Flat pillow buying guide: who needs one and what to buy
A flat pillow is a low-loft pillow, usually around 2 to 3 inches thick once your head is on it, that keeps your head close to the mattress instead of propping it up. It suits stomach sleepers best, and many back sleepers and people with smaller frames too. When you shop, the height under your head matters more than the word "flat" on the label. A soft flat pillow can compress to almost nothing, and a thin dense one can feel like a board. Dosaze doesn't make a fixed-height flat pillow, but our two adjustable pillows can be thinned by removing fill, which works well for some people and not for others (details below).
Who a flat pillow suits
Stomach sleepers are the clearest case. Your head is turned to one side, so a tall pillow bends the neck backward and sideways at once. Many stomach sleepers do best with a very thin pillow, and some prefer none.
Back sleepers come next. The space between the back of your neck and the mattress is fairly small for most people, and a tall pillow pushes the chin toward the chest. If you wake with a stiff neck on your back and your pillow is plump, height is the first thing to suspect.
A few other groups often do better low:
- People with narrow shoulders or a small frame, in any position.
- Anyone on a soft mattress or a plush topper. Your body sinks further, so your head needs less lift to stay level with your spine.
- People who sleep partly on the stomach and partly on the side, who often find a low, soft pillow is the least bad compromise.
Who should skip it
Side sleepers with broad shoulders usually need more height, not less. On your side, the pillow fills the gap between your ear and the mattress, and that gap is roughly your shoulder width. A flat pillow lets the head drop toward the bed. A slim side sleeper on a soft mattress can sometimes get away with a low pillow, but that's the exception.
How flat is flat?
Brands use loft loosely. As a rough guide, low loft means under about 3 inches, medium is 3 to 5 inches and high is above 5. Those numbers are almost always measured with nothing on the pillow.
That's the catch. A down pillow listed at 4 inches might squash to an inch and a half under your head, while a foam slab listed at 3 inches stays close to 3. So compare pillows by fill as well as by the listed height, and expect soft fills to sleep much lower than their numbers.
What to look for
Height that holds overnight
You want the pillow to be the same height at 3 a.m. as at bedtime. Solid foam and latex hold steady. Loose fills shift, so you may wake with the fill pushed to the edges and your head on the bare fabric.
Firmness matched to the height
Stomach sleepers generally want thin and soft, so the face can sink a little and breathing isn't blocked. Back sleepers often do better with thin and slightly springy, so the pillow supports the neck instead of bottoming out. A pillow that is both very thin and very firm suits few people.
Whether you can adjust it
If you aren't sure what height you need, an adjustable pillow lets you find out without buying three pillows. The trade-off is upkeep: shredded fill needs fluffing, and it is never perfectly even.
Heat
A thin pillow puts more of your face against the surface, and foam holds heat more than down or wool. If you run warm, look for gel-infused foam or a cooling cover.
Your mattress
The right pillow height depends on how far you sink. If you've recently added a soft layer from our mattress toppers, or switched to a firmer bed, recheck your pillow height, because it may no longer fit.
Types of flat pillows compared
| Type | Holds its height | Feel | Best for | Downside |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solid memory foam or latex slab | Very well | Even, slow or springy | Back sleepers who want consistency | Can't be adjusted; foam can run warm |
| Thin down or feather | Poorly | Soft, squishy | Stomach sleepers | Flattens fast, needs fluffing, quills can poke |
| Thin polyester fiber | Fair at first | Soft, a bit springy | Budget buyers, guest beds | Clumps and thins out with use |
| Shredded foam, adjustable | Well, once set | Moldable | Anyone unsure of their ideal height | Takes trial and error; can feel uneven |
| Buckwheat hulls | Very well | Firm, crunchy | Back sleepers who like a firm, shapeable surface | Heavy and noisy; too firm for most stomach sleepers |
| Folded towel or no pillow | Depends | Whatever you make it | Stomach sleepers testing how low they can go | Not much to it, and it shifts |
Many brands sell "slim" or "low-profile" versions of their regular pillows, and several, Coop Home Goods among them, sell shredded-foam pillows you can thin out. If you go that route, check the product page for the uncompressed height and the fill type before you compare prices.
Where Dosaze fits
We don't sell a pillow that arrives flat. What we sell are two adjustable pillows you can bring down to a low height yourself, which suits people who want flat but don't know exactly how flat.
The Dosaze Adjustable Pillow (Made in the USA) is filled entirely with cooling gel-infused memory foam, with no polyester fill, and it is fully moldable. Since everything inside is adjustable fill, it gives you the most room to go low. Unzip it, take out a handful of foam, sleep on it, and repeat until your neck feels level. Keep the removed foam in a bag, since extra foam comes with every pillow anyway and you may want some back. It measures 18" x 26".
The Dosaze ThermaCool Adjustable Pillow pairs a ventilated gel core with an adjustable cooling fill, and it's designed for side, back and stomach sleepers. It's the one to look at if heat bothers you as much as height does. Because you adjust the fill around a core, check that the lowest setting is low enough for you. Very low-loft stomach sleepers may find the all-fill Adjustable Pillow easier to thin out.
Finding the right height can take a couple of weeks of small changes. Our FAQ page covers the 60-night sleep trial, shipping and returns.
Where Dosaze doesn't fit
If you want a thin slab that is ready out of the box with no fiddling, neither adjustable pillow is that. The same goes if you want the sink-in softness of down, because we don't sell down pillows.
Our Contoured Orthopedic Pillow is described as working for stomach sleepers, but it has a shaped profile with raised edges. If you came here looking for something flat, it's probably not what you have in mind. The wedge pillow is the opposite of flat.
You can see every option side by side in our pillows collection.
A quick check before you buy
Lie on your back on your current pillow and have someone take a phone photo from the side, or prop the phone on a nightstand. Your forehead and chin should be roughly level, and your ear should line up with your shoulder. If your chin tilts toward your chest, the pillow is too high and a flatter one is worth trying.
For stomach sleepers, try a night with a folded bath towel instead of your pillow. If your neck feels better in the morning, you need something very thin. If it feels worse, you may need a little more height, or a soft pillow you can shape.
Frequently asked questions
Is a flat pillow better for your neck?
It depends on how you sleep and your build. A flat pillow often helps stomach sleepers and many back sleepers keep the neck in line with the spine. Side sleepers with broad shoulders usually need more height, so a flat pillow can let the head tip down.
How thick is a flat pillow?
Most pillows sold as flat or low loft are under about 3 inches tall before you lie on them. Soft fills like down compress well below that under your head, while foam and latex stay close to their listed height. Compare the fill as well as the number.
Should stomach sleepers use a flat pillow or no pillow at all?
Both work for different people. Many stomach sleepers are comfortable on a very thin, soft pillow, and some sleep best with none. Trying a folded towel for a night or two is a cheap way to find out how low you need to go.
Can I make my current pillow flatter?
If it has shredded foam or loose fill and a zipper, you can remove fill a little at a time until it feels right. Down pillows flatten on their own with use. A solid foam or latex pillow can't be adjusted, so if it's too tall you'll need a lower one.
Are flat pillows good for side sleepers?
Usually not. On your side the pillow needs to fill the space between your ear and the mattress, which is roughly the width of your shoulder. A slim side sleeper on a soft mattress may manage with a low pillow, but most side sleepers need medium height or more.
