Why Is My Mattress So Warm?

Issues

• If your mattress is too warm, it can lead to problems beyond just a lack of good sleep. An overly warm mattress can cause you to sweat more than usual at night. Not only does this interfere with your ability to get a good night’s sleep, but it also increases your mattress’s exposure to moisture. In humid climates, this puts your mattress at risk for mildew growth on the underside or the interior of the mattress.

Cause

• A common reason for your mattress to feel warm is prolonged exposure to your body heat. If you have an older mattress, it might sag a bit in the place you sleep at night. Your body gets trapped in the soft spot, and you end up staying in the same area all night. Your body heat is focused in just that one area instead of being spread across the bed as you roll over and shift. These leads to the mattress feeling warm.

Solutions

• If an older mattress has developed a soft spot, replacing it with a new one will solve the issue. If a new mattress isn’t an option, then try turning or flipping the old one. This will give you a different, firmer area of the mattress to sleep on. Without a depression to catch you, you can move more naturally at night, preventing your body heat from building up in one place. Try rotating the mattress every three months and flipping it every six months to help distribute wear on it.

Considerations

• Taking care of the heat problem with your mattress will do more than give you a better night’s sleep. It will also protect your health. Mildew growth on your mattress can trigger health problems like eye irritation and trouble breathing. These issues get worse the longer you are exposed to the mildew. If left unchecked, mildew can get inside your mattress, where you cannot clean it. This means you will have to throw it away and get a new one.