Like many people who sometimes suffer from insomnia, I take sleep very seriously. So, while the decision to buy a new pillow may take seconds for some, I tend to agonize over it until I’ve researched every possible option.

This past February I decided it was time to retire my old pillow. So my pillow-shopping journey begins. Sure, I would consider buying another memory foam pillow, but what if there is something better out there? Admittedly, I sometimes can be a ‘grass-is-always-greener’ kind of person. Still, even though I was willing to broaden my search, I knew at the end of the day I would be sleeping on a foam pillow. Other pillows have just aggravated my back and neck pain — making for an uncomfortable sleep. The two types of foam pillow that were available to me were the latex foam or memory foam pillows.

During my search, I began keeping a list of pros and cons to each type of foam pillow.

Memory foam pillows –

Pros:

• It cradles your head nicely while you sleep, so it is comfortable.
• It is designed to keep your head in proper alignment with the rest of your body.
• The memory foam material was designed by NASA. How cool is that?

Cons:

• There aren’t really any, except that they don’t last forever (if you consider that a con). After a couple of years of daily use, my memory foam pillow is sagging a little, which is why I am replacing it.

Latex foam pillows –

Pros:

• Designed to keep your body in the proper “S” position while you sleep.
• Does not sag, like the memory foam pillows tend to do over time.

Cons:

• I’ve heard that the latex can smell a little funny for the first couple of days, but the people I’ve talked to don’t seem to mind much.

After a few hours of deliberation (and pillow prodding), the results were in. I decided to stay with the same type of pillow I had already. I was finally convinced – I have the best memory foam pillow around! However, I was faced with one other choice. This was an easy one though. Since I had bought my original memory foam pillow, they have introduced a king size version – so it will fit even better on my large bed. I went ahead and bought the king size memory foam pillow – and I even bought a memory foam contour pillow while I was out. A contour pillow is specially shaped so as to contour your back and is perfect to use when you are sitting for long periods of time.

I am happy and resting comfortably with my purchases. But still, I wonder what my nights would be like if I had bought the latex foam pillow. Maybe I’ll find out after my next pillow shopping adventure!