# What is your favorite sleeping position? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571 "2020-01-17T16:39:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/1 "2020-01-17T16:39:59Z")
I assume most people start the night in a specific position? You may wake up a different way. On your back Right Side Left Side Stomach What’s your least favorite sleeping position? Not part of the poll, but you can comment if you want. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/2 "2020-01-17T16:45:28Z")
I always lie on my left side at the beginning of the night. My least favorite is on my back. I never lie that way. Not even on the sofa. I lie on my side facing the tv. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/3 "2020-01-17T19:44:44Z")
I tend to sleep in a combination of side and stomach, and I can’t pick a favorite side because I switch a couple times per night. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/4 "2020-01-17T19:50:39Z")
Mostly stomach, some right side. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/5 "2020-01-17T19:57:28Z")
Entirely depends on which and how many cats decide to sleep with me at any given time of night. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/6 "2020-01-17T20:02:40Z")
Gotta have a pillow under my knees, and I’ll start on my left side then roll on my back then right side,back to back and occassionally roll over onto my stomach. Sometimes the cat which perches on my shoulders or hips, tries to hang on when I roll over. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/7 "2020-01-17T20:20:36Z")
Gotta have a pillow under my knees, and I’ll start on my left side then roll on my back then right side,back to back and occassionally roll over onto my stomach. Sometimes the cat which perches on my shoulders or hips, tries to hang on when I roll over. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/8 "2020-01-17T20:29:40Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I assume most people start the night in a specific position? I dunno - do they? My time-to-sleep is usually somewhere between 20 minutes and an hour - at that point I will have been through ALL the positions one after another multiple times. I couldn’t even begin to guess which one I’m most likely to be actually in by the time sleep hits. “Usual Sleeping Position” is something that happens to other people… ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/9 "2020-01-17T20:36:09Z")
I naturally curl to my sides, but then my arms and legs start to get uncomfortable. I would feel _great_ on my stomach, but I don’t know where to put my head. That leaves my back as the lesser evil. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/10 "2020-01-17T20:54:23Z")
FWIW I was able to add ‘stomach’ as an element of my sleeping positions roster by a process of gradual acclimatisation over a number of months. I stuff the pillow under the top of my head, leaving my nose just free of the bottom edge and tilted to one side, changing sides every so often to I don’t get a crick in my neck. Sometimes I’ll stick one arm or another up under the pillow to get a little more height, though I have to be a bit careful to not have my arm go numb. It’s worth it to me, because it helps to straighten my back out after a day of too much sitting in front of a computer ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/11 "2020-01-17T21:50:20Z")
I’m a predominately side sleeper. How predominate? Many years ago I ended up in the hospital by way of the emergency room. I end the day at about 10 PM in the ICU with ECG wires on my chest, an IV drip and oxygen tubes up my nose. I’m lying on my back in the narrow hospital bed exhausted, but can’t get to sleep. So finally, after about an hour of trying to fall sleep, over about 10-15 minutes I slowly and carefully maneuvered onto my side (successfully avoiding setting off any number of possible alerts at the nurse’s station). Fell asleep almost immediately. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/12 "2020-01-18T00:44:58Z")
On my back, using a [wedge pillow](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ktaxon-Washable-Foam-Bed-Wedge-Acid-Reflux-Pillow-Back-Leg-Elevation-Cushion-pad/351355266?athcpid=351355266&athpgid=athenaItemPage&athcgid=null&athznid=PWVUB&athieid=v0&athstid=CS004&athguid=3c9c309a-279-16fb6177a112b9&athancid=null&athena=true). Spousal unit says it stopped my snoring and the occasions when I’d stop breathing. I even have an inflatable wedge for when we travel. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/13 "2020-01-18T00:52:20Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I assume most people start the night in a specific position? I am not most people. Dominantly one of my sides but there is some on my back mixed in. I can’t say I have ever fallen asleep on my stomach. Its hard to hold a pillow to my chest like that. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/14 "2020-01-18T00:52:47Z")
On my right side. If I use my left side I tend to wake up with my arm having fallen asleep, and I find it hard to get to sleep on my back. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/15 "2020-01-18T00:55:59Z")
Flat on my back with my legs elevated. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/16 "2020-01-18T01:05:17Z")
I sleep on my right side at least 90% of the time. I sleep on my left side about another 9% and one or twice a year I fall asleep on my back. I would _like_ to sleep on my belly but all my adult life after a half hour or so my lower back begins to ache excruciatingly. I don’t know why…could it be connected to having broken my tailbone at 18? My parents had pictures of me sleeping on my belly when I was little… ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/17 "2020-01-18T01:21:58Z")
Left side, facing my wife, but I always wake up on my right side. And at my age I repeat this experiment three times a night. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/18 "2020-01-18T01:34:59Z")
I prefer to fall asleep on my stomach, with my arm wrapped around a pillow, but I have been told that in am less cacophonous lying on my left side. Also, if the room is very cold, as it usually is this time of year, I will start out lying on my side to minimize surface area, but will stretch out once the bedding is warm enough. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/19 "2020-01-18T01:47:20Z")
Whichever one I’m not in. When I had a frozen shoulder on my left side I always wanted to sleep on that side until I got it fixed. Ms. P is used to me turning over a jillion times a night. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571/20 "2020-01-18T02:58:27Z")
My answer is “on the side,” but I don’t have a preferred side. I switch from one to the other in the middle of the night. If there’s a preferred side I start on, I don’t know what it is, so I didn’t vote. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-sleeping-position/846571.md?page=2)