# Why do people sleep with something covering them in the summer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 15, 2008, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681 "2008-09-15T09:41:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/1 "2008-09-15T09:41:34Z")
It doesn’t make any sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/2 "2008-09-15T09:47:51Z")
Well, from personal experience (even during a heatwave) having something light like a cotton sheet to cover me gives a sense of comfort and also acts to absorb any excess perspiration (I don’t wear any bedclothes). Some folk are happy to bare their bums to the elements, I’m a bit more coy! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/3 "2008-09-15T09:48:12Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > It doesn’t make any sense to me. I sleep with something covering me when I’m cold; be it winter, spring, summer or fall. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/4 "2008-09-15T09:53:00Z")
If my shoulders aren’t covered, no matter how hot it is, I sneeze! I too sleep naked and feel that I want a very light sheet at least over my shoulders and bum just to provide a bit of security. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/5 "2008-09-15T10:14:00Z")
Being covered stops you being such a target for insects. ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/6 "2008-09-15T10:39:37Z")
It’s a comfort thing for me. No matter how warm it is, I can’t sleep without something over me, even if it’s just a thin sheet. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/7 "2008-09-15T10:50:06Z")
It’s a comfort thing for me, too - I tend to wrap up in a little cocoon of blankets. I think it’s partly the weight I find comforting, though at a certain point (around 90 degrees or so) I’ll go bare for the sake of staying somewhat cool ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/8 "2008-09-15T11:01:12Z")
I just feel too exposed without something covering me. I may kick off the blankets after I’m asleep, but I can’t \*fall \*asleep without it. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/9 "2008-09-15T11:17:47Z")
I need a minimum of shorts/t-shirt and a light sheet, even when it’s hot. Like others, I guess it’s a security thing. Even a bathtowel across my back will suffice. ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/10 "2008-09-15T11:34:37Z")
I don’t know why but I sleep waaaaaaay better and fall asleep more easily if I have even only a thin sheet to cover me. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/11 "2008-09-15T12:30:42Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Being covered stops you being such a target for insects. That’s it for me. We get the occasional 'skeeter sneaking into the house in these parts. Sheets at least make 'em _work_ for their meal. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/12 "2008-09-15T12:42:16Z")
It’s so the monsters can’t grab your feet. (I’m only kind of halfway kidding.) I like to sleep snug in a cold room. I jack up the air in the summer and sleep under a sheet and a blanket and sometimes a comforter. In the winter I turn the heat way down at night and snuggle in with a heating blanket. My boyfriend doesn’t much care for my sleep philosophy, but he pays neither the electric bill nor the mortgage. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/13 "2008-09-15T12:46:40Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > It doesn’t make any sense to me. Because my wife insists on setting the A/C so cold that she can hang meat in the bedroom. :mad: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![VanillaGorilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@VanillaGorilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanillaGorilla)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/14 "2008-09-15T12:51:24Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > It’s so the monsters can’t grab your feet. This is true. I usually have to tuck the cover/blanket _under_ my feet. securing it in place. This is of course too prevent that hand from reaching up from under the bed, and as it does so you can feel that it’s as cold as death, and then maybe there’'s a second hand, and maybe you’ll feel someone, or something start crawling up into bed with you, and you cant even scream, or move, and… Well. Sleeping without a cover seems like pushing your luck to me. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/15 "2008-09-15T13:19:14Z")
I don’t know why, but for some reason I’m just uncomfortable without covers. It feels wrong. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/16 "2008-09-15T13:24:26Z")
It’s a comfort/security thing. Without something around me I feel exposed and have trouble letting my guard down enough to fall asleep. And it just doesn’t feel like “sleep” to me- it feels the same as if the lights were on or something. Even when it is unholy hot. I’ll keep at least a thin silk sheet around me, though i prefer something with some weight to to it. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/17 "2008-09-15T13:27:25Z")
If you have cats, sleeping with something covering you is just common sense. Especially if they occasionally decide to chase each other across the bed in the middle of the night. Although even at times when I didn’t have cats who did this and had no AC, no matter how hot it was I had to have a sheet covering part of me, even if it was just my feet. I have no idea why, but I couldn’t get to sleep if I was totally uncovered. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/18 "2008-09-15T14:23:35Z")
I dislike drafts, and by drafts I mean any air at all drifting across my skin. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/19 "2008-09-15T14:31:41Z")
1. Summer in Ireland is usually about 15C. 2 I’m a cold-blooded person. Currently I’m sleeping under a duvet and a doubled over quilt and beside the heat generator that is irishfella and I’m still cold. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681/20 "2008-09-15T14:47:05Z")
Well, I don’t understand questions such as these! Why do you sleep without a sheet? It’s comfortable, right? So why wouldn’t it be the same for me? As others have said, I do it for comfort and security, and unless it is positively sweltering, I will always have a sheet over me. I never tuck it, summer or winter, as I NEED to stick my feet out or DIE (so it feels like). I usually have the fan on and the sheet over me. Even weirder, I will have the window open. I don’t sleep nude, either, no matter how hot it gets, and every time I say that I have 50 people jump all over it and say “You should, it’s WONDERFUL” and I always say - yeah, to you. I need my shoulders covered no matter what. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-sleep-with-something-covering-them-in-the-summer/463681.md?page=2)