How to Sleep on Your Back All Night
The right sleeping position can make all the difference in whether you wake up rested in the morning or even more tired than the night before.
Now, when it comes to sleeping positions, there isn’t one that’s best for everyone—that’s a myth. It just depends on the person and the kind of muscle and joint pain you have in your body. For example, sleeping on your back and on your side puts less strain on your spine, and it’s also good for acid reflux sufferers.
However, that doesn’t mean that you should sleep in the same position every night because you risk developing further muscle stiffness and aches.
Having said that, let’s assume that you found out that sleeping on your back is your favourite position. Let’s also suppose that you’re a restless sleeper, and you notice you wake up in a totally different position than the one you went to bed in last night.
So How Do You Keep Yourself on Your Back the Whole Night?
Turns out there are ways to do this—tips and tricks that’ll help you stay on your back the whole night.
Get Yourself a Good Quality Mattress (Preferably a Firmer One)
A quality mattress is super important for quality sleep, and there’s no doubt about that. Now, when you choose a mattress for back sleeping, you should generally look for a firm mattress. I know some people don’t really like to sleep on firm mattresses, but trust me, it’s worth it once you get used to them, especially if you’re a back sleeper or a stomach sleeper.
Now, this doesn’t mean that you should get a super firm mattress either because it might cause an opposite effect: strain your hips and shoulders and cause pain in your lower back.
Mattress types that are good for back sleepers, such as hybrid mattresses and memory foam mattresses, will provide adequate back support, and your body will find it much easier to lay flat throughout the whole night.
If you can’t get a new mattress (say you’ve just bought one or it’s too expensive), you can always get a bamboo memory foam mattress topper that will also do a great job at keeping your back straight and supported while you sleep.
Get Yourself a Good Quality Pillow
Now, a quality mattress or a quality mattress topper is only one piece of the puzzle. The other one is having the right kind of pillow.
A quality pillow will make sure that your neck, along with your spine and your back, is getting adequate support, which makes it easier for your body to stay in one position the whole night.
But how can you tell what pillow is right for you if you don’t try it out for a couple of nights? Well, in general, pillows shouldn’t be too flat, but they also shouldn’t elevate your head too much so as to not put too much strain on your neck and shoulder muscles.
The best kind of pillow is the one that follows the curvature of your spine. Memory foam pillows do a great job here because memory foam is a material that is highly adaptable to different kinds of body shapes.
Put Some Pillows Under Your Knees or Lower Back
By putting pillows under your knees or under your lower back, you’re making extra sure that you’re sleeping comfortably and that your body is adequately supported.
You can get smaller and flatter pillows for the back and knees (different from the ones you use for the head) since the curvature of these areas is different. That way, you can prevent muscle aches and joint stiffness in the morning, making it more likely to stay on your back throughout the night.
Conclusion
After all, it seems that the recipe for a good night’s sleep is not that hard. You find the right position - in this case, it’s sleeping on your back, and you get a good mattress or a quality mattress topper, as well as a memory foam pillow. You can even add a little extra support for the lower back and the knees, and you’re all set for the night.