Pluto Pillow is the customized treat that fixed my broken sleep

Earlier this year, while overcome by a fit of rage, I threw out four of my pillows. It’s an embarrassing confession given how unsustainable the act was and how…unstable it paints me to be, but I was feeling claustrophobic and uncomfortable and just done. Specifically, I was done tossing and turning in the middle of the night thanks to the floppy, rectangular obstacles and rock-hard, just-for-decoration puffs in my way. After months spent on a decidedly minimalist mattress setup, though, I was ready to open my heart and bedtime routine to another cushion, and I when I came across the Pluto Pillow, the personalized head-cushioning companion, I was sure I had found The One.

Pluto Pillow launched in 2018, and when I personally learned about it in 2019, after my pillow purge, was excited, to say the least. Unlike many personalized pillows on the market that lean on tracking data and optimization technology, the $85 Pluto Pillow simply conforms the the uniqueness of you without a goal or an agenda beyond snagging you some zzz’s. “The only innovative pillows I found online were ‘smart’ pillows or ‘adjustable’ pillows—I just wanted a simple, high quality pillow at a fair price,” founder Susana Saeliu writes in a product release.

Rather than a “smart pillow,” think of Pluto as the world’s first “thoughtful pillow,” because it does seem to really listen to your wants and desires.

So, rather than a “smart pillow,” think of Pluto as the world’s first “thoughtful pillow,” because it does seem to really listen to your wants and desires. Each model has a foam core and a plush outer layer (a pillow within a pillow, if you will) and is customized to your exact liking based on profile preferences you select. So, I sought to create my profile, and during the process, I’m asked a few details about myself and what I want in a pillowy bedmate, all to be reflected in the custom pillow. Here’s how my “About You” section looks:

“My name is Mary Grace, and I am 28 years old.” When prompted, I then enter my height, weight, and then wonder if perhaps my star sign and dietary restrictions might be next. Instead, the questionnaire shift gears to my current pillow preferences, like type of fill or foam or other material, size, and how satisfied am I with it on a scale of one to five. Since I’ve tangoed with many different pillows, I had to really introspect to envision what worked for me and what really didn’t. Luckily, though, I know what I like, and I was excited to see it manifest.

After completing the profile preferences, I waited for a box to show up on my doorstep to reveal my new and just-for-me bedtime companion. And then it came.

Here’s what went down when I took Pluto Pillow to bed:

Sometimes when things are right, you just know—you know? The first night I took my Pluto Pillow to bed, its cooling sensation delighted me, and I was smitten. Additionally, it offered an unparalleled, nearly indescribable softness (think: if velvet could be liquid) and a firmness that assured me it would collapse under the weight of my head.

Specs aside, what really sold me on Pluto Pillow from that first, fateful night, was the unbroken sleep I enjoyed while using it. To date, no number of breathing techniques or even a sleep robot could keep me from waking up a handful of times in the middle of the night. And though sleep expert Shelby Harris, PsyD, says it’s completely normal to briefly wake up at the end of a sleep cycle five to seven times in the middle of the night, I’d wake up and stay up, tossing and turning into oblivion. With Pluto Pillow, I’m sure I still had those mini-wake-ups as part of the regularly scheduled sleep cycle, but I couldn’t remember them, which Dr. Harris says is the marker of super-normal cycle disruptions. For the first time in a while, I got through the night without any tossing, and as time forged on over those first happy two weeks, the once-frequent wake-ups curtailed in both count and duration.

As is true with any relationship, though, I can’t expect Pluto Pillow to do everything for me; I still need to hold up my end of the sleep-health bargain, working to curb my before-bed appsturbating habit, my pre-sleep eating habits, and circadian-disrupting habit to leave on all the lights. But, as far as things go on the comfort front, I feel secure in knowing the Pluto Pillow has my back…er, neck. We spend our whole lives looking for this support, and rarely do we have luxury of asking for what we want—and then getting it. So, of course I see a future with Pluto Pillow—how could I not with a mate that takes my needs into account?

Can’t sleep on planes? Neither could one editor ’till she bought this chiropractor-approved neck pillow. Or if not limiting bed activities to sleep, maybe it’s time to try a sex pillow.