After seeing my young son sleeping this morning, head down, legs and arms tucked under, bottom up in the air (so cute), I started to wonder if there were proper names for the positions in which we sleep.
I want to be able to say, “Well, I usually start in the ‘Flying Dutchman’ position by morning I usually wake in the ‘Australian Crawl’. On the other hand, my wife seems to like the ‘Skydiver’ for maximum comfort.”
Basically, on the side is “fetal”, on the stomach is “prone” and on the back is “supine”. You can add whatever adjectival components you like, I suppose, such as “full flail prone”, etc.
Fetus, log, yearner, soldier, freefall, starfish, according to this guy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3112170.stm
I saw a book once that analyzed sleeping positions, and I think they used “pharoah” instead of “soldier,” IIRC.
I’m surprised it doesn’t list the “mummy” (lying on back, arms across chest). I thought that it’s a fairly common position, and not the same as the “soldier,” especially considering the importance of arm position in distinguishing “soldier” from “starfish.” But hey, I’m not the expert here.