What's with this middle of the night urge to lay on the floor?

March 27, 2022 11:04 PM

For the last 2.5 years or so (starting before COVID-19), several times a month I feel an urge to get out of my comfy bed and lie on the hardwood floor. It usually happens when I wake up in the middle of the night and am still groggy. Actually doing it is not terribly satisfying. Sometimes rotating into some weird orientation on the bed works. It's not particularly distressing and I can live happily the rest of my life without fixing it. But, I'm curious if anyone has heard of such a thing or if there could possibly be some reason to be concerned that it's a sign of something more troubling.
posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (17 answers total)

I do this too! When I was a kid I regularly slept on the floor (no idea why) and now when I'm having trouble sleeping because I'm in pain or I'm queasy or whatever I'll sometimes either lie on the floor by choice or wake up on the floor with only a vague memory of making the decision to go there. For me it sometimes feels like I'm just so tired of being in bed and trying to sleep that I'm ready to try something new, although I've also wondered if it might be some desire to feel more grounded or even if it's a regression to childhood thing to comfort myself when I feel crappy. Like you said, it's never very satisfying, but for some reason I still feel compelled to do it now and again.

If you don't feel sick I doubt you have anything to worry about. It sounds more like a quirk than a symptom.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 11:25 PM on March 27, 2022

I used to do this at a time in my life when I'd drink enough alcohol to get drunk. I also have done this sometimes when sick and feverish or nauseous. I also seek the floor when very depressed or in the middle of a crying jag. I think it's due to the same urge as Ursula Hitler describes: bed has become stressful and uncomfortable for some reason, the floor seems cool and welcoming. Perhaps on the floor, the unpleasant drunken/ill/depressed feelings will be left behind in bed. Perhaps stress, unhappiness, or some kind of overall imbalance is affecting your sleep?
posted by Balthamos at 12:28 AM on March 28, 2022

Almost throughout my life I’ve had the habit of half-waking at night with the sudden urgent need to Do A Thing - often to find or move or rearrange something in the room. Associated with sleepwalking & sometimes with vivid paranoid dreams. Happens maybe once every couple of weeks.

If I’m sharing a bed it can be quite odd for the other person, but by now I’ve accepted it as benign & occasionally even a little bit fun. I don’t think it means there’s something wrong.
posted by rd45 at 12:44 AM on March 28, 2022

I do this in hotel rooms that have beds that are too soft. Maybe you’d sleep better in a stiffer bed?
posted by nat at 1:28 AM on March 28, 2022

As well as the above suggested theories wrt comfort, maybe you're getting too warm while you sleep and some distant bit of your mind knows that the floor will be cooler, so it unhelpfully tries to direct you to lie down there to cool off. You could experiment with different temperatures in your room or more/fewer blankets and see if it changes how often you end up climbing out of bed in the night.
posted by fight or flight at 2:36 AM on March 28, 2022

I do something like this often, leaving the bed with a comfortable mattress for the bed with the super firm mattress as I just can’t fall back into sleep. I also stretch out in weird positions or do isometric stretches of my lower back. If I don’t do this, I often can’t find a good position and toss n turn for hours, but this ritual seems to get me back to sleep.
posted by coldhotel at 3:41 AM on March 28, 2022

Nthing I do this when I’m too warm. Switching to lightweight cotton poplin pajamas has helped immensely.
posted by Pretty Good Talker at 6:02 AM on March 28, 2022

I frequently get this urge in the middle of my workday but I bet the underlying cause is different for me.
posted by jordemort at 7:07 AM on March 28, 2022

My memory foam mattress makes me want to do this in summer. I get too hot and sweaty because it doesn't breath and part of my brain just wants the coolness of the floor.
posted by wwax at 7:21 AM on March 28, 2022

I did that through my thirties, especially when sick. Don’t know why I stopped, don’t know why I did it.
posted by clew at 9:36 AM on March 28, 2022

My husband has done this is whole life. He finds it often helps him "reset" and go back to sleep. You're not alone!
posted by psauqee at 9:38 AM on March 28, 2022

I do this too! Especially when I'm sick or in pain.

I've always found it super easy to sleep in places other people find too uncomfortable. Like, on the ground when camping, in airplane seats, stuff like that. I do prefer a super-firm mattress also.

So yeah, I think nat and coldhotel might possibly be right, that it's associated with mattresses being too soft and unsupportive.
posted by Susan PG at 10:33 AM on March 28, 2022

I did this sometimes as a kid. I don't do it anymore. I don't know why exactly either.

It could have been due to overheating in my bed and seeking someplace cooler. Or, sometimes I'd tried sleeping in every possible configuration on your mattress, none of it seems to work, so maybe let's try the floor.
posted by BungaDunga at 1:43 PM on March 28, 2022

I started getting this urge in my late 20s when my ankylosing spondylitis really started kicking in. Soft mattresses are the worst, but sometimes I can't get comfortable on any mattress at all.

Not saying you have AS, but if you're curious, take the quiz.
posted by hydropsyche at 2:41 PM on March 28, 2022

I do this, too. Not uncommon.
The ground gives almost unlimited space to stretch out in all directions.
Hot humid air rises, cool air sinks.
The air circulation is different according to your heat and air conditioning systems.
Depending on the floor, it is firm (wood vs. tile vs. carpet, concrete pad vs. plank subfloor).
It may be easier to get up from the floor compared to getting out of bed due to health issues.
It's a novel experience, therefore it may make getting to sleep easier.
Camping mats and pads also help.
There is ample space for multiple pets and people to cosleep.
As long as no one is tripping over you on the way to the bathroom, all is good.
posted by TrishaU at 4:06 PM on March 28, 2022

I did this, I do this. As a little boy, I'd lay on the floor half under the bed. Have no idea why, but I may have been hiding from my awful older bros. When I'm feeling sick to my stomach (which happens to often due to some meds I take) I end up on the floor. Again, I have no idea why. I can sleep the whole night very comfortably on the floor, get up with no aches or pains.

This is the first time ever I've seen a discussion on this topic.
posted by james33 at 3:59 AM on March 29, 2022

I used to always prefer sitting on the floor, but it's harder to get up and down these days. I would lie on the floor to read, to do homework, to watch TV. I would sleep on the floor, as long I I had something soft and supportive to put under my head.

I still get down on on the floor to do crafts a lot, so I can spread things out all around me. A table is just so limited to just in front of you, though I have thought about getting a C-shaped table to I can spread things out while sitting in a chair.

I think what I like about laying on the floor is less about it being hard and more about it being all the way down. You can't (easily, though I have managed it a few times) fall off the floor. If you drop something, it's still right there next to you.

And for us introverts, it's easier to be overlooked, to be tucked away in a crowded room, if you are on the floor in a corner and not taking up a piece of furniture other people might want to sit on.
posted by buildmyworld at 7:52 AM on March 29, 2022