Best Mattress for a Daybed
By James Nguyen, Sleep Expert 
Some daybeds come with mattresses. Some don’t. However, even the daybeds that come with their own mattresses may not have the greatest mattresses. So if you’re going to be sleeping on your daybed a lot (or your guests are), you may need to upgrade to a mattress for nightly use.
The good news is there are some amazing mattresses out there perfect for a daybed without costing too much. Below, we’ll talk about three of them.
Best Memory Foam Mattress for a Daybed: Zoma Mattress
Those who want a mattress that’s responsive like a couch cushion but still has the contouring power of memory foam should check out the Zoma Mattress. This memory foam mattress is both cooling and responsive. Its medium-firm feel and 12-inch profile also make for perfect daytime lounging as well as nighttime sleeping.
The top layer of the Zoma Mattress is made of CertiPUR-US® certified cooling tri-zoned gel memory foam that works with its AirCloth ventilated cover to wick away moisture and help your body regulate its temperature throughout the night. The TriangulexTM foam also offers targeted cushioning to different zones of your body to alleviate pressure.
Below, the ReactivTM foam layer helps make the Zoma Mattress more responsive than traditional memory foam. This layer is the reason why the Zoma makes such a good daybed mattress. It lets you shift around comfortably while sitting because the mattress bounces right back into place when you change positions.
The Support+ base layer at the bottom of the Zoma is another excellent feature of this mattress. This layer not only helps encourage alignment in the spine while you’re lying down. It also is firm and dense enough to stand up to the added pressure of being sat on for long periods. Combined with the cushioning power of the comfort and transition layers, that makes the Zoma one of the best daybed mattresses around.
Best Hybrid Mattress for a Daybed: Zoma Hybrid
For even more cooling and responsiveness, the Zoma Hybrid is a fantastic alternative to the Zoma Mattress. The Zoma Hybrid swaps the Support+ layer for a support core of individually wrapped coils.
These pocketed coils are adaptable and bouncy. They offer the responsiveness of an innerspring mattress without all that unpleasant motion transfer and creaking noise. The Zoma Hybrid’s coils also promote cooling airflow throughout the mattress. Best of all, the lift provided by the coils is perfect for daytime sitting and nighttime spinal alignment.
Above the coils, the Zoma Hybrid sports cooling and pressure-relieving perforated gel memory foam to cradle your pressure points and contour to your body. The Zoma Hybrid also boasts the same ReactivTM transition foam inside the Zoma Mattress to keep you lifted onto the sleeping surface and further increase responsiveness.
Best Mattress for a Daybed on Amazon: Zoma Start
If you’re looking to avoid breaking the bank, the Zoma Start mattress offers the same great features as the two mattresses above at a lower price. That makes it perfect for those who want to purchase a superior daybed mattress without spending a whole lot of money.
Like the original Zoma Mattress, the Zoma Start features a layer of pressure-relieving gel comfort foam for contoured cushioning, a layer of ReactivTM foam for responsiveness, and a support core of Support+ high-density foam.
The main difference is Zoma has streamlined and simplified the design of the Start to cut its price tag. It has a thinner comfort and transition layer, and it does not feature the TriangulexTM zoned technology that the original Zoma does. However, these simplifications do not create major differences in feel or quality, meaning the Start is still a fantastic mattress for nightly use.
How to Choose a Daybed Mattress
A daybed is a piece of furniture made to double as both a bed and a couch. Unlike hide-a-beds and trundle beds, daybeds are designed to look similar to a couch but have a twin or twin XL size mattress where the seating cushions should be instead of underneath the regular cushions.
Daybeds are one of the best dual-purpose pieces of furniture on the market. They have a sleeker, more stylish design than futons. And unlike futons or sofa beds, you don’t have to do any unfolding or pulling out to get them ready for nighttime. You just lay down on them. That makes them one of the most convenient dual-purpose beds.
Most daybed frames have platform bed construction, meaning they feature regularly spaced slats where the mattress is supposed to go. This means they can take a lot of weight without the need for box springs or a mattress foundation.
Thickness
Lower profile mattresses are generally better for day beds because you’ll be sitting on them a lot. However, you don’t want to be sleeping on an overly thin mattress because it won’t offer sufficient spinal support. This is especially true if your daybed will see a lot of night use.
What’s the right mattress thickness for a daybed? A happy medium of 10 to 12 inches is the ideal thickness for a daybed mattress. This depth offers lots of support for sleeping. But it’s not so high it makes sitting on it during the day feel awkward.
Firmness
The best firmness level for a daybed is medium-firm (6 of 10 on the firmness scale). A medium-firm mattress is perfect because it offers a good mix of cushioning and support while you’re sleeping, but it can still stand up to being sat on during the day.
If you’re the primary sleeper on your daybed, you should consider your sleep position. Side sleepers might need a softer bed, while stomach sleepers need to go up a firmness level from medium-firm, choosing a firm mattress for spine support.
Still, even side sleepers should try to stick to at least a medium firmness for their daybeds, as mattresses softer than this are not often comfortable to sit on for long stretches.
Construction
Theoretically, a daybed mattress could be any material, but there are some types of mattresses are better avoided for this type of bed.
Material
The best mattress type for a daybed is a hybrid. The best hybrid mattresses provide lots of lift and just the right amount of bounce for daytime sitting. And they offer adaptable support and pressure relief for nighttime sleeping.
However, both memory foam and natural latex are suitable alternatives to a hybrid. Latex is naturally cooling and wants to retain its shape, so it beats memory foam in terms of daytime lounging.
However, memory foam is more pressure-relieving and contouring than latex, so a memory foam mattress beats a latex mattress in terms of nighttime sleeping.
Which one you choose depends on your preferences. See our memory foam vs latex mattress guide for more details about each mattress type.
The construction you really should avoid for a daybed is a conventional innerspring. Traditional innerspring mattresses tend to bounce around too much to offer comfortable daytime sitting. They also don’t contour very well, which makes them inferior nighttime beds as well.
Edge Support
Edge support is essential for a daybed because you spend so much time sitting on it. Edge support just means that the bed’s edges are reinforced and will not collapse when you put weight on the edge of the bed. Both foam and hybrid mattresses can provide edge support by reinforcing the left and right sides of the mattress with higher-tension coils or firmer foam rails.
Price
Typically, you don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on a mattress for a guest room. However, if you’re planning to sleep on your daybed night after night, you also don’t want to skimp on quality. Since you’re probably going to be buying a twin mattress or twin XL, you can have quality at a reasonable price. Expect to pay between $400 and $800 for your daybed mattress.
Typical Daybed Sizes
Most daybeds are twin or twin XL sizes, but more rarely, they come equipped with a full or double bed.
Twin
Twin size mattresses are 38 by 75 inches, which is close to the same size as a large loveseat. From arm to arm, a twin size daybed will measure a few inches longer than the 75-inch mattress on top of it. Keep that in mind when measuring your space.
A twin size daybed is compact enough for studio apartments and dorm rooms. It could sit three people, offering them 25 inches of space apiece. However, three people sitting on a twin daybed might wind up being a tight fit. If you’re a taller sleeper or frequently have many guests, you might consider upgrading to a twin XL daybed.
Twin XL
Twin XL size mattresses are closer to a standard three-seater sofa. They measure 38 by 80 inches, and a daybed with a twin XL mattress can easily measure 90 inches in total length. Twin XL daybeds seat three people more comfortably. They’re also a lot more suitable for sleepers over six feet tall.
Full
Full or double daybeds are not as common as twin and twin XL ones because they’re much broader than standard sofa depth. Of course, there’s no true “standard” sofa size like there is with mattresses. But a sofa’s width will be somewhere in the ballpark of a twin’s width of 38 inches. Usually between 36 and 38 inches deep.
Full size mattresses, meanwhile, are 54 inches wide by 75 inches long. This offers more wiggle room for nighttime sleeping but can prove very awkward to sit on during the day. Further, despite what the name “double bed” suggests, full beds are not suitable for most couples. If you want to sleep two guests, you’re better off with a trundle daybed rather than a full size bed.
Alternatives to a Daybed
If daybeds aren’t your thing, you have plenty of other options when it comes to storage and dual-purpose beds.
Sofa Bed
Sofa beds are also called pullout beds or hide-a-beds. They normally look exactly like a couch. But when you pull the bottom cushions off, you can slide a bed frame and mattress out from under the portion where you sit.
Futon
Futons also double as a sofa. With this setup, the futon mattress serves as both the bottom and back cushion. Futons can either fold in half (bi-fold) or longways (tri-fold). Futons also have more sizing options. It’s very easy to get a futon with a full and even a queen size mattress.
Bunk Bed
Bunk beds don’t double as seating. Rather, they stack one on top of the other so that two or sometimes even three to four sleepers (depending on the size of the mattresses) can sleep in a single guest room.
Murphy Bed
Murphy bed frames (also called cabinet beds) are designed to flip up into the wall or down out of it. Sofa Murphy beds also have seating on the bottom that flips into place once you close the Murphy wall cabinet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a daybed the same size as a twin?
Daybeds are usually made to accommodate a twin-size mattress, yes. This is the most common daybed size you’ll encounter. However, you can also find daybeds in twin XL and even full sizes. Larger sizes like king and queen daybeds don’t really exist because they’re impossible to sit on during the day.
However, it is possible to get a sort of split king by using a trundle daybed. Trundle daybeds keep their extra mattresses in drawers underneath the bed. So you can sleep two people on your daybed by simply pulling out the mattress drawer.
What’s the best kind of mattress for a daybed?
The best mattress for a daybed is a medium-firm hybrid. Hybrids’ adaptable coils provide enough support for extended sitting and lying down, as does a medium-firm feel. If you prefer a mattress without coils, medium-firm latex or memory foam mattresses are perfectly good options. Just make sure your memory foam mattress has transition foam or infusions to increase responsiveness.
What's the best twin mattress for a daybed?
The Zoma line of mattresses offers several great options for a twin/twin XL daybed mattress. Each one of the Zoma products—the original Zoma Mattress, the Zoma Hybrid, and the Zoma Start—are responsive, cushioning, and supportive. This makes them comfortable for both daytime and nighttime use, which is vital for a daybed.
Is a daybed the same as a futon?
No. Daybeds are frames set up to function as a couch during the day and a bed at night without unfolding or working moving parts. All you need to do is toss the pillows from the back of a daybed to the side, and voila! You went from a couch to a bed.
Futons, meanwhile, have to unfold to form a bed and fold up to form a sofa. Bi-fold futons fold in half longways. Tri-fold futons either have two different folding mechanisms or an ottoman that is completely separate from the unfoldable chair. Either way, you have to fold and unfold a futon to change its function.
Can I sleep on a daybed every night?
Of course. If you buy a comfortable, supportive, and pressure-relieving mattress, you can sleep on a daybed the same as you’d sleep on a regular bed. Just make sure you’re getting a mattress that’s firm enough to stand up to the higher pressures of being sat on all day. Otherwise, you may end up with a mattress that's too saggy for sleep or sitting.
Bottom Line
Daybeds can be amazing options for guest rooms and nightly use alike. They also look great in the living room, even if you only have the occasional overnight guest. If you purchase one of the best mattresses for your daybed, you can expect the same level of support, comfort, and durability that you’d get out of a regular bed.
This article is for informational purposes and should not replace advice from your doctor or other medical professional.
James Nguyen, Sleep Expert 
James Nguyen is Zoma's resident sleep expert and staff writer. James enjoys learning about the newest technologies in the mattress industry and doing deep dives into the science of sleep. He's tried nearly every gadget and gizmo in an effort to determine which sleep-promoting accessories can truly enhance your shut-eye. Outside of work, James takes his dedication to get healthy sleep seriously, and has even declared himself an "expert napper." James' research has been featured on Thrive Global and other media.
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