The Best Pillow for Back Sleepers: Get the Loft Right and the Rest Follows

Most pillows are built for side sleepers, because that is who buys the most pillows. If you sleep on your back, the pillow that felt great in the store is probably too tall for you, and the first sign is a chin that tips toward your chest all night.

What a back sleeper needs from a pillow

On your back, the gap between the mattress and the back of your head is small. The pillow only has to fill that gap and cradle the curve of your neck. Fill too much of it and your head is pushed forward; fill too little and your head drops back. What you want is your head roughly level with your spine, the same shape your neck has when you stand up straight, tipped onto its back.

You will see charts online with inch figures for each position. I prefer a photo to a ruler, because a pillow sits differently on every mattress and under every set of shoulders, which is why the loft guide uses one. What holds true is the direction: back sleepers need less than side sleepers and more than stomach sleepers, on the lower half of what most brands sell, with a fill that compresses evenly rather than in a lump under your skull. Softer is usually better than firmer here, because a firm pillow that is even slightly too tall has nowhere to go.

The two minute test

Lie on your back on the pillow you own. Have someone look at you from the side, or prop your phone up and take a photo. If your chin points at the ceiling, the pillow is too low. If your chin points toward your chest, it is too high. If your nose points straight up and your neck looks the way it does when you stand, you are close. Most back sleepers who run this test find their pillow is too high.

Why fill type matters more than brand

Memory foam. A solid block is a fixed height, so it either fits your neck or it does not. Shredded foam is adjustable but tends to bunch, and both hold heat; the Sleep Foundation calls memory foam notorious for it.

Down and feather. Soft, easy to shape low, and warm. Feathers can work through the shell over time and the loft fades as the down clumps. Kapok vs down, compared.

Polyester. Cheap and initially fine, then flat within months, at which point it is too low for anyone.

Kapok. A silky plant fiber that compresses like down and springs back like down, without the bird. It goes low without going hard, which is the whole trick for back sleepers, and a zippered kapok pillow lets you take fill out until it sits exactly where the test says it should. What kapok is, if the word is new to you.

How to set an adjustable kapok pillow for back sleeping

1. Start full. Every MAREA pillow ships generously filled, which gives you room to dial it down.
2. Open the hidden zipper and take out a couple of handfuls. Keep them in a bag; you will want them later.
3. Zip up, shake the fill even, lie down, and run the test again. Repeat until your chin stops pointing at your chest.
4. Push a little extra fill toward the edge that sits under your neck. Kapok holds a shape you give it, so you can build a slightly fuller neck edge and a softer center for the back of your head.
5. Give it a week of nights. Kapok settles into your shape in the first few nights, and you may want one of those handfuls back.

If you switch between your back and your side during the night, set the pillow for your side and let it compress under your head when you roll onto your back; kapok is forgiving that way. Side sleepers have a separate problem, which is covered here, and the full loft breakdown by position is in What Pillow Loft Do I Need?

Which MAREA size for a back sleeper

Size is about your bed, not your loft, because the loft is what you adjust. Standard (20 x 26) suits a twin or a full, Queen (20 x 30) a queen bed, and two Kings (20 x 36) fill a king. Back sleepers who like a pillow that stays put when they shift tend to prefer the wider Queen. Whichever you pick comes with a 100 day sleep trial and free US returns, so you can find out for yourself what a lower, softer pillow does for your nights.

Questions I get asked

Should a back sleeper use a thin pillow? Thinner than a side sleeper, yes. Not flat. You still want the curve of your neck supported, just without your head lifted off the mattress.

Is a soft pillow bad for back sleepers? No. Soft with the right amount of fill is ideal. Soft with too much fill is the problem, and that is what adjustability fixes.

Can I use a kapok pillow under my knees? You can, and a spare Standard works well for it. Some back sleepers find a little lift under the knees makes the bed feel better; try it and see.

Anthony
Founder, MAREA Sleep

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