Waking up well-rested is often the key to starting your day off on the right foot. However, getting a good night's sleep is easier said than done — but a comfortable, supportive pillow can make all the difference.
Hot nights can often disrupt our sleep, especially since our internal body temperatures change in the later hours of the night. According to Dr. Alicia Roth, a clinical health psychologist who specializes in behavioral sleep medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, providing your body with a cool environment at night can help ease that adjustment in body temperature.
"Our body temperature gets the lowest in the middle of the night while we sleep," Roth says. "Therefore, it’s usually best to sleep in a cool environment so your body doesn’t have a hard time reducing its internal temperature. For example, for some people, taking a hot shower right before bedtime and transitioning into a cool bedroom is very relaxing and helps them fall asleep."
If you're struggling with staying cool at night, certified sleep science coach and general manager of the National Sleep Foundation Bill Fish suggests looking for pillows with special cooling capabilities.
"Make use of a PCM (phase-change-material) that is truly cool to the touch," Fish tells us. "PCM control temperature by absorbing body heat and releasing it. Other pillow materials with cooling properties are gel or copper, which pull heat from the body. Wool, while it might seem warm, acts as natural insulation which pulls heat."
If you're looking to upgrade to a cooling pillow, we've rounded up 14 bestselling picks with rave reviews to help make your search a bit easier.
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Bestselling cooling pillows
Sealy Elite Cool Touch Advanced Cooling Pillow
Made to be cool to the touch, this pillow was designed specifically for hot sleepers. The cool-touch fabric and airflow knit help remove any trapped heat and moisture that may build up as you sleep. It also uses hypoallergenic filling material to help hold its shape and provide extra support.
Qutool Cooling Bamboo Pillow
Using shredded foam, this pillow allows air to circulate from all over so that you can sleep comfortably. With the help of gel-infused foam, the pillow is meant to help regulate your temperature at night to help prevent overheating.
Plixio Memory Foam Bed Pillows
A comfortable night awaits with the help of these memory foam pillows! They're made with shredded bamboo memory foam that's infused with a cooling gel. If you also tend to wake up with back or neck pain, this pillow was designed to give you extra support.
PLX Cooling Memory Foam Pillows
You can't go wrong with an affordable set of cooling pillows, and this two-pack has more than 13,700 verified five-star ratings. Using bamboo and memory foam, this pillow will help keep you cool at night thanks to its breathable cover.
Allswell Memory Foam Cooling Gel Pillow
This Allswell pillow features a sheet of cooling gel that is meant to transfer heat away from the body throughout the night. The memory foam properly supports your head and neck so that you can wake up ready to take on the day.
Brooklyn Bedding Premium Shredded Memory Foam Pillow
Every person sleeps differently, so this pillow looks to conform to your own personal sleeping habits. A cooling gel foam is infused into deconstructed memory foam to draw heat out and away from the head and neck, according to the brand.
West Elm HydroCool Cooling Down Alternative Pillow Insert
Stuffed with a moisture-wicking fill, the brand says the HydroCool fibers absorb and evaporate moisture throughout the night to keep you from overheating. It comes in three sizes and three support levels for side sleepers, back sleepers and stomach sleepers.
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Snuggle-Pedic Bamboo Memory Foam Pillow
This pillow uses self-adjusting technology that allows you to customize it to meet your needs. You can gather or spread the pillow to achieve the perfect shape, and the bamboo and polyester fill will help ventilate heat throughout the night.
Brooklinen Marlow Pillow
Infused with cooling memory foam, this pillow has an adjustable firmness so you can get the most comfy night's sleep no matter which position you're in. "I bought a pack of two Marlow pillows about a week ago and it has completely changed my sleep! My neck pain is gone and I love that it feels cooling (hot sleeper here!)" one five-star reviewer raved.
Layla Sleep Memory Foam Pillow
This popular pick is made with memory foam and a breathable polyester to allow for airflow. Its unique pillow cover is made with a type of polyester fabric that's normally used in exercise apparel for its breathability.
Therapedic Cooling Gel and Memory Foam Pillow
No matter what position you sleep in at night, this pillow aims to prevent tossing and turning. One side is made with a sheet of cooling gel while the other is made with memory foam for extra support, which will ultimately prevent overheating while conforming to the shape of your head and neck.
Coop Home Goods Eden Adjustable Pillow
Recommended by the National Sleep Foundation for people who sleep hot, the "Eden" pillow is made with a cooling gel-infused memory foam to conform to your head as you sleep. It also comes with extra memory foam that you can add for a truly customized experience.
Tempur-pedic Tempur-Cloud Breeze Breeze Dual Cooling Pillow
According to the brand, this pillow is designed for all types of sleepers and features a Tempur-breeze gel layer on both sides to keep you cool all night long. It has over 2,000 verified five-star ratings and one customer wrote, "This pillow has helped me gain more REM sleep, helped me not snore as bad, and helped me not sleep so hot."