Why do some people sleep on their stomach?

[MamaBearTeacher]

I have slept on my stomach my whole life, even when pregnant, except right at the end. Is there a reason I like sleeping this way?

[Catwoman]

Because it's comfortable for you? ;)

[OneStepAtATime]

Different people feel comfortable sleeping different ways. There is evidence to suggest there is a genetic component.

 

I sleep on my stomach or my side. My dad did, too. Mom can't sleep that way. She HAS to sleep on her back. So did her dad. Just depends on what is the most comfortable for the individual. I do wonder why there are strong needs to sleep a certain way, though.

 

Anybody know if there has been a study done of body types compared to sleep preferences?

[Kristie in Florida]

You can sleep on your stomach while pregnant!?! I can't and sleeping on my stomach is the only way I can get a good night's sleep. Aw. I have a very hard time falling asleep, tossing and turning, until baby is born and I'm healed enough to go back to tummy sleeping.

[swellmomma]

I always assumed it was due to how parents put babies to sleep.  For most of us it was during a time when parents were told to tummy sleep their babies, and the bulk of adults I know prefer to sleep on their stomachs.  My teens are side sleepers as are most of their friends.  They were babies during the time when it was advised babies be put to sleep on their side and we had those sleep roll things to prevent baby from moving forward or backward.  My youngest kids and most young kids I know are back sleepers, all were babies during this time of promoting "back to sleep"  I have always assumed that because that is how we were taught to go to sleep as babies it just became part of how our brain was wired, that those positions are sleep positions.

[Cinder]

My dh sleeps on his front. With a pillow on his head. I can't lie down on my front for any extended time without getting quite a lot of pain in my back and ribs. I have to sleep on my side. With a pillow *under* my head. :p

[MamaBearTeacher]

It was harder when pregnant and I used a pillow. I don't know that I find sleeping on my stomach more comfortable or that I can't sleep with my face exposed in any way.

[cjzimmer1]

I always assumed it was due to how parents put babies to sleep.  For most of us it was during a time when parents were told to tummy sleep their babies, and the bulk of adults I know prefer to sleep on their stomachs.  My teens are side sleepers as are most of their friends.  They were babies during the time when it was advised babies be put to sleep on their side and we had those sleep roll things to prevent baby from moving forward or backward.  My youngest kids and most young kids I know are back sleepers, all were babies during this time of promoting "back to sleep"  I have always assumed that because that is how we were taught to go to sleep as babies it just became part of how our brain was wired, that those positions are sleep positions.

 

You know that does make a lot of sense, it would be interesting if someone did a research on it to see if there is some validity to it..  Although one of mine can only sleep with his head buried under a big heavy comforter, and I can guarantee you that I didn't do that to him as a baby.

[MamaBearTeacher]

You know that does make a lot of sense, it would be interesting if someone did a research on it to see if there is some validity to it.. Although one of mine can only sleep with his head buried under a big heavy comforter, and I can guarantee you that I didn't do that to him as a baby.

me too! I like my head under the comforter too. I slept on my tummy as a baby too.

[Lawana]

I always assumed it was due to how parents put babies to sleep. For most of us it was during a time when parents were told to tummy sleep their babies, and the bulk of adults I know prefer to sleep on their stomachs. My teens are side sleepers as are most of their friends. They were babies during the time when it was advised babies be put to sleep on their side and we had those sleep roll things to prevent baby from moving forward or backward. My youngest kids and most young kids I know are back sleepers, all were babies during this time of promoting "back to sleep" I have always assumed that because that is how we were taught to go to sleep as babies it just became part of how our brain was wired, that those positions are sleep positions.

I am old, dating to the "way before infant back or side sleeping was a thing" time. Ever since I was old enough to choose a sleeping position, I have been a side sleeper. I absolutely cannot sleep on my stomach. It is a neck thing. I have limited mobility in my neck that makes turning my head far enough to lay on my stomach extremely uncomfortable. Did I mention it hurts?

 

I also cannot sleep on my back. A chiropractor treating me for neck issues recommended back sleeping. But even after laying on my back for 20-30 minutes each night for months, I was never, not even once, able to fall asleep on my back.

 

My parents were both side sleepers, and they were definitely put to sleep on their stomachs as infants too.

[Guest]

I sleep best on my front but the chiropractor has forbidden it. Alas.

[J-rap]

I always start out on my stomach because I have such bad RLS, and the pressure (from the mattress) against the front of my legs settles them.  But whenever I wake up, I'm on my side or back!  

[medawyn]

I always assumed it was due to how parents put babies to sleep.  For most of us it was during a time when parents were told to tummy sleep their babies, and the bulk of adults I know prefer to sleep on their stomachs.  My teens are side sleepers as are most of their friends.  They were babies during the time when it was advised babies be put to sleep on their side and we had those sleep roll things to prevent baby from moving forward or backward.  My youngest kids and most young kids I know are back sleepers, all were babies during this time of promoting "back to sleep"  I have always assumed that because that is how we were taught to go to sleep as babies it just became part of how our brain was wired, that those positions are sleep positions.

 

I'm definitely a side or back sleeper (I sleep on my back for a solid month after I'm done being pregnant), and I come from the days of putting baby on their stomach to sleep.

 

My DS now sleeps on his stomach (curled up like a bug), and he slept on his back for his whole first year of life.  Drove my MIL crazy, but he would scream if you tried to put him down on his stomach.  I was shocked when he finally started turning himself over.

 

My daughter has slept on her stomach (also like bug) since I flipped her over at 8 weeks.  I missed sleep, and she didn't like her back at all.

 

I have no idea how they will sleep as big people, but I cannot imagine the bug position will last that long.  It hurts me to look at them; I feel like they must wake up all creaky.

 

Now my mom sleeps on her stomach, which I've never understood, and for years she slept on her stomach with a cat sleeping on her back.  That would have made me crazy.

[Garga]

I can't seem to figure out sleeping on my stomach.  To do so, my head would have to be turned at an almost 90 degree angle and after a short time my neck starts to ache.  Honest question: how do stomach sleepers handle the neck issue?  Does your neck just not ache?  Is there a special way you arrange your pillow?

 

I like sleeping on my back, but I've had cats for my whole life.  There's just nothing more painful than 4 sharp little cat feet landing on your bookshelf in the middle of the night.  Oh, ouch!  It HURTS.  So I have learned to sleep on my side. 

Edited December 10, 2015 by Garga

[desiree77]

 

 

I can't seem to figure out sleeping on my stomach. To do so, my head would have to be turned at an almost 90 degree angle and after a short time my neck starts to ache. Honest question: how do back sleepers handle the neck issue? Does your neck just not ache? Is there a special way you arrange your pillow?

 

I like sleeping on my back, but I've had cats for my whole life. There's just nothing more painful than 4 sharp little cat feet landing on your bookshelf in the middle of the night. Oh, ouch! It HURTS. So I have learned to sleep on my side.

I sleep on my stomach. I use a very flat pillow. If my neck starts to hurt, I turn my head the other way. I can also sleep on my side, but I cannot fall asleep on my back, though I can sometimes fall back asleep that way.

[J-rap]

I can't seem to figure out sleeping on my stomach.  To do so, my head would have to be turned at an almost 90 degree angle and after a short time my neck starts to ache.  Honest question: how do back sleepers handle the neck issue?  Does your neck just not ache?  Is there a special way you arrange your pillow?

 

I like sleeping on my back, but I've had cats for my whole life.  There's just nothing more painful than 4 sharp little cat feet landing on your bookshelf in the middle of the night.  Oh, ouch!  It HURTS.  So I have learned to sleep on my side. 

 

I assume you mean "front sleepers"?  I fix my pillow just so, so that my neck is only at a 45 degree angle.  :)

 

[Garga]

I assume you mean "front sleepers"?  I fix my pillow just so, so that my neck is only at a 45 degree angle.  :)

 

 

 

Whoops!  Yes, I mean front sleepers!

[maize]

I cut a hole in a foam mattress so I could continue sleeping on my stomach throughout pregnancy. Any other position and restless legs keep me awake.

[SKL]

I don't know why, but always had to sleep on my stomach up to a certain age.  It feels more comfy and snuggly to me.  :)  Maybe more safe, since my face and most vulnerable parts aren't as exposed.  So maybe there is an instinct to do that.

 

On average, most babies naturally sleep better on their tummies if the parents don't train them differently.  Back sleeping tends to be lighter sleeping, which is not ideal from a developmental perspective.

 

When I was a young adult, I had to stop sleeping on my stomach because of some physical issues.  I am a champion sleeper, so it didn't take me long to learn how to sleep that way.  Now I cannot sleep in any position other than flat on my back, again for physical reasons.  Hmm, could that be why I usually feel kind of tired and foggy?

[Loowit]

I slept on my stomach or side until I injured my back in college and couldn't handle stomach sleeping anymore.  It would give him terrible back pain.  Now I sleep on my side.  If I fall asleep on my back for whatever reason I have terrible nightmares.

[swellmomma]

I can't seem to figure out sleeping on my stomach.  To do so, my head would have to be turned at an almost 90 degree angle and after a short time my neck starts to ache.  Honest question: how do stomach sleepers handle the neck issue?  Does your neck just not ache?  Is there a special way you arrange your pillow?

 

I like sleeping on my back, but I've had cats for my whole life.  There's just nothing more painful than 4 sharp little cat feet landing on your bookshelf in the middle of the night.  Oh, ouch!  It HURTS.  So I have learned to sleep on my side. 

 

I tend to start the night in a weird half side/Half stomach position, basically hug my pillow, "bottom" leg out straight while "top" leg is bent, sort of propping me.  I learned that position while pregnant with first as I had always been a stomach sleeper.  ANd now I am just fat so it helps support me so I don't suffocate in my rolls.  I tend to wake up at some point in the night completely on my stomach and a pain in my shoulder from my arm being held essentially "upright" under my pillow.  I can't handle the extension in the shoulder any more.  So I rearrange myself back to starting position and wake up to the alarm back on my stomach.

 

I have never been able to sleep on my back, even as a thin teenager, I felt like I was choking to death, I can't breath if I am on my back like that.  And I can not have anything over my face.  I must have cool fresh air in my face always, if anything is there that make the air not have the right flow I feel like I am being suffocated.  So if I am sharing a bed with someone I have to face outwards of the bed and not toward the person, and heaven help anyone over the age of 2 years old that feels the need to be right up to me while I sleep, I need to not have anyone touching me.

[Reefgazer]

I'm a long-time stomach sleeper and managed to sleep on my stomach until the very end of pregnancy also. 

You can sleep on your stomach while pregnant!?! I can't and sleeping on my stomach is the only way I can get a good night's sleep. Aw. I have a very hard time falling asleep, tossing and turning, until baby is born and I'm healed enough to go back to tummy sleeping.

 

[Guest]

I can't sleep on my stomach. My boobs get in the way and I'm often pregnant and that causes issues too. I used to sleep more on my stomach but now I'm a side sleeper.

[Seasider]

I always assumed it was due to how parents put babies to sleep. For most of us it was during a time when parents were told to tummy sleep their babies, and the bulk of adults I know prefer to sleep on their stomachs. My teens are side sleepers as are most of their friends. They were babies during the time when it was advised babies be put to sleep on their side and we had those sleep roll things to prevent baby from moving forward or backward. My youngest kids and most young kids I know are back sleepers, all were babies during this time of promoting "back to sleep" I have always assumed that because that is how we were taught to go to sleep as babies it just became part of how our brain was wired, that those positions are sleep positions.

My babies, born in the era of put em on their side to sleep, were almost all back sleepers. They would grunt and wriggle away from whatever bolster or rolled up blanket was put behind their backs and blissfully stretch out with arms above their heads. It was pretty darn cute, but I don't think any of them still sleep this way.

[Guest]

My boobs get in the way of sleeping on my front.

 

I am like a dog. Roll over onto one side, roll over onto the other side, roll back to the first side - then sleep.

Me too! I probably change sides a half dozen times as I rouse and fall back asleep!

[Kristie in Florida]

I miss sleeping on my stomach. I have this fear apparently that it will hurt the baby.

 

I put both my children to sleep on their back when they were babies and they are both mainly stomach sleepers now. One even must have his butt up and it is quite adorable.

 

My husband alternates between his side and his stomach. And we are both very picky about pillows.

[The Girls' Mom]

I used to be a front sleeper, but back and shoulder issues keep me from doing that much any more.  I rotisserie chicken sleep now.  I roll and roll and roll, most of the night.  :glare: Good sleep eludes me most nights.

[kewb]

I always assumed it was due to how parents put babies to sleep. For most of us it was during a time when parents were told to tummy sleep their babies, and the bulk of adults I know prefer to sleep on their stomachs. My teens are side sleepers as are most of their friends. They were babies during the time when it was advised babies be put to sleep on their side and we had those sleep roll things to prevent baby from moving forward or backward. My youngest kids and most young kids I know are back sleepers, all were babies during this time of promoting "back to sleep" I have always assumed that because that is how we were taught to go to sleep as babies it just became part of how our brain was wired, that those positions are sleep positions.

Interesting theory. However, as an infant my dd would only fall asleep easily on her stomach. Much to the horror of everyone I knew I would eventually roll her over so I could get some sleep. She is a side sleeper now. More like a burrowed under the pillows and blanket side sleeper.

My ds usually goes to sleep on his back, just like when he was a baby.

[creekland]

I'm amazed at how many can sleep on their stomach.  I can't.  It's way too painful pretty much all over.  I assumed it was that way with everyone... silly me.

 

I can't sleep on my back easily either due to not being able to put the back of my head against a chair/pillow/whatever.  That's some sort of unexplained health issue.  Since I can't always control how I sleep, when this happens, it makes life really miserable the next day.

 

And my left side is too painful to sleep on (no clue why for that one).

 

So right side it is.  ;)

 

Yes, it's rare that I get a "good" night's sleep, but I'm pretty used to it.  I tend to think one reason I'm a natural early riser is because the alternative (staying in bed) is too painful.  It's ok when I can fall back asleep, but after 4 - 5am, that just doesn't happen.

[Southern Ivy]

I have slept on my stomach my whole life, even when pregnant, except right at the end. Is there a reason I like sleeping this way?

I slept on my stomach until about 7 mos. I don't know how, but it wasn't uncomfortable until then. After that, I was as close to my stomach (while sleeping on my side) as I could get. 

 

I can't breathe when I'm on my back. Not sure if it's psychological or physical, but sleeping on my stomach is the best for me. 

[UCF612]

I'm an equal opportunity sleeper, I rotate all night though I guess I generally fall asleep on my stomach.

[73349]

I always assumed it was due to how parents put babies to sleep.  For most of us it was during a time when parents were told to tummy sleep their babies, and the bulk of adults I know prefer to sleep on their stomachs.  My teens are side sleepers as are most of their friends.  They were babies during the time when it was advised babies be put to sleep on their side and we had those sleep roll things to prevent baby from moving forward or backward.  My youngest kids and most young kids I know are back sleepers, all were babies during this time of promoting "back to sleep"  I have always assumed that because that is how we were taught to go to sleep as babies it just became part of how our brain was wired, that those positions are sleep positions.

 

I always put DS to sleep on his back at first. Once he got good at rolling over, though he'd be sound asleep before I put him down, as soon as his little butt touched the mattress, he'd roll to his tummy. Always the same direction, too--I learned to put him off-center.

 

He seems to take after me, also a stomach sleeper. I think it's a body proportion thing.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I always assumed it was due to how parents put babies to sleep.  For most of us it was during a time when parents were told to tummy sleep their babies, and the bulk of adults I know prefer to sleep on their stomachs.  My teens are side sleepers as are most of their friends.  They were babies during the time when it was advised babies be put to sleep on their side and we had those sleep roll things to prevent baby from moving forward or backward.  My youngest kids and most young kids I know are back sleepers, all were babies during this time of promoting "back to sleep"  I have always assumed that because that is how we were taught to go to sleep as babies it just became part of how our brain was wired, that those positions are sleep positions.

Nah, I don't think that's it.  I was born way before the "back to sleep" campaigns.  Same with dh.  He is a back sleeper (and he snores more that way.)  I am a left-side sleeper (no covers on my face, firm pillow so that it doesn't touch my nose, no hair in my face.) If I find myself on my stomach, it's usually because I am stuck.  My neck hurts, my arms are asleep and I can't get out of that position without help. 

 

Dd was never put to sleep on her stomach, but I find her sleeping in that position quite often.

 

ETA:  I'm totally stealing this.  I "rotisserie chicken" sleep as in constantly rotate.  I tend to to fall asleep best on my left side.  However, due to the pain of being in one position too long, I do turn a lot at night.  And, since dh is my heat-seeking missile, he ends up on the center of the bed, so I can't just roll over.  I have to turn in place, which means waking up more. 

Edited December 10, 2015 by dirty ethel rackham