What kind of sleep mattress to choose – soft, firm or extra firm?

A properly selected mattress is one of the elements that enable good and healthy sleep. The key parameter is its firmness. What should it be: soft, firm or very firm? We suggest the optimal solutions.

The ideal mattress does not exist, but health and comfort are important

Which mattress to choose for sleeping? Unfortunately, the proponents of soft and firm matt resses must try to convince each other. It is impossible to choose a perfect variant which would be able to satisfy everyone. That is why the offer on the market is quite rich and varied. Certainly, a mattress should be “healthy”, i.e. enable you to rest at night in such a position which will allow your muscles to rest in a possibly natural position. Health is followed by comfort – and everyone feels this in a slightly different way. It is worth taking these two features into account, if only because we spend an estimated ⅓ of our life sleeping. Therefore, during that time we deserve conditions conducive to health and rest. Getting a good night’s sleep means better performance during the day.

What are the disadvantages of soft and hard mattresses for sleeping?

Undoubtedly the supporters of both types of mattresses are right. The softest mattresses will not be good for your health. Why is this the case? Our body will collapse during sleep, the spine will rest in a completely unnatural, curved position. After just one night spent on such a mattress we can wake up with a pain in our spine which will get worse as time goes by. A hard mattress surface in turn means exposing yourself to a lack of comfort, which can be very tiring and will not necessarily contribute to improving your health.

How to help yourself when choosing a mattress? Commonly recognised symbols

How to quickly check the firmness of a mattress? Some stores, especially those that care more about the discerning customer, allow you to try out their merchandise and lie down on the surface of the mattress for a moment. However, there is a slightly quicker way to classify such products – the agreed hardness markings:

• H1 – soft mattress intended for people weighing up to 60 kg;
• H2 – medium firm mattress recommended for people weighing up to 80 kg;
• H3 – hard mattress used by people weighing up to 110 kg;
• H4 – very hard mattress for people over 110 kg.

Type of mattress and its purpose

Many manufacturers offer different types of mattresses in the context of parameters such as the weight of the user, the presence of spinal disorders or the number of people sleeping (single/couple). So we have, for example:

• foam mattress – soft, with anti-allergic properties and very good thermal insulation, which is recommended rather for people weighing up to 65 kg;
• bonell matt ress – its price is significantly higher than in the case of foam products, but it is characterized by a much higher resistance to deformation and can be used by people weighing more; this is possible due to a system of springs with high surface elasticity;
• pocket matt ress – a large number of springs hidden in pockets allows to classify this product as intended for two people; surface elasticity, however, is less than in the case of a bonell mattress
• latex matt ress – this product is designed for both fluffy people and those with back problems; it has several hardness zones and orthopedic properties.

What firmness of a mattress for a child should I choose?

Choosing the right mattress for your baby to sleep on is extremely important. What firmness is the best mattress at a time when it is very easy for the spine to twist? The most prudent approach is to choose a medium-firm mattress. A compromise solution allows the spine to have sufficient support, but flexibility allows the surface to adapt to the changing position of the body during the child’s sleep