A pillow is a personal choice that has more to do with your own specific pillow “needs” and “preferences” than it does with the mattress you are sleeping on (although the firmness/softness of a mattress can certainly affect your choice of which pillow works best for a specific person as well).
For example side sleepers typically need a thicker pillow than the other sleeping positions because the distance between the head and neck and the mattress is greater and a thicker pillow is often needed to hold your head up higher and keep your head and neck in better alignment and reduce the pressure on your shoulders. Different mattresses can also need different pillows to keep your head and neck in good alignment as well because if you have a softer mattress then you will sink in more deeply and reduce the distance between your head/neck and the mattress surface that needs to be “filled in”.
There is more information about choosing a pillow for different body types, sleeping positions, and personal preferences and some links to other pillow topics on the forum in the main pillow topic here that should be helpful.
Looks like T&N have updated their trial period to match Casper’s now. As someone who is seriously considering their 10" model, I find this to be cool news – though I do have to wonder how this will affect the deal that they give to members of this site. ADMIN NOTE:Removed 404 page link | Archived Footprint: tuftandneedle.com/extended-sleep-trial
With the longer trial period of 100 days the extended trial period for the members here is no longer necessary (and I’ve removed it in their directory listing) but the discount for the members of the site isn’t affected.
just wanted to thank you for the site and all the great feedback from the members. preparing to purchase the 10in tuft and needle and can’t wait to try it out!
I wanted to report back that I ended up buying the Tuft & Needle 10 in. in Queen size. I have slept on it 5 nights now and I am really liking it. The first night I was afraid it might be a bit too firm but it seems to be breaking in/softening up a little bit…that or my body is getting used to it. I typically lean towards mattresses that are firm and this one definitely fits that bill. My previous mattress is an Original Mattress Factory - Orthopedic Extra Firm. It was ~10 years old and I figured it was time for a new bed. I am hoping that the Tuft and Needle works out long term.
Thanks for letting us know what you ended up deciding … and congratulations on your new mattress
It will break in and soften up a little over the course of the first few weeks or so and you will also go through an adjustment period with any new sleeping surface over the same period of time but it sounds like the firmness level was a good “match” for you.
Went full circle with my decision and am placing an order for the T&N today. They do still honor the discount, which is pretty awesome as it’s the only one they offer that I am aware of. Fingers crossed I like it. Reviews here and an Amazon pushed me back to this one when I had started leaning towards the Leesa. I like the looks of the Yogabed, but I’m leery of it being so new.
I think you made a good choice and with the Tuft & Needle you also won’t have the worry of a mattress that uses 2" of lower quality/density 3 lb memory foam that could be a weak link in the Leesa mattress.
Congratulations on your new mattress :).
I hope it’s a good “match” for you as well and I’m looking forward to your comments and feedback when you receive it.
I’m a side and back sleeper. For anyone that owns a T&N, how does it work/feel for side sleepers? I have a Casper but I’m having issues with both of my hands going to sleep every night, when I’m lying on either my side and my back. This has never happened before, and my guess is that there is some sort of pressure that’s causing this. I’ve heard that the T&N is “firmer” than the Casper, but I know that firmness is relative. Has anyone who has a T&N experienced pressure issues? Thanks!
While you’re right that firmness is very subjective and one person’s “too firm” can be someone else’s "too soft … based on feedback I would say that most people would consider the Tuft & Needle to be a little bit firmer overall than the Casper but they also use different types of foams that have a different response curve and will respond to weight differently so there could be some people whose perceptions would be the other way around.
Having said that … it’s unusual that both hands would be falling asleep and back sleepers don’t normally have pressure issues nearly as much as side sleepers so your experience may be pointing to something other than pressure issues from the mattress and it’s possible that it could be a postural issue as well.
Where do you normally have your hands when you are side sleeping or when you are sleeping on your back? Are you by any chance sleeping with your hands under your pillow or under your body?
Phoenix,
Thanks for your reply. When I sleep on my side, my arms are at my sides, bent at the elbow, with my hands under my chin. When I sleep on my back, my arms are at my sides, bent at the elbow with my hands lying on my stomach near my belly button. Never under my pillow. I also sleep on a contoured memory foam pillow. Am still interested in the idea that the T&N might offer pressure relief. Thoughts
(It’s strange that I never had this issue with my previous, old, POS, inner-spring mattress.)
You may have described the most likely cause here.
It may be worthy trying a different pillow because the gap between your head and the pillow may have changed with a different mattress so your memory foam pillow may no longer suitable to keep your head and neck in good alignment and in combination with the pressure of your chin on your hands is impairing circulation.
The only reliable way to know is to try it because there are too many unknowns and variables involved to predict whether any mattress will work for you with any certainty and other people’'s experience on a mattress may be very different from your own. Either it will work and of course you would be happy or it doesn’t and like the Casper it also has a great return policy so there would be little risk in trying it outside of the time and effort involved in testing it out and returning or donating it and starting over again … but I would experiment with your pillow first because if I had to guess either your pillow and/or your posture is the most likely cause.
After much consideration and research I have went ahead and ordered the tuft and needle. It should be here by the end of the week and I can’t wait to try it out! I also want to thank Phoenix for such a great site and to all the members for all the feedback and your experiences. I will make sure to follow up once I get a chance to try it out.
I’m glad the site could help you … and congratulations on your new mattress
I think you made a good quality/value choice and I’m looking forward to your comments and feedback when you receive it and have had the chance to sleep on it for a bit.
I’ve been lurking here for a while and thought I’d share my experience so far. I’m a 6’5", 265 lb, back/side sleeper coming off of a plush spring mattress. After a couple weeks of gathering info and comparing mattresses, I pulled the trigger on the Tuft & Needle. It wasn’t at the top of my short list, but I decided that the risk free trial made it worth taking a look at. I wanted to love it, but it’s just too firm for my taste, especially when side sleeping. I gave it a couple of weeks to break-in and adjust to it, but I haven’t had a good night’s sleep yet. Not to say it’s a bad product…it’s a well made product and everyone sleeps differently, so your results may vary, but it is definitely more firm than it is balanced.
Thanks for sharing your comments and experience with your Tuft & Needle … I appreciate it.
I’m sorry to hear that your mattress didn’t work out as well as you hoped for but I’m glad that you had the foresight to try an online mattress that has a good return policy and had good options available to you if your choice didn’t turn out as well as you hoped for.
As you probably know from your reading here … there is no “standard” definition or consensus of opinion for firmness ratings and different manufacturers can rate their mattresses very differently than others so a mattress that one manufacturer rates as being a specific firmness could be rated very differently by another manufacturer. Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness or even what they would call “balanced” compared to others as well and a mattress that is firm for one can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. This is all relative and subjective and is as much an art as a science. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here). In other words your own personal experience is the only reliable way to know how firm or soft or “balanced” any mattress feels to you regardless of how firm or soft or “balanced” it may feel to someone else or how anyone else may “rate” it.
Now that you are back in the market I hope you’ve had the chance to read the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that you will need to make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
If you are still attracted to the idea of online companies that offer a “one choice fits all” mattress then there is more information about many of them in post #3 here and the posts it links to.
The tutorial also includes several links to lists of the better online options I’m aware of as well (in the optional online step) and if you let me know your city or zip code I’d also be happy to let you know about the better options or “possibilities” I’m aware of in your area as well.
Thanks for the reply Phoenix. I agree that there is no consensus when it comes to firmness levels. As I’ve seen with various reviews describing the same product as"too soft", “too firm”, or “perfect”, it’s highly dependent on the individual. With that in mind, I gave it a shot since it was highly rated and was a low-risk purchase but it just didn’t do it for me. As far as a replacement goes, I’ve already ordered the new “one size fits all” model from Brooklyn in Medium. The price is right, the quality looks great, and they’ve confirmed the Medium would be softer than T&N, so here’s hoping.
