Getting hot when you sleep is an all-too-common complaint. Hot sleeping is a top sleep disruptor, and anyone who’s woken up sweaty and kicking off the blankets understands how uncomfortable it can feel. Whether you suffer night sweats or hot flashes or you just run warm, there are many products that can help solve this nighttime discomfort. Here are some of the best cooling products to help hot sleepers feel relaxed and comfortable at night.
Why do I get so hot when I sleep at night?
While some people cannot wait for long, balmy summer nights, others dread the lingering warm temps when it comes time for bed. Those warmer temps and the humidity that often accompanies can lead to sweaty, restless nights.
Some sleepers can overheat regardless of the environmental temperature. The reasoning behind why some of us sleep hot stems from our body’s ability to thermoregulate, or keep us at a consistently comfortable temperature. While our bodies are pretty capable of doing this during the day, our thermoregulation can go dormant during some phases of sleep. Cue the 3 a.m. sweats, tossing off the covers or sticking one leg out of the bed. Sleeping too hot can be incredibly uncomfortable and frustrating, especially if it happens night after night and disrupts your sleep.
Everything you need to keep from overheating while you sleep
Mattress Firm Sleep Expert™ Sonny Carriles will be the first to admit that he tends to sleep hot. When he moved to the Seattle area of Washington state, he was unpleasantly surprised to find that most homes don’t have air conditioning. But since Carilles is a Sleep Expert™, he knew the perfect bedroom setup he needed to avoid overheating.
Your mattress can help keep you cool
Carilles explains that a breathable mattress is the best solution for hot sleepers. Think about it this way: If you sleep on a non-breathable mattress and you tend to sleep hot, you’re basically creating your own sleep furnace. So a breathable mattress is critical. Beyond breathability, Carilles includes other features for maximal sleep comfort like phase-change material, which can release or absorb energy to provide useful heating and cooling, as needed, and copper, to wick away heat from your body as you sleep.
As a hot sleeper himself, Carilles says this is his favorite mattress and his #1 recommendation for other hot sleepers. He mentions that Tempur-Pedic’s phase-changing material absorbs unwanted heat and moves it away from the body. The layer below this phase-change cover layer is ventilated for extra breathability. Along with its exceptional cooling materials, the Luxe Breeze also offers exceptional motion isolation and pressure point relief for a great night’s sleep. The Tempur-Pedic Luxe Breeze comes in a soft version and a firm, so you can choose which support level best suits your needs and sleep position.
This popular mattress has not one, but three cooling technologies. The iSeries Hybrid is topped with an exclusive Max Cold™ cover made with high-performance fibers that actually feel cool to the touch. Beneath, the layers of memory foam offer both pressure relief and air flow, for that cooling breathability. The base of 1025-density coils allow for exceptional adaptability as you sleep, giving you comfort and support. For additional cooling help, add in the Serta iSeries Max Cold Memory Foam Pillow, which has the same triple-cooling technologies from cover to core, and enough neck support to provide the ideal support and cooling Zzz's to back and side sleepers.
Nectar Premier Copper Memory Foam
Memory foam has an unfair reputation for causing people to sleeping hot. Sure, the initial iterations of foam beds used material that trapped in heat, but the technology has changed and Carilles say that now many foam mattresses use more intelligent foam that does not trap heat. The Nectar Premium Copper Mattress is a great example. It’s infused with copper fiber which attracts that excess heat, pulling it away from your body as you sleep. Copper is also naturally antimicrobial, which could be a bonus especially for those in humid climates or sleepers with allergies.
For a mattress that excels in breathability, check out the Purple Mattress. This bed is made with a unique upper layer, the GelFlex Grid which has over a thousand air channels for optimal breathability. The end result is a sleep surface engineered to breathe well and encourage heat to leave the mattress, rather than become trapped.
Hybrids and innerspring beds
As categories, hybrids and innerspring beds both have natural ventilation. When you go into a Mattress Firm location to try beds, gravitate to these categories. These beds have a coil support layer, which allows for airflow, which could be your ticket to a more comfortable temperature throughout the night.
The best cooling accessories for your bed
If you’re investing in a new mattress designed to sleep cool, you’re well on your way to the ideal temperature! But if you’re not ready to replace your mattress quite yet or you’re looking to maximize cooling effects, these accessories are a perfect addition to any mattress for a cooler night sleep.
The perfect cooling pillows
Along with an overheated core, it’s possible your head is getting a bit too warm while you sleep.
Here are three great options for keeping your head cool.
Carilles recommends the PureCare Cooling Hybrid Pillow. Made with breathable Tencel and cooling fibers, the PureCare pillow works for all types of sleepers—back, stomach or side. The pillow is also dual sided with one featuring a plush down-alternative and the other a cooling gel memory foam. If you feel the pillow has a bit too much loft for your sleeping style, remove the insert for a lower-profile pillow.
When you want the coolest-possible pillow, opt for the Sleepy's Powered By Reactex™ Pillow, which has been tested to sleep 40 times cooler than pillows without the same technology. The down alternative pillow is available in three lofts to suit all styles of sleeper. Its pressure-activated cooling begins to pull heat away from your head in as little as eight seconds, meaning you’re near-instantly cooler. Even better, the pressure-activated functionality self-recharges when you’re not using it, so that the coolness feature lasts all night, every night.
The best cooling sheets
Carilles says when shopping for cooling sheets, look for breathable materials. Natural fibers, like cotton, linen, or bamboo can feel nice on warm nights. They should feel cool to the touch and are designed to allow for any hot air to easily escape instead of sticking close to the body. When it comes to cotton, though, Carilles explains that a higher thread count isn’t necessarily better. The higher the thread count, he says, the tighter the weave of the fibers, which makes for a less breathable fabric.
For a cool and stylish set, try the Sleepy's Supima Cotton Sheet Set, which are available in 12 colors, blissfully soft, and made to stay on. They work well with adjustable bases thanks to the fitted sheet’s secure elastic band.
An extra-cool bundle
For a triple shot of cooling sleep, in one convenient and efficient package, Carilles recommends the PureCare Luxury Cooling Bundle. The set includes the PureCare Tencel sheet set, which are Carilles’ favorite sheets to sleep on, plus two cooling hybrid pillows, and a cooling mattress protector, so your entire sleep setup can be outfitted in cool materials.
Still have questions about how to sleep cool? Mattress Firm Sleep Experts™ are always available to answer questions both online and in any of our retail stores.
