Knee Pillow

Sleeping with a pillow between the legs is a great way to ensure a more comfortable night’s rest. 

But who should use a knee pillow for sleeping? Is it a specialist item designed for people with specific resting needs? Not at all! 

While a knee pillow for side sleepers is the most common case, anyone can benefit from sleeping with a knee or leg pillow. From providing comfort to moderating your resting temperature to improving your posture, there’s every reason to try sleeping with a pillow between the legs for the first time. We promise you’ll love it.

Read on to learn how our knee pillow is a game-changer for your well-earned night’s sleep.

Benefits of Knee Pillows

Sleeping with a pillow under the knees or between your legs isn’t just incredibly comfortable - it can dramatically improve the quality of your rest. Sleep is one of the most critical parts of our lives, and we need to do it well if we’re going to function at 100%! Here are some ways that a pillow between the legs can help you get some shut-eye.

Promotes Good Posture

We’re often taught the importance of good posture when sitting upright. It helps our back and legs rest properly and avoids placing strain on the wrong areas.

Good posture when resting receives less attention - perhaps because people don’t see us as often when asleep, so they can’t offer advice! However, it’s just as important as maintaining good posture as when you’re sitting up.

A knee pillow for sleeping helps promote good posture in bed, meaning that every part of your body gets the rest it deserves. This is especially true of our legs — how many times have you woken up feeling like your legs have just finished a 10-hour shift on a shop floor? This happens when we rest in a position that doesn’t let our muscles heal and relax.

It also helps keep your legs separate and supported. This allows the muscles to relax and recuperate overnight. A leg pillow for side sleepers is especially beneficial — while resting on your side is the most common position, it can mean that one leg presses against the other and puts strain on a muscle or tendon when they should be apart and relaxed.

Supports a Deeper Sleep

We know when we’re uncomfortable, even when we’re asleep. This is why you keep waking up when you rest on a poor-quality mattress or your neck isn't supported. This is your body telling you that you need to make adjustments for it to heal correctly.

You can let your body know that it’s being taken care of by using a knee pillow. This will:

• Prevent your legs from touching and putting pressure on each other
• Spread out the concentrated weight of your legs and prevent them from pushing “too hard” into your mattress
• Prevent your body heat from getting trapped between your legs, creating an unpleasant sweatiness
• Minimize the risk of sleeping with any “sensitive parts” getting trapped between your legs, potentially causing unwanted and uncomfortable pressure
• Reduce the chance of your feet or ankles touching - these are harder and bonier parts that may wake you up if you’re a restless sleeper

A well-designed knee pillow for sleeping can help you achieve deeper, more restful sleep. In turn, this helps your body heal and will mean that you rise every morning feeling like you got the rest you needed.

Mediating Temperature

Your body temperature is another important factor in helping you get a good night’s rest. We all experience nighttime body temperature differently — some people feel very cold when they’re ready for bed and like a hot water bottle and thick blankets. Others find their internal temperature skyrockets, and a thin sheet is all they need.

Whether you tend towards overheating or cooling down when you go to bed, sleeping with a pillow between the legs is a great way to mediate your body temperature.

• If you typically feel very cold when you go to bed, an additional soft pillow under the knees can provide some much-needed comfort. The cushion will gain some warmth from contact with your body, and the soft fabric and filling provide a lovely warming sensation.
• If you tend to feel too hot before you rest, sleeping with a pillow between legs helps prevent your body from radiating heat back into itself. Your legs will give out heat when you’re trying to rest — without a leg pillow, this creates a vicious cycle of your legs warming each other. This can rapidly lead to uncomfortable sweating. A knee pillow for side sleepers helps keep your legs separate and gives the heat somewhere to go, and it also reduces sweatiness.

Using a knee pillow for sleeping is a great way to keep an even, comfortable temperature when you’re at rest. An easy-to-clean, removable cover is always a great idea as this prevents sweat from building up in the case.

Providing Comfort

It’s not just physical comfort that helps us sleep. Having something soft and temperate to wrap around as we rest is instinctively comforting. We won’t get too deep into the psychology of sleep here — suffice to say that a leg pillow provides the same type of comforting benefits as a full-body model but doesn’t get in the way of your other bolsters so much.

Another benefit of a knee pillow for side sleepers is that full-body models are harder to maneuver if you roll from one side to the other. A lightweight leg pillow for side sleepers will move easily with the rhythm of your body, ensuring that you don’t wake up when you roll over.

Easing Pain and Soreness

Sleep can be uncomfortable for various reasons. It’s not just about preventing your knees from hitting together — it’s about the whole body and buying a model that will help you get a good night’s rest.

Conditions like sciatica and scoliosis make comfortable nights of sleep more challenging. A leg pillow can provide support where needed and allow you to find a stable position. Pregnant women often benefit from leg pillows or full-body options as they can take the weight off uncomfortable parts of the body.

Whatever your circumstances, sleeping with a pillow between legs is a great way to give yourself the best night’s rest possible. It’s recommended for everyone interested in waking up with a rested body rather than more pains. 

What to Look Out For When Buying a Knee Pillow

So what makes the best knee pillow for side sleepers? Here’s what you need to pay attention to.

Fabric

The best choice should be made of a soft, breathable fabric. This will help it regulate your body temperature when you’re resting. Material that is pleasant to touch is also essential, of course — whatever your reason for sleeping with a pillow between legs, it’s got to feel good to you!

The best leg pillow for side sleepers will be made of a breathable, organic material that is soft to the touch and easy to clean.

Size

People commonly search for a knee pillow for side sleepers because full-length models aren’t for everyone, despite their benefits. When choosing your leg pillow, you should bear this in mind — smaller options that give optimal cushioning to your knees are best.

Smaller designs help to keep your legs separate and promote comfort, but you’re not wrestling with a long, heavy object that makes it difficult to roll over.

Filling Options

Organic filling options such as millet hulls provide incredible softness and support. It’s best if the organic filling for your knee pillow is native, as this makes it more likely you’re getting the highest-quality product for the most affordable price.

Manufacturing Methods

You should always check where your bedding was made and what techniques were used in its manufacturing process. The best leg pillow for side sleepers will always be a hand-made model in the U.S. This guarantees that its manufacturing is ethical. The quality and durability of hand-made models also can’t be beaten.

Weight

A significant reason that people opt for a knee pillow for side sleepers is that full-body models are too heavy. Lightweight models weighing around 1.2lbs mean that you’ll barely notice the pillow’s weight when you rest, even though its firm design helps you retain a good sleeping posture. 

Heavier options might wake you up unduly or put too much weight on one leg.

Sealing

A zipper is the best type of seal, as this guarantees that the bolster won’t come free from its protective cover. If you’re restless in bed, finding a leg pillow for side sleepers that won’t try to escape its covering during the night is essential.

Washing Options

The removable cover should be easy to wash and resistant to staining. Many people choose to sleep with a pillow between legs because they overheat when they sleep — this means that it’ll be exposed to sweat. This needs to be washed out regularly for your comfort and hygiene. Always check the washing advice.

Hypoallergenic Properties

Organic materials tend to be hypoallergenic compared to artificial fabrics. When choosing your knee pillow, staying away from any synthetic materials that might cause even mild allergic reactions is very important.

Warranty/Returns Policy

Always check that your supplier has a good returns policy or provides a warranty for the leg pillow in case of defects. Contacting the supplier can also let you know if they have an excellent customer service department.

History of Using a Knee Pillow for Sleeping

How did we come to know that sleeping with a pillow between legs was so beneficial? Below are some reasons for use and examples of development across the world.

Support Pillows for Pregnant Women

Using a knee pillow for sleeping to help pregnant women find an easier resting position was used for thousands of years. Reducing stress in certain areas and providing comfort to women who are expecting has always been an essential part of midwifery.

The Knee Pillow for Side Sleepers

Wealthier individuals in European countries had the means to “perfect” their sleeping positions on sprawling four-poster beds. The knee pillow for side sleepers became a popular choice as this is the most common rest position.

Western Orthopedic Body Pillows

In modern times, the orthopedic knee pillow is often recommended by physicians or chiropractors. It’s known for its improvements to sleeping posture and how it increases the chance of achieving high-quality sleep.

Orthopedic models might use memory foam or fiber, but organic filling materials are still considered the most effective by many experts.

Japanese Dakimakura

The dakimakura is a type of Japanese body pillow — its name means “a pillow one clings to/holds”. These have been popular in Japan for many years and emphasize the emotional comfort knee pillows and larger models provide as well as their physical comfort factors.

Today

Rather than being used exclusively for orthopedic treatments, the wealthy, or certain cultures, many are now enjoying the benefits of a knee pillow for side sleepers and other positions. This means there is greater accessibility and options than ever to choose from. So you want to make sure you only get the best for a great night of sleep. 

What Makes Our Knee Pillow Different?

A knee pillow from PineTales is built to provide you with maximum comfort for the longest time possible. Our knee pillow for side sleepers uses a unique design to ensure that you’ll always get the rest you need.

Organic Materials

Our knee pillows for sleeping are made from organic materials that help keep your legs comfortable and your body temperature consistent throughout the night. These organic materials are ethically sourced and also offer hypoallergenic benefits for sensitive sleepers.

Breathable Fabric

The breathability of our leg pillow is second to none. This is a vital part of helping regulate your body temperature and ensuring lasting comfort when sleeping with a pillow between the legs.

Breathable fabrics also handle sweat better. Even if you perspire during the night, the fabric should dry quickly.

Organic Filling

This knee pillow for sleeping is filled with 100% organic millet hulls grown in the United States. This filling can be recycled and refilled with similar material when the time comes, but they typically last for a very long time. They mold to your body’s shape without the need for synthetic fabrics.

Rounded Shape

The rounded shape of this knee pillow combined with its organic millet husk filling means that it can shape itself to the curvature of your legs easily. Many models are designed with specific leg shapes in mind, but ours are accessible for users of all sizes and body shapes.

The rounded shape is also known to be comforting compared to pillows with angular corners. It means that there will be no points poking you in the night, providing you with the best night’s sleep possible.

Zippable Covers

Our knee pillow for side sleepers seals using zips. This means that you don’t need to worry about the interior “coming loose” in the night - the cover is the most comfortable part, and that’s all your skin will touch when you sleep with this leg pillow.

This also helps to protect the interior from sweat. Washing a cover is fairly simple, but washing the entire pillow can be a bit more challenging. Zip-tight protection means that you don’t need to worry about accidentally exposing the interior to sweat during the night.

The zips are also unobtrusive and tuck away neatly - you don’t need to worry about loose metal zippers prodding you when you’re resting!

Easy to Wash

Our organic fabric covers wash easily and don’t require any special treatment. They will retain their softness and breathability as part of your regular washing schedule and can easily be cleaned of sweat and dust from the night.

You want a leg pillow that makes your life easier, not more complicated. The easy-wash design of our covers guarantees that you’ll be getting the best possible rest with minimal effort.

Lightweight

A disadvantage of heavier, more cumbersome body pillows is that they make it difficult for side sleepers to turn without waking. It’s very comforting to hold onto a knee pillow during sleep, but it becomes a problem if you can’t roll over without a large object passing across your face and torso.

Our leg pillow for side sleepers weighs less than 1.2lbs so that even the lightest sleepers will barely notice its presence if they roll over during the night. Despite its ultra-lightweight design, the millet hull filling is firm and resistant, helping your legs form a comfortable indentation.

Promotes Healthy Sleeping Posture

Our knee pillow for side sleepers is designed to promote healthier sleeping posture. This will help you get the rest you deserve. With consistent use, your body learns its most comfortable fit with the leg pillow - it only gets better as time goes on!

Improve Your Sleep Using the Knee Pillow from PineTales Today

At PineTales, we wanted to create a knee pillow for sleeping that was:

• Affordable
• Effective
• Comfortable

We wanted to accomplish this all while using organic materials and the finest handmade design. And we did it. You're welcome America ;-)