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5 best mattresses for front sleepers and stomach sleepers - 2020
Most people who sleep on their front or stomach choose a medium/firm or firm mattress.
However, there isn't one mattress which is perfect for everyone who sleeps on their front or stomach. Sorry if that shocks you, perhaps I should have told you to sit down first before delivering the news.
Instead, you need a mattress which provides the right level of support for you, which depends on:
Generally speaking, people who sleep on their front or stomach need to choose a mattress which is a little bit firmer than someone who sleeps on their side. This is because front/stomach sleepers tend to sink into a very soft mattress too much which would leave their spine in an uncomfortable position.
You also need to consider your weight and build, as heavier people generally need firmer mattresses than lighter people.
So, someone who is heavier than average and who sleeps on their front or stomach would most likely need a firm or very firm mattress.
Just to add to your confusion, you need to realise that 'There are no universal standards of firmness in common usage in the UK' (Sleep Council). What that means is that one company's 'firm' mattress could be the same as another company's 'medium' mattress. It's a bit like buying three 'large' t-shirts and finding that only one of them fits you. Helpful, eh...?
So what should you do?
Ideally, you should either try a mattress in a shop, or buy one with a home trial period which allows you to swap it or get a refund if you aren't happy.
We've picked out five mattresses which are good for people who sleep on their front or stomach. They all get good reviews or have won awards. Prices are for double mattresses and are correct at the time of typing.
However, there isn't one mattress which is perfect for everyone who sleeps on their front or stomach. Sorry if that shocks you, perhaps I should have told you to sit down first before delivering the news.
Instead, you need a mattress which provides the right level of support for you, which depends on:
- how heavy or large you are
- what position you sleep in
Generally speaking, people who sleep on their front or stomach need to choose a mattress which is a little bit firmer than someone who sleeps on their side. This is because front/stomach sleepers tend to sink into a very soft mattress too much which would leave their spine in an uncomfortable position.
You also need to consider your weight and build, as heavier people generally need firmer mattresses than lighter people.
So, someone who is heavier than average and who sleeps on their front or stomach would most likely need a firm or very firm mattress.
Just to add to your confusion, you need to realise that 'There are no universal standards of firmness in common usage in the UK' (Sleep Council). What that means is that one company's 'firm' mattress could be the same as another company's 'medium' mattress. It's a bit like buying three 'large' t-shirts and finding that only one of them fits you. Helpful, eh...?
So what should you do?
Ideally, you should either try a mattress in a shop, or buy one with a home trial period which allows you to swap it or get a refund if you aren't happy.
We've picked out five mattresses which are good for people who sleep on their front or stomach. They all get good reviews or have won awards. Prices are for double mattresses and are correct at the time of typing.
1. Silentnight Sofia 1200 Pocket Spring mattress - Medium/Firm - Good for front/stomach sleepers of average weight - £379
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This mid-priced mattress from big brand Silentnight is a good choice if you want a traditional style of mattress. A medium/firm mattress is usually about right for a front/stomach sleeper who is average weight although keep in mind my waffle earlier in this guide about there not being a completely precise way of measuring firmness.
The Sofia model uses pocket springs, which is the type of mattress which most of us go for. For the uninitiated (i.e. normal people who don't spend all their time thinking about mattresses), pocket springs are the posher type of spring you get on a mattress. The cheap mattress in your grandma's spare room uses 'open coil' springs which are much wobblier and less supportive. Silentnight is a safe choice for a mattress, as they're probably the best-known name in the UK market and have a massive range. On TrustPilot, the average score for the brand was a very decent 4.3/5 when I checked. The Silentnight Sofia 1200 (also known as the Classic 1200) is worth a look as it was scoring 9/10 from about 1000 reviews when I checked. It also won an award from expert testers. Another plus point is that you can turn it over, so that will help extend its life. The warranty offered is 5 years which is OK for a pocket spring mattress - the range is anywhere from 1 year to 10 years, with a few exceptions. The 1200 number refers to the number of pocket springs on a king sized version of a mattress. Most mattress experts seem to say that good mattresses have 1000+ springs. You might want a number nearer to 2000 if you are on the larger side, but for most people 1200 is plenty of springs. Don't get too excited by those mattresses which claim to have thousands of springs, it just means they have several layers of springs, some of which will be very small. This one doesn't come with a free trial, but it is a popular mattress (based on the fact that it has 1000 reviews) from a popular brand so you might be able to try it out in a shop. |
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2. Sleepeezee Hybrid 2000 mattress - firm - Good for front/stomach sleepers of average weight or slightly above average - £549
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A Sleepeezee mattress is worth your money for a number of reasons.
The company has a Royal Warrant, meaning that Prince Charles' household uses them. That's a good start, as the Royals don't tend to buy rubbish. Customers also like the brand, giving it an average score of 4.5/5 on TrustPilot as of today, which makes it one of the highest rated pocket spring mattress brands in the UK (some foam based 'bed in a box' mattresses score higher). They're also one of the few pocket spring mattress companies which offer a home trial period. It's not quite as generous as brands like Simba Sleep and OTTY which allow you to return the mattress for a refund if you don't like it. However, Sleepeezee do allow you to swap it for another of their mattresses within 60 days if you aren't happy (read the Ts and Cs first). This particular model - The Sleepeezee Hybrid 2000 - won an award from expert testers in 2019 and it was also scoring a near perfect 9.7/10 from customers, albeit based on a fairly small number of reviews at the time of writing. It's a firm mattress and is called a 'hybrid' mattress because it combines pocket springs with a top layer of gel foam for added comfort. The downside of a hybrid mattress like this is that you can't turn it over, as the top layer is only one side. However, you can rotate it round to help extend its life. It comes with a 5 year guarantee, which is about average for a pocket sprung mattress. |
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3. Nectar Sleep Memory Foam mattress - medium/firm - good for front/stomach sleepers of average build - £699
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There are several medium/firm 'bed in a box' mattresses competing for your attention, including this one from Nectar Sleep (others which are usually called medium/firm include one by OTTY).
As they are medium/firm, they are probably best suited for average weight people who sleep on their front or stomach. The idea with a 'bed in a box' is that they arrive squashed up and then expand when you open them up. Most 'bed in a box' mattresses can't be tried in shops but can be returned if you don't like them. The OTTY Hybrid Mattress and the Nectar Sleep Mattress all get very positive reviews and come with generous trial periods, but Nectar Sleep makes our list because it offers the longest trial period (365 days) and the longest warranty ('forever' although, as always, it's worth checking the small print). It's also won awards from independent experts. The Nectar Sleep uses memory foam as well as other types of foam. Most guides I've read conclude that memory foam offers a more consistent level of support than pocket springs. You will find that some people find memory foam makes them feel a bit warm and they have a bit of a different feel to pocket springs. Of course, if you don't like it you can return it for a refund. |
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4. Relyon Ultimate Ortho Support 1500 Pocket Sprung Mattress - very firm - good for front/stomach sleepers who are heavier than average - £615
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There's an old myth in the mattress world that a very firm or 'orthopedic' mattress is what you need if you want look after your back. That advice is generally accepted to be nonsense by experts like the Sleep Council which emphasises the importance of getting a supportive mattress when it says things like: "Your mattress should be firm enough to support your spine in the correct alignment while conforming to your body’s contours".
So, a very firm mattress like this one from Relyon is suitable for a heavier person who sleeps on their front or back. If that's you, then this Relyon Ultimate Ortho mattress is worth a look. It has 1500 pocket springs which will provide a good level of support and it's also exceedingly deep at 30cm. It's a straightforward traditional style mattress, so it doesn't have a fancy pillow top layer or anything like that. That means you can turn it over, ideally with the help of a forklift truck (the super king version weighs 75kg which is nearly 12 stone). The Relyon brand is well known mid-priced mattress brand but we couldn't find many overall reviews for the company on TrustPilot. However, this particular model was scoring highly with customers with a splurge of five star reviews. |
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5. Ergoflex 5g Memory foam Mattress - medium/firm - good for front/stomach sleepers of average weight - £749
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The Ergoflex 5G is another memory foam mattress which gets outstanding customer reviews. When we checked, Ergoflex had an industry-leading score of 4.8/5 on TrustPilot. That's the score for the brand as a whole, but as they only make one mattress it's fair to assume that a good number will relate to the medium-firm 5G (the name has nothing to do with the mobile phone masts, I'm guessing).
It has a 30 night 'risk free' trial so you can return it if you don't like it - not quite as impressive as the 100, 200 or 365 night trials offered by some but I reckon you have a good idea about a mattress after the first few days or weeks. It also has a 10 year guarantee. As mentioned earlier, memory foam fans like the way that it provides snug and hugging support. Some people don't like the slight 'quicksand-esque' feeling or find that it makes them a bit hot in bed (oooerrr missus) but this one has a 'specially-engineered Cool-Sleep airflow layer at its core' to try to overcome this. Foam mattresses use a number of different layers, so a good indication of quality is how thick the layer of memory foam is. Cheap mattresses sometimes make do with only 2cm of memory foam on top of other foams whilst the Ergoflex 5G has a much more generous 9cm of memory foam. |
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