Best Mattress for Motion Isolation

What is Motion Isolation?

Motion isolation refers to a mattress's ability to absorb movement rather than transferring it across the surface. When your partner turns over or gets out of bed, good motion isolation means you barely notice. Poor motion isolation means the whole bed shakes.

Who Needs Good Motion Isolation?

• Light sleepers: Easily woken by disturbance
• Couples with different schedules: One partner wakes earlier or goes to bed later
• Restless sleepers: One partner moves frequently during the night
• Parents of young children: Getting in and out of bed to tend to children

Best Materials for Motion Isolation

Memory Foam: The gold standard. Dense foam absorbs movement completely. The "wine glass on bed" test comes from memory foam's ability to keep a glass stable while someone jumps on the other side.

Latex Foam: Good but not as good as memory foam. Some bounce, but movement doesn't travel far.

Pocket Springs: Each spring operates independently, so movement is localised better than traditional interconnected springs.

Hybrid: Depends on the construction. Thick foam layers on top of pocket springs can provide excellent motion isolation.

What to Avoid

Open-coil spring mattresses transfer the most motion. Innerspring mattresses with interconnected coils act as one unit—movement anywhere affects everywhere.