Memory foam is great, but it does have its inconvenient properties. Because the purpose of memory foam is to support you by conforming to your body, it uses heat from your body to provide that "molding" capability. In fact, memory foam wouldn't have the support of capabilities it has if it didn't dissipate heat slowly. Unfortunately, this can also mean that your memory foam bed or memory foam mattress topper may make you uncomfortably hot, in certain situations.

Is there anything you can do about what can be an uncomfortably hot situation sometimes? Actually, yes. Some of the newer memory foam mattresses on the market have channels specifically "cut into" the mattress without compromising support; these channels allow airflow so that heat is drawn away from your body and dissipates, instead of having the memory foam mattress right up against your skin so that body heat is trapped, making you overly hot. With the consistent airflow these channels provide, you stay cool and supported at the same time.

If you already have a memory foam mattress without these channels, there are still things you can do to correct this "hot" situation. Sometimes buying a polyester mattress pad and placing it directly over the memory foam (under the bottom sheet) will give you all of the benefits of a memory foam mattress, but the polyester mattress pad provides just enough of a barrier between you and the memory foam so that you stay cool. This is an inexpensive way to take care of the "heat" problem you can have with your memory foam bed.

Using sheets with a higher threadcount (and that are all cotton) can also help keep you cool if you find your memory foam bed is too hot. High thread count all cotton sheets feel soft and silky against your skin anyway, so it's likely that you will get a better night's sleep with these types of sheets than the cheaper ones that can be scratchy or feel rough. And of course the bonus is, they keep you cooler, too.

Finally, memory foam mattress toppers in general don't make you as hot as the mattress itself can, because they're less dense than the memory foam beds and don't retain as much heat. This is also a cheaper alternative, by the way, to getting an entire memory foam bed if you're not in the market to spend that kind of money but you want the benefits of memory foam nonetheless.

Memory foam toppers can provide you quite a few of the benefits of memory foam beds, without the expense. They're thinner, so they won't provide quite the all encompassing softness and support of a memory foam bed, but they can make your standard mattress much softer and much more conforming, for what is usually about $100 or even less.

Whether you choose the all-encompassing comfort of a memory foam bed or upgrade your standard mattress with a memory foam topper, you should be able to stay cool and comfortable all night long, by implementing one of these suggestions.