Better Sleep Week: Pick the perfect pillow

Many sleep experts say your pillow makes up 30% of your sleep comfort. That’s why, as part of CBS 58’s Better Sleep Week, we’re revealing information to help you pick out the perfect pillow.

We went to Verlo Mattress in Wauwatosa where they claim to have the world’s largest pillow wall. The experts say there are four big things to consider:

• Are you allergic to any of the material in the pillow?
• Do you wake up sweating or kicking off the sheets? (You might like a cooling pillow.)
• What don’t you like about your current pillow? (Consider the “feel” of it.)
• What’s your sleep position?

No matter what your preferred sleep position, you want to make sure your head and neck are as straight as possible when your head hits the pillow. Think of it like standing with good posture, but you’re horizontal.

"You want your spine to be in alignment and different sleep positions need different types of pillows. This is probably one of the most important considerations I can convey to you. If you're a side sleeper, you need an entirely different kind of pillow than if you're a stomach sleeper," Adam Terasek, National Service Leader with Verlo Mattress, explained.

Most people are side or back sleepers. Research shows few people sleep on their stomach.

Terasek says getting a new pillow actually changes how your mattress feels.

“In some ways, it almost feels like you got a new mattress. Customers tell us that,” he said.

If you’re at a store where you can test the pillow, it’s recommended you put your head down for five to eight minutes.

“Really try it, just as you would at home, in different sleep positions that you use. Give the pillow a whirl,” Terasek said.

Signs you need a new pillow include:

• Not sleeping well.
• Waking up with neck aches.
• Folding or stacking your pillow. (Or stealing your partner’s pillow.)
• Pushing away your pillow during the night.