SweetNight's CoolNest Mattress Is A Cool Solution For Sleepers With Back Pain

As a mid-thirties guy who works from home, I spend far more time sitting in an uncomfortable office chair and basking in the blue light of my computer monitors than I care to admit. And while you may be able to exaggerate your level of physical activity to friends and family, an old mattress never fails to put your lifestyle in clear view. In my case, this occurred several times a week in the form of waking up in the middle of the night to blinding pain that shot across my entire back. Unfortunately, mattress shopping proved to be a painful experience in its own right, and I had already run out of easy ways to make an uncomfortable bed any cozier.

As such, when SweetNight offered House Digest the opportunity to try out their CoolNest mattress, it seemed like a minor miracle. Not only does this mattress tout a 5-zone support system to relieve pressure points (and hopefully my chronic 2 a.m. back pain), but its trademarked CoolNest System is designed to feel up to 8 degrees cooler. Factor in its ACA (American Chiropractic Association) endorsement and budget-friendly price tag (my king-size CoolNest mattress would have cost $699.99 on sale, but was provided for free by SweetNight for this no-strings-attached assessment), and I was living in a dream. However, would this sweet dream last throughout the night?

Before we revisit the matter of my excruciating back pain, which only seems to occur while I am sleeping, it's important to consider how a mattress performs before one falls asleep. In this regard, the CoolNest definitely scores top marks. Although I was initially shopping around for a firmer option, this mattress's medium-firm feel is sure to win over sleepers that lie on either end of the firmness question. Upon lying down, I felt the soft surface of the mattress give way, but not so much that I felt like my posture was off-kilter. In fact, and as suggested by a mattress store salesperson whom I spoke to while shopping in vain, it seemed like a less firm mattress provided my body with a degree of relief compared to my old firm memory foam mattress.

Suffice it to say, over the weeks I tried out the CoolNest, I was able to rest in any number of sleeping positions, and each of them felt just as comfortable as the last. I take turns sleeping on my back, side, and stomach, and occasionally lie sprawled out in an unnatural manner akin to the iconic Heisman Trophy pose. Whichever position happened to be the case for a specific night, I was able to fall asleep quickly — and that's saying something, seeing as how I was sleeping less than six feet away from a newborn baby who gurgles and coos herself into a frenzy every couple of hours.

SweetNight touts the CoolNest mattress as a "best solution" for sleepers who experience back pain, and in my experience, this marketing copy is 100% on the money. Not only was I able to sleep soundly throughout the night, but I awoke pain-free each morning spent sleeping on the CoolNest. I am not a chiropractor, so I can't accurately credit this to the CoolNest's five-zone ergonomic support, two inches of responsive ocean memory foam, or anything, for that matter. However, I can confidently say that my waking life has improved substantially now that I am not waking up at night in the throes of pain that one year ago I would have thought unimaginable.

Naturally, it's impossible to say how long this relief will last, but I am all for dishing out credit where it's due. And seeing as how SweetNight's claims regarding this mattress's suitability for sleeping with back pain turned out to be true, I am hopeful that their six-layer design is every bit as durable as they indicate, thanks to its inclusion of transition comfort foam. Either way, assuming the CoolNest holds up for three or more years — less than the average lifespan of a mattress — I would say this thrifty workhorse is well worth the asking price.

While I was primarily concerned with ergonomic comfort and pain relief while trying out the CoolNest, it's worth noting that these are far from this product's primary selling point. As such, you may be wondering if this mattress really feels up to eight degrees cooler than other mattresses under normal sleeping conditions, or whether it's a great option for sleepers who run hot. Unfortunately, this is a tricky question for me to answer for a variety of reasons.

For one thing, I am only slightly warmer than the average corpse when sleeping in a cool room. Just ask my fiancé. Nevertheless, I can definitely say that the CoolNest's 3D weaving cover certainly feels cool when one runs their hand over it. However, most people don't sleep directly on the mattress, so how much mileage you get out of this is likely to be impacted by your choice of sheets and whether you're using appropriate sheets for the given season.

That being said, I was able to (accidentally) try out the mattress on a hot East Coast night when, due to an administrative error, my Google Nest thermostat was set to "heat" mode. Did this produce cool, comfortable sleeping? Not by a long shot, according to my better half. However, it's worth noting that I did in fact sleep comfortably, and woke up to a mattress that remained unmarred by sweat. So while the CoolNest might have diminishing returns when it comes to excessively hot sleepers like my fiancé, its breathable design and moisture-resistance still held up. And while it may not mean much coming from someone who slept comfortably in a tent during 100-degree weather at Bonnaroo, I thought the CoolNest was pretty darn cool.