help me be a side sleeper

February 1, 2022 10:22 AM

I usually fall asleep on my side but at some point in the night I roll over onto my back and start breathing heavily - my partner reports that he would not categorizing it as snoring, but it's discernably louder than normal breathing. Can someone help me identify a good body pillow to remain on my side at night?

I already have a cube pillow to make side sleeping more comfortable. I want to find a way to keep from rolling over NOT just because it disrupts my partner's sleep (he is a very light sleeper - if he manages to sleep through the night he doesn't notice the noise at all, but if he wakes up, which he often does around 2am or so, the noise makes it hard for him to fall back asleep). I also want to sleep in my side because everyone from my GP to my acupuncturist* says it's bad for my body and I myself notice I am more prone to waking up with neck and back pain after back-sleeping, as well as more prone to charlie horses during the night. I am not a light sleeper but it takes me a loooooong time to fall asleep (even with meds that are supposed to help with that) so I want to make sure to maximize the 5 to 6 hours I actually am sleeping to keep myself from quasi-snoring and waking up in pain. Body pillow recommendations to keep me on my side are welcome.

I know losing weight would likely help with the heavy breathing and I am working on that, but it's not going to happen overnight (haha).

Thanks in advance.

*if you think acupuncture is stupid and fake please keep that fo yourself; it has been extremely helpful for me. Thanks.

posted by nayantara to Shopping (12 answers total)

Pregnancy u-shaped pillows.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:29 AM on February 1, 2022

Best answer: Related since you mentioned snoring/heavy breathing: do you breathe with your mouth while sleeping? I do if left to my own devices, and found my sleep really improved once I started taping my mouth shut with just regular medical tape.
posted by coffeecat at 10:42 AM on February 1, 2022

My father sewed a tennis ball into a sleep shirt, right in the middle of his lower back. If he rolled into his back, it was uncomfortable enough to cause him to troll back in his side

And to echo coffeecat, I've had good luck with a mouth guard at night to keep my jaw forward and mouth shut.
posted by hankscorpio83 at 10:45 AM on February 1, 2022 [4 favorites]

I don't have room for a full body pillow (I wish I did!), but I use a buckwheat pillow shoved behind my back (when I'm on my side) to keep me from being able to roll onto my back. This works!
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:46 AM on February 1, 2022

Best answer: I have a Kakun wool body pillow that I've rhapsodized about here before. It was expensive but one of the very best things I've ever bought for myself. It does help me sleep on my side instead of my back, and I'm also a terrible sleeper.
posted by bighappyhairydog at 10:49 AM on February 1, 2022

I find hugging a standard pillow helps me not roll onto my back while I sleep. Occasionally, I switch sides and wedge the same pillow behind me, but most of the time I sleep hugging the pillow, on my side or partially on my belly. I trained myself to sleep on my side to help reduce snoring, keeping my mouth shut while I fall asleep also helps with that (as well as reducing alcohol, sleeping with a humidifier on, nasal rinses, and more) .
posted by worstname at 11:49 AM on February 1, 2022

Response by poster: bighappyhairydog, would you happen to have a link to the pillow you use?
posted by nayantara at 2:57 PM on February 1, 2022

I’ve also heard the ‘sew a tennis ball to the back if a sleep shirt’ tip! Worth a shot.
posted by showbiz_liz at 3:03 PM on February 1, 2022

Similar to the tennis ball, but easier, I put a hairbrush or two on the bed next to me so if I rolled over I felt the prickly bristles and went back to my side.
posted by maxg94 at 6:59 AM on February 2, 2022

bighappyhairydog, would you happen to have a link to the pillow you use?

I'm not bighappyhairdog, but I found this link for one - I was curious about what might set it above and beyond a cheaper body pillow. I have a less-expensive body pillow I just got off Amazon when I was trying to cope with a similar unique sleep issue.

Frankly, the Kakun body pillow doesn't look that different from the one I got, so it may be worth getting a cheaper one to test it out as a proof-of-concept. Then if you think it's promising but want to splurge, go ahead - or just stick with the cheaper one you got.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:01 AM on February 2, 2022

What you're describing makes me think you might be experiencing sleep apnea. You should talk to your GP about it, there's a simple at home test you can do for it and it's treatable. My life has improved enormously since I addressed my sleep apnea problem.

The sleep apnea world has a lot of tools for sleeping position. Back sleeping often causes more severe apnea. The tennis ball shirt or variants thereof is popular advice. What helped me before getting a CPAP machine was a wedge pillow which serves to elevate the upper body, which helps keep the airway open. Unfortunately it's pretty uncomfortable while sleeping on your side, you end up being bent in a weird position.

Wirecutter also has an article about sleep position but it's not super helpful.
posted by Nelson at 7:37 AM on February 2, 2022

If the notion of someone else's pillow doesn't bug you, you may be able to get one of the U or C shaped body pillows for cheap or free from a local moms group or recently-pregnant friend -- they are the sort of thing that is well worth buying for the couple of months you need it, but then just sits in the closet til you give up and toss it. And they often have washable covers.
posted by february at 1:26 PM on February 2, 2022