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Will a Cooling Mattress Really Work?

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night feeling too hot and sweaty to fall back asleep? Sleeping hot is a very common sleep problem for adults of every age and across all climates. That’s why so many of today’s mattresses feature some sort of temperature regulating technology to specifically whisk away heat and reduce the build-up that can disrupt sleep. In fact, many of these mattresses are labeled as “cooling”. But the question is – do these so-called “cooling mattresses” really work when it comes to sleeping hot?  

Understanding Sleep and Body Temperature

According to Sleep.org, a normal human sleep cycle consists of four distinct stages marked by body temperature and other physiological changes. In the first three states, which are considered non-rapid eye movement (NREM), your body temperature starts to slowly decrease upon falling asleep as your brain and muscles begin to relax. Your temperature will continue to drop into the third stage. The fourth stage is REM, or rapid eye movement, during which brain activity increases while your temperature remains lowered. The four stages repeat every 90 to 120 minutes while you sleep, and then your body goes back to its baseline upon waking.

You are most susceptible to waking up from significant temperature swings during NREM sleep, although you can still wake from being too hot or too cold during REM sleep. The ideal room temperature for sleep is 60 to 67 degrees which is ideal for helping keep your body temperature down during sleep without feeling disrupted by being too hot or too cold.

What Causes Heat Build-Up During Sleep

Even with the ideal room temperature set, it’s still possible to experience uncomfortable heat build-up that can wake you from peaceful sleep. While pajamas and bed sheets and blankets are often culprits, the mattress often plays a large role in sleep temperature. Mattresses made with thick, non-breathable covers and materials can trap heat at the surface which results in heat being pushed back up against your body. This can cause you to sweat through your pajamas and eventually wake up from the discomfort while your body is trying to lower its temperature for rest.

Making a Cooling Mattress

As mattress technology evolved over the past several years, many brands started offering temperature regulating technologies to address the issue of sleeping hot. This included breathable cooling fabrics that promote airflow for reduced heat build-up at the sleep surface and memory foams infused with gel and other materials to prevent it from trapping heat inside. Together, these materials work to help air flow throughout the entire mattress and dissipate any heat building up at the surface during sleep.

But….does it really work? Let’s take a look at Americanstar’s Primerest Hybrid Mattress Collection for an answer.

Our Research and Development team designed these mattresses to offer the best in hybrid mattress technology while providing our most advanced cooling features. By combining highly breathable, cool-to-the-touch fabrics with infused memory foams and other breathable comfort layers, the mattress is able to promote better airflow and reduce heat build-up at the surface.

So – yes, these mattresses do what we designed them to do which is to promote a cooling airflow for better temperature regulation while sleeping. The cooling is all about creating a balanced sleep surface and temperature by combating heat build-up. These mattresses are not designed to make you feel uncomfortably cold, nor are they designed to address medical issues like hot flashes that may require additional assistance from a medical professional.

Choosing a Cooling Mattress

If sleeping hot is keeping you up at night, a cooling mattress may be the way to go! When shopping, look for mattresses with soft, breathable fabrics that promote airflow and help dissipate heat at the surface. Many of these materials will be “cool-to-the-touch”.  Also look for foams that are infused with cooling gels or other materials that help promote airflow inside of the mattress, especially when using memory foam which has a natural tendency to trap heat.

Happy Sleeping!

• Americanstar US