How to Choose a Pillow for Side Sleeping

If you sleep on your side, you have a harder pillow job than back or stomach sleepers. The space between your shoulder and your ear is wider than the space between the bed and your face when you sleep flat, which means you need more loft to keep your head and spine aligned. Pick the wrong pillow and your neck spends the night either bending downward toward the mattress or angling up off the pillow — either way, you wake up stiff.

This guide covers everything you need to know to pick the right pillow if you sleep on your side, based on our team’s testing of more than 60 pillows across the last two years.

Why side sleepers need more loft

The first time you really think about pillow loft is usually after a bad night. You sleep at a hotel, the pillow is way too thin, and you wake up with a stiff neck. That is a loft problem.

For side sleepers, the ideal loft fills the space between your shoulder and your ear so your head stays aligned with your spine. If your pillow is too low, your head drops down toward the mattress and you compress the lower side of your neck. If your pillow is too high, your head tilts up and you compress the upper side of your neck. Either way, you are loading the neck muscles all night and waking up sore.

A good starting range for side sleepers is 4 to 6 inches of loft, but the right number depends on your body. If you have broad shoulders, you need more loft. If you are smaller framed, you need less.

The firmness question

Loft is one variable. Firmness is the other. Firmness controls how much the pillow compresses under the weight of your head, which changes the effective loft.

For side sleepers, medium-firm to firm pillows work best. Too soft and the pillow flattens out under your head until the loft is effectively zero. Too firm and the pillow does not contour to your head at all. Medium-firm is the sweet spot — enough resistance to hold loft, enough give to feel comfortable.

The exception is shredded foam fill pillows, which have a unique feel. They can be adjusted by adding or removing fill, and they tend to feel firmer than they actually are because the fill clumps under load. They can work for side sleepers, but plan to spend a week tuning the fill.

Materials and what they mean for side sleepers

Memory foam: Memory foam contours to your head and holds shape well, which is great for side sleepers. The downside is heat — most memory foam sleeps warmer than other materials. Look for memory foam pillows with cooling gel or ventilation channels if you sleep hot.

Latex: Latex is durable and supportive. It has a denser, more responsive feel than memory foam — pillows return to shape immediately when you lift your head. Side sleepers who find memory foam too sinky often prefer latex.

Shredded foam: Shredded foam pillows are adjustable, which is a big advantage if you are not sure what loft you need. They tend to feel a bit lumpier than solid foam pillows, and require occasional fluffing.

Down and down-alternative: Soft and luxurious, but generally too soft for side sleepers on their own. Some side sleepers use a high-loft down pillow and bunch it to add support. Pure down is typically a better fit for back sleepers.

Contoured cervical pillows: Pillows shaped specifically for the head and neck. The good ones (like the ones we cover in our best cervical pillow guide) have a center contour and raised sides that work well for side sleepers. The bad ones have generic curves that do not match real head shapes.

A quick checklist for picking a side-sleeper pillow

When you are shopping for a pillow as a side sleeper, work through this list:

1. Loft: 4 to 6 inches as a starting range. Adjust based on shoulder width.
2. Firmness: medium-firm to firm. Avoid the “soft and cloudlike” marketing language.
3. Material: memory foam, latex, or a quality shredded foam are usually the best fits. Contoured cervical pillows are worth considering if you have neck issues.
4. Cover: bamboo or tencel covers sleep cooler than polyester or cotton sateen.
5. Trial period: pick a pillow with at least a 30-night sleep trial. Side sleepers especially benefit from a real adjustment period.

Common side-sleeper pillow mistakes

Buying the same pillow as your partner. If your partner is a back sleeper, the pillow that works for them will be too low for you. Side sleepers and back sleepers usually need different pillows.

Sleeping on two thinner pillows stacked. This is a common workaround but rarely works well. The two pillows shift independently overnight and the alignment falls apart. A single pillow with the right loft is always better.

Replacing the pillow but not the pillowcase. A worn-out pillowcase can change how a pillow feels. When you upgrade your pillow, refresh the pillowcase too — see our best pillowcase guide.

Not adjusting for shoulder width. A 5-foot-2 person and a 6-foot-2 person should not be using the same pillow. Adjust your loft target based on your shoulder width.

Giving up too early. A new pillow takes 5 to 7 nights to feel natural. If you swap pillows every night between an old one and a new one, you will never adjust to either.

Final thoughts

The pillow most likely to work for a side sleeper is a medium-firm pillow with 4 to 6 inches of loft, made of memory foam or quality contoured material, with a breathable cover. There is plenty of room for personal preference within that range, but if you are starting from scratch, those are the specs to anchor your shopping around.

For our specific recommendations across the major sleep positions, see our best cervical pillow guide. If you sleep hot, our cooling pillowcase guide is the easiest win. And if you want to understand pillow firmness in more depth, our firmness explainer is the next read.

About the author

Marcus Albright is a mattress and bedding product reviewer with five years of independent testing. He sleeps on his side about 80 percent of the night and has tested more pillows than he can count.