Will a memory foam topper cut down on tossing and turning?

by Bob V.

Hi,

I found your site in a Google search on memory foam topper.

I'm recently married and my wife has trouble sleeping because I toss and turn.

I couldn't find a page on your site dedicated specifically to some of the sleep challenges faced by couples sharing a bed so I decided to contact you.

My specific question: If I already have a very high quality bed, would a good 4-inch memory foam topper be effective at eliminating movement my wife feels when I toss and turn?


Hi Bob,

Nice to hear from you. You've brought up a couple interesting points.

When a sleep doctor interviews someone who has insomnia or sleep difficulties, one of the things they like to do is also interview the bed partner.

It can help look for some of the causes of insomnia or poor quality sleep, which may include sleep apnea, snoring, or restless legs syndrome.

In your case, tossing and turning that disrupts your wife is what is considered an environmental or situational cause of insomnia. It is very common. (Dogs barking, traffic noise, too much light coming into the bedroom...these are a few examples of environmental causes of insomnia.)

As for your comment about the difficulties of couples sleeping together...

When I was growing up, I remember my wonderful aunt and uncle (married 50 years) commenting that they almost never slept in the same bed together.

They said they slept poorly that way. I always thought it was weird they had separate bedrooms.

However, now I understand. I sleep better when I'm not in the same bed with the lady of the house.

I also think if you peered into the bedrooms of people across America and the world, you would find millions of couples sleeping in separate rooms.

The reason? There may be issues such as snoring. Then there are all the dogs and cats that pile into people's beds with them.

And in your own case, there is tossing and turning.

You should understand that a person changes positions frequently throughout the night while they sleep.

This is normal. Most of the time, this is not noticed by the people sleeping. Problem is, your wife could be a sensitive, light sleeper. Or you could be particularly robust in your bed movements.

Memory foam, because of its structure, reduces tossing and turning.

A memory foam mattress helps to reduce motion transfer. Motion transfer means the other person in bed feels you getting up or moving around.

Memory foam reduces motion transfer by distributing movement throughout the bed layers, sort of like a shock absorber in our cars.

Does a memory foam topper also work to reduce motion transfer?

Yes, it does. A good four-inch memory foam topper will also relieve pressure points on the body and that will cut down on your tossing and turning.

Will it be enough to not disrupt your wife? If you have a queen or king size bed, a topper of the same size just might work.

Unfortunately, I can't say for 100% certainty it will work though to make your wife sleep better.

So if you bought an excellent memory foam topper...and it did not solve your tossing and turning problem...at least you would be darn comfortable if you had to put that topper on another bed in a different room.

Hope this information helps.

Rich