses. And, while they do come at a more premium price point, the Memorial Day mattress sales are a perfect time to get a luxury pillow-top mattress for less. Here's why choosing this kind of mattress is a non-negotiable for me now.
I've been sleeping on the Birch Natural Luxe for a week and it's my favorite mattress so far. Why? Because it's a hybrid with a Euro-top (a type of pillow-top), so I get to enjoy proper, buoyant support without sacrificing a cozy, soft surface to curl up on. Here's why a pillow-top is now a must-have for me.
While side sleeping is one of the best sleeping positions for spinal alignment and general health, it's not without its problems if you don't have the right mattress to support you. Most obviously, is the pressure that can build up at the hips, shoulders and knees if your mattress doesn't have enough 'give'.
A pillow-top is an extra layer of cushioning stitched on top of a mattress, generally made from materials like cotton, wool, memory foam, latex and other materials.
It's often softer than the rest of the mattress and a couple of inches thick. This means you sink just enough into the mattress to relieve the pressure in key areas of the body.
For me, this has meant I'm tossing and turning less frequently and I've stopped waking up in the night. I can get comfortable quickly, and stay comfortable.
I love the feeling of a plush mattress; being able to get snuggle up on a cozy bed is up there in my top 10 pastimes. However, I've realised that I actually don't find ultra soft mattresses comfortable to side sleep on for the night.
Without adequate support, the spine doesn't stay aligned, which can strain your joints. But for me, it's more about feeling like I can't move around on the mattress.
By opting for a medium-firm mattress with a pillow-top, you get the best of both worlds. You can feel like you're sleeping on top of the mattress, rather than sinking far into it, while still getting that indulgent, plush feeling.
This way, I can toss and turn with ease and settle back into a soft surface without compromising the support for my body.
A supportive mattress is one that keeps your spine aligned, keeps your hips lifted and distributes your weight evenly across the surface of the bed.
A soft mattress, no matter how comfortable side sleepers find them, is unlikely to do this as effectively as a medium firm mattress.
However, you can recreate the feel of a soft mattress with a pillow top. This layer can contour to your body and offer the 'give' you need to get comfortable, without compromising the support layers beneath it that keep you buoyant and lifted throughout the night.
Since pillow-tops are generally found on innerspring and hybrid mattress, you're getting the support provided by not just foam layers, but coils, too.
Yes, Memorial Day is a great time to buy a pillow-top mattress. These mattresses tend to sit in the premium price bracket because of the extra material in the top layer.
Many of the best luxury mattresses include this pillow-top feature. For this reason, waiting for sales events throughout the year will help you get the best price.
We see some of the best prices of the year on top mattress brands during Memorial Day, with some discounts just as generous as Black Friday.
For example, using our link you can get $400 off the Saatva Classic mattress at Saatva, which we rate as not just the best pillow-top mattress, but the best hybrid mattress, too.
Just because I'm a side sleeper and enjoy a firmer mattress with a pillow top, doesn't mean you will too. It's important to consider all of your sleep needs.
For example, if you tend to sleep hot or experience night sweats or hot flashes, look for natural, breathable materials like wool and cotton, or consider investing in one of the best cooling mattresses.
Other factors to consider include your body weight, primary sleeping position, whether you share a bed and need good motion isolation or if you need robust edge support to help you get in and out of bed.
Many mattress brands say their latest discount is a 'huge Memorial Day sale' but realistically, they're just the deals we see every month, so don't be fooled by any banners saying 'limited time' or 'ending soon'.
You can check out our mattress sales hub, where you'll find the best sale prices we've seen, as well as price history for top mattresses. This will help you know whether you're getting a genuinely good deal, or just an average price.
A mattress can last anywhere from seven to 10 years, so it's a big investment that should last you a considerable length of time. For this reason, it's worth opting for quality over a budget price, because you'll likely have to replace a cheaper mattress more often, costing you more in the future.
There are plenty of pillow-top mattresses that suit different price ranges, however, you're unlikely to find a queen pillow-top mattress for under $1,000. Right now, the Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid (with the add-on cooling pillow top)is currently $1,212.40 (was $1,732), with the code MEMORIAL30. That's great value for a pillow-top mattress, and probably the lowest price from a reputable brand you'll find. Read our full Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid review to find out if it'll suit you.

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Miami Herald
20 hours ago
- Miami Herald
‘I almost lost my family in one day.' Survivor recounts horror of boat explosion
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On Wednesday, two weeks after the tragedy, she spoke up about the boat explosion at a press conference at Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where she and her children have been treated. 'I can't thank them enough. I mean, Jackson saved our lives,' she said. Kash is progressing smoothly in his recovery, with Rivera mentioning he has bouts of delirium due to his young age and trauma left from the explosion. He is expected to be discharged within the next two weeks. Anthony, while conscious and alert, remains intubated. For burns as severe as his, surgeons perform skin transplant surgeries, among other procedures. 'But sometimes the skin is damaged to the point of not being able to heal itself, and then we have to do skin grafting, which is basically a transplant,' said Jackson burn care expert and trauma surgeon Dr. Carl Schulman. 'In extremely, extremely serious cases, there are companies and labs that grow thin layers of skin cells . . . We use those in some of the more severe cases.' Rivera has been discharged from her week-and-a-half stay at Ryder's intensive care unit, and her burns, covering her shoulders, hands, thighs and toes, are healing steadily. She and her husband, Antonio Rivera, who sustained minor burns in the boat explosion, spend most of their days at their sons' bedsides at Ryder. 'I sleep on a cot beside my son's bed. If he needs anything, I get up,' said the mother. 'I'm glad I'm going through [rehab] before my boys are . . . I can relate to them, and I know exactly how they're feeling, so I can comfort them a little bit more.' Rivera said she and her husband knew the owner of the boat, who had invited them to on the excursion. She didn't name the boat's owner. 'It was a private boat. We knew the owner of the boat, and we thought when we were going out, it was just going to be us, the owner and the captain of the boat,' she said. 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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Obama's Doctor Gives Telling Update on Biden's Health Amid His Aggressive Cancer Diagnosis
Ever since former President Joe Biden announced his cancer diagnosis, there have been questions about his health. This is pretty much on par for the course; the same has happened to public figures like King Charles and Kate Middleton, too, after their own diagnosis. It's just that a lot of the conversation regarding Joe Biden's health has to do with the question of whether he should have run for a second term in office. It matters not that, in the end, Kamala Harris took over or that she lost the election anyway. Now, Barack Obama's former physician is adding to the questions surrounding Biden. Jeffrey Kuhlman said in an interview that the former President's doctor should have given him a cognitive test during his final year as president due to his age. The last report by White House physician Kevin O'Connor in February 2024 didn't include any mention of neurocognitive testing. Biden was 81 at the time. More from StyleCaster Obama Just Got Roped into Diddy's Trial in Shocking Claim King Charles Responds to Joe Biden's 'Aggressive' Cancer After Their Eerily Similar Diagnoses Related: Here are the celebrities who support Donald Trump 'Sometimes those closest to the tree miss the forest,' Kuhlman said of O'Connor, who also expressed that such a test would have given voters a clearer picture of whether Biden was up for another 4 years in the Presidency. 'It shouldn't be just health, it should be fitness,' Kuhlman said. 'Fitness is: Do you have that robust mind, body, spirit that you can do this physically, mentally, emotionally demanding job?' But Kuhlman stopped short of saying there was a conspiracy, calling O'Connor 'a good doctor' who seemed to do his best to 'give trusted medical advice.' 'I didn't see that he's purposely hiding stuff, but I don't know that,' he added. 'Maybe the investigation will show it.' This criticism comes as Republicans subpoenaed O'Connor and President Donald Trump ordered White House attorneys to determine if Biden's inner circle tried to conceal his alleged cognitive decline. Biden's diagnosis is of metastatic prostate cancer, the kind of diagnosis that sheds no light on his mental health, but reports about Biden's alleged decline have run rampant even before he stepped aside to allow his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to run. These claims were in many ways strengthened by the book published by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, titled Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. The book is based on interviews with Democratic insiders. Biden's response to this whole thing was telling. During a Memorial Day event, the former President said. 'You can see that I'm mentally incompetent, and I can't walk, and I can beat the hell out of both of them,' he told reporters. Meanwhile, his granddaughter, Naomi Biden, called the book 'political fairy smut.' The Republicans will continue to investigate the matter, but the facts remain that Joe Biden isn't President anymore, and he didn't even stay in the race until the end in 2024. If there was, indeed, a cognitive decline on his part, it clearly hurt the Democrats more than the Republicans and, perhaps, the party in power should be thankful for that. Best of StyleCaster The 26 Best Romantic Comedies to Watch if You Want to Know What Love Feels Like These 'Bachelor' Secrets & Rules Prove What Happens Behind the Scenes Is So Much Juicier BTS's 7 Members Were Discovered in the Most Unconventional Ways