Simba Body Pillow Review
A full-length support pillow, and before spending anything there is a free version of this that tells you whether it will work.
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Verdict
A full-length support pillow, and before spending anything there is a free version of this that tells you whether it will work. Most people who would benefit from a body pillow already own everything needed to test it.
Buy it if
You are a side sleeper whose hips or lower back ache, and the free test below helped.
Avoid it if
You share a small bed. A full body pillow takes a real share of a UK double.
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| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Full-length body pillow |
| Mechanism | Holding the top leg at hip height so the pelvis does not rotate |
| The free test | A folded duvet between your knees for a week |
| Bed space | Significant on a UK double at 67.5cm per person |
| Washability | Check the cover removes. Full-length pillows are awkward to wash whole. |
The scores
Solves a genuine mechanical problem, and you can test the principle for nothing first.
Fair, once you have established the principle helps you.
The height you set is the height you still have at 4am.
The core function, and it works.
Strong on this, and it is one of the reasons to buy it.
The height can be changed after sleeping on it, which removes the guess.
Machine washable, so the pillow itself gets cleaned rather than just the case.
A real cost, especially on a double.
Test it for nothing first
A folded duvet, one week
Fold a spare duvet or a couple of pillows and put them between your knees, so the top leg is supported at roughly hip height. Sleep like that for a week.
If it helps, a proper body pillow will help more, because it stays where you put it. If it does nothing, a body pillow will not either, and you have saved the money.
This works because the mechanism is simple. When you lie on your side, your top leg is unsupported. Gravity pulls it forward and down, which rotates your pelvis forward while your shoulders stay where they were, so your spine twists along its length for as long as you hold that position.
Anything that holds the top leg at hip height stops the twist. A body pillow is the tidy version of a folded duvet, not a different principle.
That is also why some side sleepers get more relief from a body pillow than from a new mattress: the problem was never the surface underneath them.
The bed space cost, with numbers
A UK double is 135 centimetres wide, so two adults get 67.5 centimetres each. A single bed, for one child, is 90 centimetres. Each adult in a double already has about 25 per cent less width than a child sleeping alone.
Add a full body pillow and one person loses a further slice of that.
If a body pillow is going to become permanent and you share a bed, that is a genuine argument for moving up to a king rather than a footnote. See the UK bed sizes guide for width per person.
A straight body pillow takes the least space and does the core job. A U-shaped one supports both sides and takes considerably more, and buying the largest shape because it looks the most supportive is the commonest way people end up disappointed.
Pregnancy, and where the question belongs
Ask your midwife, not a bedding site
UK guidance advises going to sleep on your side from 28 weeks of pregnancy rather than on your back. Tommy's and the NHS are the authoritative sources and both explain the reasoning clearly.
Body pillows are commonly used to make side sleeping easier to maintain, which is a practical aid rather than a medical device. Questions about sleeping position in pregnancy belong with your midwife.
The practical note a bedding site can usefully add: placed along the back rather than only between the knees, a body pillow acts as a physical stop against rolling onto your back in your sleep, which is the part people find hardest about the advice.
A correction worth making
Commonly repeated, and wrong
Body pillows are sold as a purchase decision, and the principle behind them can be tested for nothing with a folded duvet between the knees. The mechanism is that an unsupported top leg falls forward under gravity and rotates the pelvis, twisting the spine while the shoulders stay put. Anything holding the leg at hip height stops that, so a week with a folded duvet tells you whether a body pillow will help before you spend anything.
Should you buy it?
Yes if the free test helped and you have the bed width for it. Start with a straight pillow rather than a U-shape unless you specifically need the wrap.
If you share a double and this becomes permanent, that is a real argument for a bigger bed rather than a footnote.
Questions people ask
Do body pillows work?
For side sleepers, mechanically yes. An unsupported top leg falls forward under gravity and rotates the pelvis, twisting the spine. Anything holding the leg at hip height stops that. Test it with a folded duvet for a week before spending.
Which body pillow shape should I buy?
Straight, unless you specifically need the wrap. It does the core job and takes the least space. On a UK double each adult has 67.5cm, so a U-shaped pillow takes a substantial share of someone's bed.