The Best Mattresses for Stomach Sleepers

Firm mattresses are generally a reliable option for stomach sleepers who want to avoid back issues. The reason is simple enough—there's little to no give around your pelvis, which is the heaviest area of the body lying down. If your mattress is too soft, the lower back region sinks in too much and loses its healthy alignment. This is almost always why I recommend hybrid mattresses for stomach sleepers: They promote better spine alignment than most memory foam mattresses. But a firm mattress comes to the rescue in the form of one foam bed in particular: the Plank Firm. It just so happens to be the exception to my no-all-foam-mattresses-for-stomach-sleepers rule, though Plank also offers a hybrid version for enhanced durability.

Plank Firm offers a double-trouble approach, featuring different firmness levels on each side of the mattress. One side features a standard firm feel with 2.75 inches of high-density foam (meaning not a ton of give), and the other is extra-firm with only 0.75 inches of foam. WIRED reviewer Adrienne So is all about the firmer side, which is an ever-so-slightly cushier upgrade over sleeping on the ground. Either way, it works wonders for her back. And for stomach sleepers, either side works well to keep the spine lifted and in alignment, allowing you to sleep peacefully.

Keep in mind that if you frequent your sides as much as your stomach, the Plank Firm may ultimately live up to its name—feeling too firm for your pressure points. If this is you, you'll need a softer mattress. But for stomach sleepers through and through, this flippable bed is fair game.

The Plank Firm Mattress ranges from $749 for a twin to $1,532 for a California king.

Many members of the WIRED Reviews team, myself included, have back issues. This isn't uncommon among sleepers worldwide, but back pain can arise from many different conditions. For WIRED reviewer Nena Farrell, it's scoliosis. For WIRED commerce director Martin Cizmar, it's sciatica. Both have tested the Firm version of the Bear Elite Hybrid and attested that it worked wonders for their back pain.

Of the Plush, Medium, and Firm options available, Firm is the go-to because it leaves very little room for sink and potential misalignment. Heads up: The bed will feel very firm at first, but that's normal—your body will need time to adjust to the mattress's feel.

The Bear Elite Hybrid's pillow top provides your hips with a little cushion, and the phase-change material offers a cooling surface. The firm feel is complemented by zoned pocketed coils that provide the lumbar support your spine needs.

The Bear Elite Hybrid Mattress ranges from $1,998 for a twin to $4,282 for a split king.

The Tiami hybrid mattress is a relatively new addition to the mattress scene. When I tested it (see my full Tiami hybrid mattress review here), it was abundantly clear that this would be an excellent option for stomach sleepers. It was designed to emulate a luxury feel that rivals other prestigious brands, while maintaining an emphasis on full-body support.

How the Tiami can pull this off comes down to its specialty Energex foam, which is arranged in layers and caps each of the pocketed coils at the mattress's core. Energex is designed to be a more advanced version of standard memory foam, offering greater pressure relief that adapts to each sleeper's unique body shape. It's also very responsive, allowing you to move around easily, and it's designed to be more breathable. Energex is also incorporated into the pocketed coils for a gentle lift effect, all while responding to areas of high weight. More weight means increased pushback and, thus, a firmer feel. I really enjoyed the lumbar support during my time with this mattress, along with the cradling sensation around my hips and shoulders.

I actually chose not to sleep with a pillow while testing this bed, and that's not uncommon for some stomach sleepers. Just as the pelvis sinks in too much, placing your head and shoulders too high with a pillow can also cause issues for the spine. I was very comfortable simply forgoing the pillow altogether in favor of Tiami's full-body support. But if you are in no way, shape, or form skipping a pillow, you can read up on the best pillows we've tested, too.

Tiami ranges from $1,995 for a twin XL mattress to $3,495 for a California king.

The DreamCloud Hybrid is a workhorse of a mattress. I've tested this numerous times over the years, and recently spent an entire week analyzing it (you can read my full DreamCloud Hybrid review here). It confirmed what I already knew—this is a hybrid that excels in providing firmer support to help with spine alignment, offers a good amount of pressure relief, and is highly responsive to help you move around.

Above all else, it has consistently remained affordable, offering a sleep trial and warranty comparable to those of brands twice its price. These days, finding extensive warranties is generally more challenging. I'll let you in on a not-so-secret detail: For as long as I've known about DreamCloud, it's always been under $1,000 for all sizes, except for a split king. This also includes a whole year to try the bed, and a lifetime warranty. Another trade secret: The accepted lifetime of a mattress is about 10 years, so when you see “lifetime warranty,” consider it equivalent to 10 years' worth of coverage. Still good, though!

The materials are nice, and for stomach sleepers in particular, I've always adored the quilted top foam layer. It contours well around the hips and chest, so that you don't feel a lack of pressure relief. The overall firmness provided by the layers of foam and pocketed coils offers good lumbar support, and I had no backaches to report.

The DreamCloud Hybrid ranges from $399 for a twin XL mattress to $1,198 for a split king.

I love latex mattresses for stomach sleeping. This is because, with all the firmness options that are recommended to us, sometimes we wish we had just a bit of softness for the hips. Latex is like a dense yet supportive marshmallow, not too unlike memory foam. The most significant differences include that it is all-natural and doesn't trap heat.

I've been testing Thuma's mattress, designed to go along with its famed Japanese joinery bed frames (read my full review of the Thuma Hybrid mattress here), and I'm impressed. There are three firmness levels available: Plush, Medium, and Firm. Medium has a firmer feel than I initially expected, but it works seamlessly for stomach sleeping.

While this bed can't be categorized as a fully organic mattress, it contains numerous organic components. The eucalyptus-based Tencel cover over a quilted top remains relatively temperature-neutral, with organic wool providing some cushion (and also serving as a natural fire barrier). Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS)-certified latex provides pressure relief and lumbar support. Finally, pocketed coils provide firm pushback to help. Altogether, it's been wonderful for lumbar support without feeling overly rigid.

The Thuma Hybrid ranges from $1,095 for a twin mattress to $1,795 for a California king.