Top Signs & Reasons Your Mattress is Too Soft

Texas Mattress Makers

October 13, 2020 · 6 min read

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When one night’s bad sleep turns into multiple nights, it’s natural to wonder if your mattress is too soft or too firm. And when you get the sneaking suspicion that the softness of your mattress is to blame for your restless night, you’ll likely have questions, such as Can a soft mattress hurt your back? or Can a too-soft mattress cause hip pain?

With over four decades of experience helping our customers find the perfect mattress for their sleeping needs, the mattress experts at Texas Mattress Makers can answer these questions and more. In this guide to the top signs and reasons your mattress is too soft, we’ll cover the difference between mattress feel and mattress support, which indicators suggest your mattress may be too soft, and the reasons why your mattress may be too soft.

Fed up with your mattress? Ready for a fresh start? Check out our page on How to Choose a Mattress and learn how to avoid common mattress-buying pitfalls, or take our mattress quiz.

Top signs your mattress is the culprit behind your sleep problems

Your mattress plays a significant role in your ability to get a good night’s sleep — but it’s not the only factor at play. Before going out and spending money on a new mattress, as yourself the following questions:

Are you tossing and turning?
Do you wake up tired and drowsy?
Do you wake up with aches and pains that fade over the course of the day?
Are you more comfortable on a different sleeping surface, such as your couch or guest bed?

A “yes” answer to any one of these questions points in the direction of an issue with your sleeping surface. If you answered “yes” to all three of them, you should definitely consider investing in a new mattress.

Top 3 reasons why a mattress is too soft

In many cases, support, not softness, is at the heart of your mattress issues. In the mattress industry, the terms “firm” and “soft” refer to the feel of a mattress, while “support” refers to a mattress’s ability to keep your spine in healthy alignment. These distinctions are important to keep in mind when reading about supportive or soft vs. firm mattresses.

Both firm and soft-feeling mattresses can be supportive; both can also be unsupportive. You can also have a firm feeling mattress that is less supportive than a soft feeling one. And so on. So while a mattress can definitely feel too soft for someone’s liking, that’s typically a preference or comfort issue, whereas the real issue is with the mattress’s support.

In other words, it’s more useful to talk about why a mattress isn’t supportive enough, as opposed to whether or not it’s too soft. Here are the top reasons why mattresses with less support don’t work for certain body types / sleeping positions.

1. You sleep on your stomach or back and aren’t getting enough mattress support

If you sleep on your stomach or your back, the majority of your weight is placed on your hips. If your mattress isn’t supportive enough, your hips will sink into the surface of your mattress, throwing your spine out of alignment. For example, if you sleep on your stomach and your back looks “U-shaped,” then your mattress is either not supportive enough, or the comfort layer of your mattress is too soft.

2. You are heavier and aren’t getting enough mattress support

If you weigh more than average for your height, your mattress needs to have a stronger support system to keep your spine in alignment. You can still find mattresses that offer a soft feel, but you will want a mattress that uses supportive base components like our individually wrapped coil or Quantum Coil mattress components.

3. You and your partner have a significant difference in weight

If one partner is heavier while the other is lighter, you may have difficulty finding a mattress that truly fits both of your sleeping needs. A mattress that is supportive enough for a very lightweight person may be inadequate for someone with a larger build. Meanwhile, a mattress that is supportive enough for someone with a larger build may not allow a lightweight person’s body to sink into the mattress enough to get the support they need.

For more information on finding a mattress that fits your body’s needs, please see our guide to finding the right mattress for your body type.

Our best soft-feeling mattresses that offer support

Mattress manufacturers are able to create many different types of mattresses, including soft-but-supportive mattresses, by using different component combinations. For example, in hybrid mattresses, a supportive individually wrapped coil component is typically used in the bottom layer (or support layer), while a softer layer (such as memory foam) is used in the top layer (or comfort layer).

Our Top Soft Mattress Picks

Our Expert Pick for a “Cloud-like” Feel – Bel Air Mattress
Best Value – Monte Carlo Mattress
Best for Heavyweight Sleepers – Florence Mattress or Rome Mattress
Best for Lightweight Sleepers – Bel Air Mattress
Best for Back and Stomach Sleepers – Oslo Plush Mattress
Best for Side Sleepers – Nice Plush Mattress
Best for Hot Sleepers – Oslo Plush Mattress/ Nice Plush Mattress

General solutions for when your mattress is too soft

If you like the feel of a soft mattress but need extra support, a hybrid mattress can provide this for you. Alternatively, if your mattress is actually supportive enough but you prefer the feeling of a firmer surface, you can also find hybrid mattresses that offer the same level of support as your soft mattress but with a firmer feel.

There are also options for when you and your spouse have radically different sleeping needs. A custom, king-size, dual comfort mattress made by Texas Mattress Makers allows you and your partner to have two different mattress feels and support systems integrated into one mattress. Each side of the mattress is tailored to the needs of each spouse and is as big as a twin XL mattress, but from the outside the dual comfort mattresses look like one mattress.

For sleeping partners who don’t mind having a separate mattress from your spouse (or who each want the luxury of using an adjustable base on their own), a split king mattress is another alternative. Split king bed frames hold two separate twin-XL mattresses which can each be of their own specifications. Split king mattresses are also ideal for couples who struggle with motion transfer during the night.

Is My Mattress Too Soft or Firm? Or is it Something Else? Texas Mattress Makers Can Help.

It’s not always easy to tell if your mattress is too soft, if it isn’t supportive enough, or if another issue is keeping you up at night. With over four decades of experience, the mattress experts at Texas Mattress Makers can help you determine what issues you’re having with your current mattress, as well as help you find a replacement that will suit your needs.

Your good night’s sleep is our passion. You can explore our full selection of handmade mattresses online or in-store. Simply choose to shop by either comfort level, mattress type, mattress size, or budget or come and visit any of our convenient Houston locations today!

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