Why side sleepers end up hugging something
Lie on your side and two things want support: your top arm, which falls forward, and your top knee, which drops onto the bottom one. That's why so many side sleepers grab a spare pillow for one or the other. A body pillow handles both. People have been doing this for a long time, as it turns out (a short history of the body pillow).
Three ways to hold it
- Between the knees. Run it from your waist down with your top knee resting on it, so your knees stay apart and your top leg has somewhere to rest.
- Hug it. Bring it up to your chest, wrap your top arm around it and let the lower end sit under your top knee.
- Behind your back. Tuck it along your back and lean into it. Some people just like something to settle against.
The full setup, including where your head pillow goes, is in How to Sleep With a Body Pillow.
Why kapok helps in a body pillow
You hold a body pillow all night, so how it feels in your arms matters as much as how it supports you. Kapok is soft, light and loose. And because it's loose fill, you can move it. Open the zipper and push more kapok toward the knee end if you want a fuller knee rest, or take some out if you'd like a slimmer pillow to hug. The right thickness between your knees depends on how wide your hips are, so being able to change it matters more here than in a head pillow.
Size: why 54 inches
Ours is 20 × 54 inches. For most adults that covers chest to knee, and it fits in a shared bed without taking over. At 20 inches wide it takes up about a third of a queen mattress, and in practice it sits along your side.
I compared the kapok body pillows I could find, sizes and prices included, in Kapok Body Pillows Compared.
Care
Keep the filled pillow dry. Fluff it, air it out now and then and spot clean the shell. For a washable layer, the matching body pillow cover zips off and goes in the washing machine. It's sold separately. See the care guide.
The details
- Size: 20 × 54 inches. $209, shipping free in the contiguous US.
- Fill: 100% wild harvested kapok, nothing blended in.
- Shell: 300 thread count organic cotton sateen with a hidden zipper.
- Made: handcrafted in the USA, designed in Hawaii.
- Trial: 100 days, used body pillows included, free US return label.
Most people pair it with a head pillow. Our kapok pillow uses the same fill, so the two feel the same under you.
Anthony
Founder, MAREA Sleep
