Don’t get me wrong, I love a bunch of red roses, some heart shaped chocolates and bottle of rosé, because who doesn’t enjoy a bit of cliché romance once a year? But I think we can do better. In fact, I think the ultimate Valentines gift is one that brings you closer together, can improve your health and even boost your mood. But how can you do that? While it may be technically difficult to give the gift of a good night’s sleep, you can certainly improve your chances by splashing out on a new mattress.
Choosing the best mattress for you and your partner’s sleep needs is tricky. Get it wrong and you face sleepless nights and irritable days, or worse… a sleep divorce. Get it right and the two of you can enjoy proper rest night after night, without disturbing each other or fighting over who sleeps on the ‘best side’ of the bed (I hope my husband’s reading this.)
The best mattresses for couples prioritize motion isolation so tossing and turning won’t keep you awake, cooling features so neither of you overheat and fantastic edge support so you can both spread out and use the full surface of the mattress. Why Valentines Day? Well the Presidents’ Day mattress sales are coming up, which means you can get a luxury bed for a bargain — but don’t worry, we won’t tell. Here’s why you should forget the roses and refresh your bedroom for Valentines.
3 reasons why a new mattress is the ultimate Valentines gift
Stop the sleep divorce
Over a third of Americans have opted for a sleep divorce. For those who don’t know, this means sleeping in separate beds, and sometimes even separate rooms. Now, it’s definitely not a bad thing if you both sleep well. In fact, if snoring or different schedules is keeping you up, it might reduce sleep deprivation and improve your overall health.
However, there are scientifically proven benefits of sleeping next to someone you love, from improved sleep quality to reduced anxiety and stress. Alongside this, the extra quality time spent together relaxing before bed and in the morning can help bonding. A new mattress can make it easier to share a bed in many ways.
If it’s snoring keeping you up, many of the best smart beds come with AI snoring detection that gently adjusts the position of the sleeper in question to reduce snoring. Or, if you have different mattress preferences, beds with adjustable firmness means you can both enjoy your ideal feel for your needs.
Improve your mood
I’m sure we’ve all experienced the low mood, irritability and frustration that comes from a poor night’s sleep. And it’s inevitable that this has a knock on effect for your relationship, contributing to bickering or general grumpiness. In fact, a recent study has found a direct correlation between poor sleep quality and increased irritability.
Prioritizing your sleep means boosting your mood. So much so, that research has found better sleep has the same effect on improving our wellbeing and happiness as an 8-week cognitive therapy program and is associated with the same wellbeing scores as those who have won the lottery two years prior.
Feeling comfortable and supported night long results in less nighttime awakenings, and therefore better sleep quality. Choosing the right mattress for you means considering you and your partner’s sleep position, body type and personal preferences. But you can rest assured knowing investing in one of this year’s best luxury mattresses will be sure to boost your mood. And we all know the saying about a happy wife…
Improve your health
Sleep has a direct impact on our overall physical health, as well as mental health. Sleep deprivation has been proven to increase the risk of health conditions like heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, stroke and more. Whereas consistently good quality sleep helps boost our immunity and metabolism and reduces risk of chronic disease.
Better physical health aids better mood, reducing anxiety and depression. As you can imagine, this can lead to healthier relationships. So, if you’re going to invest in anything, your sleep should be a top priority.
3 things to look for when buying a mattress for couples
If you don’t know what to look for when buying a new mattress for you and your partner, the following features make a bed particularly good for sharing.
1. Excellent motion isolation
Motion isolation is the mattress’s ability to absorb motion, rather than transfer it to another area of the bed. So, if you and your partner have differing sleep schedules, a mattress with good motion isolation will stop you from waking up when they climb into bed.
Similarly, if you toss and turn or even share your bed with pets and kids, prioritizing motion isolation is a good idea to ensure a peaceful night’s sleep. The best memory foam mattresses usually excel in this area, with the sinking-in foam absorbing motion rather than transferring it like their innerspring counterparts might.
2. Stable edge support
Solid edge support means that the perimeter of your mattress is just as supportive as the centre of the mattress. This not only makes getting in and out of bed easy, but it also means you can use the full surface of the mattress.
If a mattress lacks edge support, you and your partner may find yourselves drifting into the middle of the mattress without enough space to move around. If this sounds like you, consider choosing from one of the best hybrid mattresses. The use of springs and coils alongside memory foam usually results in robust edge support.
3. Customization options
Mattresses that offer further customization can be especially suited to bed sharers and couples. Choosing the level of firmness for each side of the mattress means neither partner needs to compromise. You can even go a step further and invest in a split-queen or split-king mattress, which means you and your partner can enjoy completely different mattresses, but still sleep next to each other.
Also consider adding optional cooling customization. This can include cooling and moisture wicking covers to help you and your partner regulate your sleeping temperature, or even specialist gel memory foam layers that draw heat away from the body. Check out our guide to this year’s best cooling mattresses for ideas.
Top 3 mattress deals for couples in the Presidents’ Day sales
Convinced? Now it’s time to wow your partner. I’ve chosen the three best deals on some of the top mattresses for couples that are currently discounted in the Presidents' Day sales. Here they are.
