# Where Do Your Arms Go While You Sleep **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681 "2009-11-23T19:53:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/21 "2009-11-24T03:26:56Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > I hug a stuffed cat. I am mocked, but it’s just the right size. I have a really hard time sleeping without that cat. Me too. Mine’s a stuffed Simba I’ve had since The Lion King came out. I’ve found another line of stuffed animals (Flopsies) with the same size and shape, so I should be okay once he loses all his stuffing. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/22 "2009-11-24T03:51:10Z")
You left out “around my partner” or “under a cat.” ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/23 "2009-11-24T08:33:57Z")
Locked in the gun safe.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/24 "2009-11-24T08:47:52Z")
Xkcd’s Solution: [THE CUDDLEMATTRESS!](http://www.xkcd.com/335/) ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/25 "2009-11-24T16:08:55Z")
I move around a lot, and my arms follow - sometimes at my side, sometimes under my pillow, sometimes between the mattress and the wall. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/26 "2009-11-24T16:53:25Z")
Other. I tuck my arms underneath me while I sleep. I sleep at about a 45 degree angle: not completely on my stomach, not completely on my side. One arm may end up under the pillow, but usually, they’re tucked up by my chest. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/27 "2009-11-24T17:19:24Z")
Other. Side sleeper (I switch sides several times during the night). Arms and legs bent, hands usually end up at about heart level. Upper legs’ foot resting on lower legs lower shin. ---
**Author:** ![Fajitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b38774/32.png) [@Fajitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fajitas)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/28 "2009-11-25T01:03:18Z")
Other. I have a really annoying habit of sleeping ON my arms and then waking up and finding that they’re dead. I hope I’m not doing damage to myself! ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/29 "2009-11-25T01:05:49Z")
Normally, I _fall_ asleep on my side, with my arms around one of my hubby’s pillows (or around my hubby, if I’m lucky enough that he’s home!) But some time not long after that, I roll over onto my tummy, and my arms go up and under my pillow. ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/30 "2009-11-25T01:42:02Z")
> [@PaulParkhead](#): > > Arms under pillow for me. But in general, I wish they were detachable and could be placed next to the bed at night. I have been advocating for detachable arms for years- anyone to whom I mentioned it has thought I was nuts. 😉 However I have recently found a solution to my arm discomfort. I recently bought a Tempurpedic mattress and as a “special gift” the store threw in two contoured memory foam pillows. I thought I would hate the pillows- they are the kind that are concave in the center and have “neck roll” edges one higher than the other. The idea is that it keeps your spine aligned or something like that, but what I found is that it raises my neck and supports my shoulder when lying on my side so that my arm can stay at my side without being squished or twisted. No more arms falling asleep or shoulder aches from trying to figure out where to keep my arm. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/31 "2009-11-25T02:25:47Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > I said side with arms under pillow, but it’s more like half on my side, half on my tummy. One leg drawn up, one arm under pillow, the other tucked against me. > > Odd, but comfortable. Oooh, I sleep mostly like this too – more on the side, with one leg tucked up and one leg stretched out, and one arm flung up under the pillow and the other drawn in. I sort of look like I’m doing the Heisman pose. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/32 "2009-11-25T04:09:06Z")
> [@AmericanMaid](#): > > I’m a side sleeper who has no idea what to do with my arms when I fall asleep because no matter what I try, one arms falls asleep throughout the night. I like this poll because I have been having this same problem for the last few months. I don’t know why it came on all of a sudden, but my arms have nowhere to go when I sleep and are in the way no matter what I do with them. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/33 "2009-11-25T16:00:19Z")
Side sleeper. Lower arm sort of down in front, forearm across my body - or arm rotated so forearm is palm-up in front near my face. Extra pillow in front of my torso, to rest upper arm. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/34 "2009-11-27T08:53:56Z")
[Like this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Recovery_position.jpg) except slightly more on my tummy and with a soft pillow between my lower arm and my head. ---
**Author:** ![silvermist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@silvermist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silvermist)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/35 "2009-11-27T15:46:11Z")
I’ve always slept on my side with my arm under the pillow, but since I’ve gotten older, my ring and pinkie fingers get numb and sometimes have a burning sensation in the morning, which I’ve heard is indicative of nerve damage. Don’t know how to correct the position since I go back to it when I’m asleep. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/36 "2009-11-27T17:25:02Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Locked in the gun safe.🙂 That’s the way I read it, too. 🙂 Arms? My FAL is next to my bed, and I keep a fully-loaded, 30-round magazine on my dresser. Just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/37 "2009-11-27T21:14:50Z")
I stow them in the fridge so they’ll keep. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681/38 "2009-11-27T21:26:49Z")
Mine stay attached. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-your-arms-go-while-you-sleep/518681.md?page=1)