Friday Question #225
What position do you tend to sleep in? Do you fall asleep one way and wake up another? Does it depend on the night?
Data advises that as long as you get 18 hours of sleep a day, it doesn’t really matter how or where.
As I continue with a whole month of restless nights (due to vivid dreams) I am looking more in to the way I sleep. I found this article with a cool infographic explaining the benefits and disadvantages of certain sleeping positions (sleeping on your stomach can constrain your neck, sleeping on the back is bad for snoring, you shouldn’t sleep on a side that you have shoulder issues with, etc.).
According to the article (which surveyed a very small amount of people), it is most common to start on the side, then the back is next most common, then the stomach. But, people change positions between 3 and 36 times a night (with the average person changing 12 times).
I can contribute to those “findings” – I prefer to start sleeping on my right side. But I know I move a lot, and usually wake up on my back!
Themocracy
I’ve had the weirdest dreams this week, which is strange because I rarely ever remember dreams! I think they’re more exhausting than just being awake sometimes…
I’m a side sleeper and I hardly move at all (as confirmed by a few friends and bfs). My friend Annie once said she checked to make sure I was breathing after a while bc I was so still…
Yes! They are more exhausting! My issue is that I wake up and think I am in the dream. Last night I was dreaming about some information I am studying. UGH.
I almost alway sleep on my left side in the fetal position but sometimes my back!
Haha, I love the Data sleep infographic! He should really be tweeting those pics 😉
I have to fall asleep on my left side, but I almost never wake up that way. I move around a lot, and also talk and kick in my sleep, so that must be fun. But more often than not I’ll wake up totally twisted around, and at least one of my arms is asleep. This is especially bad because most mornings I wake up to Jude jumping on me because he wants to be fed, so it’s kind of hard to push him off with dead arms.
Ha ha ha! Somehow, I bet that Jude finds this even MORE fun in the am, when you cannot push him off.
Obviously. His mornings are blocked off just for that 🙂
The Data graphic is hilarious!! I agree with Anne that Data (or you) needs to tweet!
I can only fall asleep on my right side but then when I wake up in the night I switch to my left and have no problems falling back to sleep. I sometimes sleep on my back but not often. When Joey sleeps on his back it is the only time he snores! So I guess that is true.
Related: are you a ‘messy’ sleeper? Meaning that the blankets are all a mess when you wake up? Joey’s sister inquired about this because her husband is a messy sleeper and she isn’t. Luckily Joey and I are neat sleepers and when we ‘make’ the bed in the morning we just pull the blankets up and call it a day.
Ahh, interesting! I might be partially messy! The blanket gets pushed around a lot. But it’s not all over the place and I always have it on!
Oh a cat’s life… To sleep all the time. I am jealous! 🙂
I also normally sleep on my back but slept on my side last night for some reason. Now, my back hurts today. I’m not happy about this…
Ermagherd … Data in a bed.
Yesterday while working from home, I observed that Olive did not move from her spot in the middle of our bed for a good four hours. She changed positions slightly, but stayed put. That’s dedication.
Ha ha ha! Data sleeps right next to us in our office all day while we sleep. He rarely moves too. Poor guy. Life is tough!
Yep, I’m a side sleeper.
I love to see our dogs’ positions. Sometimes, I can’t believe how they are actually sleeping!
Great pics of Data! What a rough life sleeping all day…
I still sleep on the same side I was sleeping on in my very first picture, as a brand new baby. 🙂
I had a night terror last weekend that freaked P the eff out. I haven’t had one of those since I was in college. And I don’t remember any of it. I hope it doesn’t happen again. 🙁
Oh gosh! What is a night terror? Waking up, freaking out, not knowing where you are or what is going on? That would scare me!
One time, I was asleep in bed and Steven came home late and woke me up and I screamed. He said it took him awhile to calm down from it and come to bed!
I’m with you on a restless and crappy month of sleep.. 🙁 It sucks!
I think I always start on my side…i honestly don’t remember how I wake up!??! lol!
What is it with us? 🙁 I am so annoyed with my poor quality of sleep!
I have to fall asleep on my stomach it’s really weird. I can lay in bed on my side but I won’t fall asleep until I’m on my stomach.
I hope you start to sleep better and you can catch up on some sleep this weekend!
I have to sleep on my stomach or else I cannot fall asleep. i hope you can get some rest and find solutions to your dreams!
Like Christina and Lindsay, I am a stomach sleeper. I cannot fall asleep in any other position. Even when we did Ragnar the only time I slept deeply was when I could lay on my stomach on the basketball court!
And, yes, I wake up on my stomach, too. Jason swears I roll around all night and steal all the covers but I think I just kick them on and off depending on how cold/hot I am. Lately I’ve been going to bed cold so I pull up all the covers. Then I wake up hot and drenched in sweat. So I kick them off. But then I get cold as the sweat evaporates so I pull them back up. Begin vicious circle!
I think I tend to be a stomach sleeper…it feels comfortable and I tend to cut off circulation in my arm if I sleep on my side. It’s funny how our bodies all tell us to do different things to get enough rest.
I am incapable of sleeping on my back. The only way I can sleep is on my side and eventually on my stomach. I almost always wake up on my stomach. If I try to sleep on my back my brain won’t shut up!! 🙁 I wish I could!!
At the very least, I think Data has to be on Instagram. I’m not even on instagram, but I’d follow him.
Sleep 18 hours a day? Did I read that wrong? I’m lucky to get 6 lol
It’s strange, what these cats recommend… 😛
OMG I am the worst sleeper ever. I start on my back and wake up on my stomach. I twist ALL night and when I get up there are usually no sheets under me and I’m wrapped up like a burrito. Thank GOD Rich can sleep through anything. LOL match made in heaven or absolute opposites?
I am very much a back sleeper, although I will occasionally shift to my right side (not my left). I know a lot of people are stomach sleepers but I’m never quite sure what to do with my arms if I try to sleep on my stomach, LOL.
I’ve always wondered about this but I’ve never been very observant. I think I fall asleep on my back and wake up on my side…or maybe the other way around. This past summer, I would sleep on my side, but the Korean bed was soooo hard that my hip started to hurt during the day. I think I switched to my back.
I sleep on my stomach A LOT. Pretty much the only way I can fall asleep sometimes is if I am on my stomach.