Quick Answer: A mattress is too soft for you if your hips sink deeper than your shoulders when sleeping on your side, you wake with lower back pain that improves after getting up and moving, you feel like you are sleeping in a hammock shape rather than on a flat surface, or it takes significant effort to change positions during the night. These are distinct signs that the mattress is not providing adequate support for your body weight and sleep position.
Brad, Owner, 40+ years of experience: "We have been helping Brantford families sleep better since 1997. Every customer gets personal attention, honest advice, and the kind of follow-up service you just do not get from big box stores."
In This Guide
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A mattress that is too soft is as problematic as one that is too firm, but the symptoms and causes are different. While excessive firmness creates pressure at contact points, excessive softness allows the body to sink too deeply into the surface, undermining spinal alignment and making position changes difficult. Knowing how to recognise when a soft mattress is hurting rather than helping your sleep is essential to identifying whether your mattress is the right choice for your body.
Signs a Mattress Is Too Soft for You
The most reliable sign that a mattress is too soft is lower back pain that is worst when you first wake up and improves as you move through the morning. This pattern occurs because an excessively soft mattress allows the hips to sink below the level of the torso during sleep, placing the lumbar spine in a sustained flexed or laterally curved position for several hours. As you move during the day, the muscles and joints realign and the discomfort decreases.
Another clear indicator is difficulty changing positions during the night. When a mattress is too soft for your body weight, the comfort layer envelops you rather than supporting you near the surface. Rolling from your side to your back or from one side to the other requires pulling yourself free from the surface, which can be physically tiring and disruptive to sleep. If you wake frequently because of the effort required to change positions, or if you notice you have stayed in the same position all night to avoid the effort, this may be a softness issue.
A visible body impression that does not recover when you get out of bed is a sign of a different but related problem: the mattress has developed structural wear that produces excessive sink whether or not the mattress was originally too soft. An impression of more than 3 cm that persists after you leave the bed indicates the mattress no longer has the support characteristics it was designed to provide and should be replaced regardless of its original firmness level.
Excessive Softness and Spinal Alignment
Research published in Sleep Medicine Reviews examined the relationship between mattress support characteristics and spinal alignment in side sleepers across different body weight categories. The study found that excessive softness, defined as mattresses where the hip sank more than 5 cm deeper than the shoulder, was associated with significantly higher rates of morning lower back pain compared to mattresses where hip and shoulder sank to a more similar depth. The Canadian Chiropractic Association has noted that for most adult sleepers, a mattress that allows more than 7 to 8 cm of total hip sink compromises lumbar alignment and may contribute to chronic low back discomfort over time.
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Who Actually Benefits From a Softer Mattress
Softer mattresses genuinely suit specific sleepers rather than being universally problematic. Lightweight side sleepers, typically under 60 to 65 kg, often genuinely benefit from a softer comfort layer because their body weight does not generate enough force to adequately compress a medium-firm surface at the shoulder and hip. On a medium-firm mattress, a lighter person may experience the same firmness-related pressure symptoms at the shoulder that a heavier person would experience on a softer mattress.
The key distinction is whether the softness is providing genuine pressure relief while maintaining spinal alignment, or whether it is allowing the spine to curve into an unsupported position. A lighter side sleeper on a appropriately soft mattress will have their shoulder and hip at similar depths, maintaining lateral spinal alignment. A heavier sleeper on the same mattress will have their hip far below their shoulder, creating a downward curve in the spine.
Sleepers with significant shoulder or hip discomfort from pressure-related conditions, such as bursitis or rotator cuff issues, sometimes also benefit from a slightly softer comfort layer that reduces direct pressure at those points. However, this should be balanced against the risk of excessive hip sink that undermines lumbar support. For these sleepers, a hybrid mattress with a pocketed coil system and a medium comfort layer often provides the best balance of pressure relief and lumbar support.
The Hip-Shoulder Test
A practical test for mattress softness appropriateness: lie on your side in your normal sleep position and have a companion observe your spine from behind. If your spine forms a straight line from the back of your neck to your tailbone, the mattress softness is appropriate for your body. If your hip drops significantly lower than your shoulder, creating a downward curve in the lower spine, the mattress is too soft. If your hip appears higher than your shoulder with the waist region unsupported, the mattress may be too firm. This observation, taking about 5 minutes, tells you more about your mattress fit than any description or rating.
What to Do if Your Mattress Is Too Soft
If your mattress is genuinely too soft due to wear, replacement is the most effective solution. A mattress topper cannot correct a mattress that has developed structural sagging, because the topper will simply conform to the sagged surface. However, if the mattress is structurally sound but simply softer than optimal for your body weight and position, a firm latex topper or high-density foam topper can add surface support without replacing the whole mattress.
For a mattress that is too soft due to age-related wear in the support base, checking whether the mattress foundation or box spring is also contributing to the problem is worth doing first. A worn or insufficiently supportive base under a mattress can cause even a good mattress to feel and perform like it is too soft. Place the mattress on a solid, flat surface temporarily to determine whether the softness problem disappears, which would indicate the base rather than the mattress is the issue.
Our Restonic ComfortCare Queen at $1,619 for a queen uses 1,222 individually pocketed coils with a robust coil system designed to maintain its support characteristics for years of regular use. If you are sleeping on a mattress that has become excessively soft from wear, the Restonic's construction provides a meaningful contrast in support that is immediately noticeable when you test it at our West Street showroom.
Addressing Mattress Softness in Brantford
Since 1997, Brad and the Mattress Miracle team have helped Brantford residents diagnose whether their sleep problems stem from a mattress that is too soft by wear, too soft for their body weight, or actually appropriately soft for their specific sleep needs. We do not assume that firmer is always better, and we do not recommend mattresses based on general guidance without understanding your specific sleep position, body weight, and what your current mattress is doing. Come to our West Street showroom and let Brad walk you through the assessment and the options that are most likely to improve your sleep quality.
Shop: Shop Our Mattress Collection
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Popular picks at Mattress Miracle:
- Restonic ComfortCare Dalton & Albany pocket-coil mattress
- Whitney flippable mattress
- Somnia 3.0 pillow
Or shop our mattress collection in our Brantford showroom.
Find Your Perfect Mattress at Mattress Miracle
We are a family-owned mattress store in Brantford, helping our community sleep better since 1997. Come try mattresses in person and get honest, no-pressure advice.
441 1/2 West Street, Brantford, Ontario
Call 519-770-0001Frequently Asked Questions
Can a mattress that is too soft cause back pain?
Yes. A mattress that allows the hips to sink below the level of the torso places the lumbar spine in a sustained curved position during sleep. Over time, this can cause chronic low back pain, morning stiffness, and muscle tension in the lower back. The pattern of back pain caused by an excessively soft mattress is typically worst upon waking and improves as you move through the day. If your back pain is consistently worst first thing in the morning and better after 30 to 60 minutes of activity, your mattress softness is a likely contributor.
How can I tell if my mattress is soft because it is worn out?
A worn-out mattress that has developed excessive softness through use will typically show visible body impressions that do not fully recover when you get out of bed. You may also notice the mattress surface feels uneven, or that you roll toward the centre of the bed during the night. A new mattress that is simply softer than appropriate for your body will feel uniformly soft without visible impressions or unevenness. If the softness is localised to where you sleep rather than distributed uniformly, wear is the more likely cause.
Can I add support to a mattress that is too soft?
If the mattress is structurally sound but simply softer than ideal for your body weight, a firm latex or high-density polyfoam topper can add surface support. Look for a topper with a firmness of ILD 35 or above for meaningful support addition. If the mattress is worn out with visible impressions, a topper placed on top will simply conform to the sagged surface and will not correct the support deficit. In that case, replacement is the appropriate solution.
Is it possible for a mattress to be too soft for one person in a couple but right for the other?
Yes, and this is a common challenge for couples with significantly different body weights or sleep positions. A mattress that is appropriately soft for a 60 kg side sleeper may be excessively soft for a 90 kg back sleeper on the same mattress. Couples with very different needs sometimes benefit from a zoned hybrid mattress where firmness varies across the surface, or in some cases, from exploring dual-zone mattress configurations where each side can be independently adjusted.
Sources
- Jacobson, B. H., Boolani, A., & Smith, D. B. (2009). Changes in back pain, sleep quality, and perceived stress after introduction of new bedding systems. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 8(1), 1-8. doi.org/10.1016/j.jcm.2008.09.002
- Radwan, A., Fess, P., James, D., Murphy, J., Myers, J., Rooney, M., Taylor, J., & Torii, A. (2015). Effect of different mattress designs on promoting sleep quality, pain reduction, and spinal alignment in adults with or without back pain. Sleep Health, 1(4), 257-267. doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2015.08.001
- Defloor, T. (2000). The effect of position and mattress on interface pressure. Applied Nursing Research, 13(1), 2-11. doi.org/10.1016/S0897-1897(00)80013-9
- Bergholdt, K., Fabricius, R. N., & Bendix, T. (2008). Better backs by better beds? Spine, 33(7), 703-708. doi.org/10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181695773
Visit Our Brantford Showroom
Mattress Miracle
441 1/2 West Street, Brantford
Phone: (519) 770-0001
Hours: Mon-Wed 10-6, Thu-Fri 10-7, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-4
Not sure if your mattress is too soft or if you just need a different firmness? Come into our showroom and test the range with Brad. We will help you identify what your body actually needs rather than guessing.
Visit Our Brantford Showroom
We are located at 441½ West Street in downtown Brantford. Free parking available. Our team does not work on commission, so you get honest advice based on your needs.
Mattress Miracle , 441½ West Street, Brantford, ON · (519) 770-0001
Hours: Monday–Wednesday 10am–6pm, Thursday–Friday 10am–7pm, Saturday 10am–5pm, Sunday 12pm–4pm.