Our Sleep Expert Takeaways:
- Once you’ve identified your preferred sleep position, proper support from your mattress and pillows is essential for maintaining spinal alignment, promoting healthy circulation and supporting steady breathing throughout the night.
- Because different sleep positions place pressure on different parts of the body, choosing mattress firmness and pillow placement that match your sleep style can reduce discomfort, limit nighttime disruptions and make restful sleep easier to maintain over time.
Knowing your preferred sleep position is only the first step toward better rest. To truly reap the benefits, your mattress and pillows need to work with your body—not against it—by supporting proper alignment and reducing pressure throughout the night. The right sleep setup can help you breathe more easily, maintain healthy circulation and stay comfortable enough to avoid unnecessary tossing and turning. Here’s how experts recommend using your mattress and pillows to support your sleep position and improve overall sleep quality.
How Does Your Sleep Position Affect Breathing and Circulation?
The way you sleep doesn’t just impact comfort—it can also influence how well you breathe and how efficiently blood flows through your body.
If you’ve ever woken up with a numb arm, you’ve experienced firsthand the impact that your sleep position can have on your circulation. The pins-and-needles sensation happens when you put weight on a body part (like your arm when side sleeping), which impacts the blood flow to the nerves. And if your sleeping position cuts off circulation in a way that causes you to wake up uncomfortable in the middle of the night, it could interfere with the quality of your sleep. That, in turn, can directly influence your blood pressure, according to research.
Your breathing can be affected by your sleep position, too. For example, back sleeping can cause your airway to close slightly, potentially aggravating breathing issues, like sleep apnea.
“I have allergies, so I like to sleep a little more elevated, just to make sure I have an open airway and find a position to open up the lungs a bit more,” says Anderson.
She adds that your body can find the oxygen it needs naturally in any sleep position, but finding ways to get support in the right places and keep your mouth and nose free from obstructions (like a pillow, if you prefer sleeping on your stomach) can help you breathe better throughout the night.
Where Should You Place Pillows To Support Proper Spinal Alignment?
No matter which position you prefer, the proper way to sleep involves keeping your spine in alignment. That usually means padding yourself with pillows in areas that need extra support in your preferred sleeping position. Here’s a quick cheat sheet for pillow placement for various sleep positions:
- Back sleeping: pillow beneath the knees and possibly under the arms
- Side sleeping: pillow between the legs
- Stomach sleeping: pillow beneath the abdomen
- Combination sleeping: extra pillows for different areas throughout the night
What Mattress Firmness Is Best for Your Sleep Position?
As a general rule of thumb, the more pressure points a sleep position puts on parts of your body, the softer the mattress you’ll need. Anderson recommends the following mattress types by sleep position:
- Back sleeping: plush to firm, depending on your preferences
- Side sleeping: plush to medium
- Stomach sleeping: medium to firm
- Combination sleeping: medium
These are just general guidelines. Comfort preferences can vary a lot from individual to individual, so it’s worth going into a mattress store to test options in person and find a sleeping surface that feels great to you!
What Mattress Do Our Sleep Experts Recommend for Back Sleepers?
Tempur-Pedic TEMPUR-ProAdapt® 2.0 12" Firm Mattress
The TEMPUR‑ProAdapt® Firm Mattress offers advanced pressure relief with adaptive TEMPUR® material that helps reduce aches and minimize motion. A ventilated design improves airflow, while the added relief layer enhances contouring comfort. A cool‑to‑the‑touch, washable cover helps keep you comfortable throughout the night.
What you’ll love:
- TEMPUR-Material™ offers body-conforming support
- Advanced Relief™ Material relieves pressure
- Cool-to-the-touch comfort
- Motion isolation for undisturbed, restful sleep
What Mattress Do Our Sleep Experts Recommend for Side Sleepers?
Sealy Posturepedic® Elite Hybrid High Point II 14" Medium Mattress
The Sealy Posturepedic® Elite Hybrid High Point II is a great option for side sleepers because it combines targeted support with pressure‑relieving comfort where you need it most. PrecisionFit™ coils provide reinforced support from head to toe to help keep your spine aligned, while ComfortSense™ Gel Memory Foam cushions pressure points like your shoulders and hips. The hybrid design also helps reduce motion and sleep cooler, so you can stay comfortable and undisturbed throughout the night.
What you’ll love:
- PrecisionFit™ Coil w/ MaxSupport™ offer support
- Advanced SealyChill™ tech keeps you 40% cooler*
- ComfortSense™ Gel Foam relieves pressure points
- DuraFlex™ Edge ensures edge-to-edge durability
What Is Combination Sleeping?
Even if you fall asleep and wake up in the same position every day, you might not stay in that posture all night long. We move around a lot more throughout the night than you might realize. Research shows that adults change their sleep position up to 36 times throughout the night.
This is called combination sleeping, and if you know that you tend to move around a lot while sleeping, opt for a bed that can accommodate multiple sleep styles. A medium mattress is a great middle-of-the-road option, giving you something to sink into when you’re on your side but enough support when you’re on your stomach or back. Additionally, opt for a medium-loft or low-loft pillow unless you’re primarily on your back.
If you find yourself waking up with neck pain, sample a few different pillows until you find one that can support you through your most common sleep positions. And it’s not a bad idea to have an extra pillow available for between the knees, under your stomach or beneath your lower back to support you as you move from one position to another.
What Are Common Mistakes That Disrupt Sleep Posture?
Even if you’ve padded yourself up with pillows in key places and picked the right mattress type for your sleeping position, you might still face other disruptors that can throw your posture out of whack in the middle of the night.
According to Anderson, the biggest sleep posture disruptor most people deal with is sharing the bed with a partner, pet or both. A partner tossing and turning throughout the night or taking up more than their fair share of the bed could force you to adjust your sleeping position in a way that misaligns your spine. Same goes for a dog or a cat, too—Anderson recalled her parents’ Pomeranian, which insisted on sleeping right next to her mom’s head, forcing her to contort around it every night.
That’s not to say you should file for a sleep divorce, though. Instead, Anderson recommends looking for a mattress with motion-isolating qualities to help minimize disruption from others in the middle of the night. You can also try a larger mattress and train your pets to sleep toward the foot of the bed (or in their own bed on the floor) to make sure you have enough space to sleep properly.
Beyond that, the other major mistakes Anderson sees that disrupt sleep involve disregarding basic sleep hygiene practices. That means making sure the bedroom is as dark as possible, relatively cool and free from noise—regardless of your sleeping position.
How Can You Transition to a Healthier Sleep Position?
It’s entirely possible to change your sleep position, but don’t expect it to happen (literally) overnight.
“It usually takes a couple of weeks of consistency for someone to get used to it,” Kogan explains.
Start familiarizing your body with your new sleep position by lying that way for brief periods during the day. This can help you understand how to comfortably distribute your weight and where to place your limbs to help you ease into sleep at night.
Changing your sleep position isn’t an easy thing to do. After all, you’ve likely been sleeping the same way for most of your life. To give yourself the best chance of adopting the new position long-term, commit to sticking with it. Some people buttress themselves using pillows to prevent rolling. Others put tennis balls into their pajamas to make other sleep positions too uncomfortable.
Changing positions can be disorienting, but the good news is that if you’re healthy and waking up feeling refreshed most days, you probably don’t need to consider a new position.
“There’s no reason to change your sleep position unless there’s a medical issue, like snoring, acid reflux or an injury,” notes Hamilton. “You can sleep in whatever position you want.”
Frequently Asked Questions About Sleeping Positions, Answered by Our Sleep Experts
What is the best sleeping position for a longer life?
There’s no evidence that suggests there’s a single best sleeping position for longevity. However, research shows that healthy sleep patterns can help increase your life expectancy. Choose a sleep position that helps you drift off easily, stay comfortable and asleep throughout the night and wake up feeling refreshed to support your longevity.
What is the healthiest position to sleep in at night?
Lying on the left side appears to have more health benefits than other sleep positions. It can reduce sleep apnea symptoms, decrease snoring and ease acid reflux at night. But unless you have specific health conditions, the healthiest sleep position for you is ultimately the one that feels supremely comfortable and allows you to get high-quality slumber.
How long should I stay in one sleeping position?
There’s no consensus among experts on how long you should stay in one sleeping position. In fact, adults can shift around up to 36 times a night. However, if you’re moving around excessively, you might have trouble getting the deep sleep your body needs at night. Make sure you have supportive pillows in place to keep your spine properly aligned and a mattress that lends itself to your go-to sleeping positions.
Can sleeping in the wrong position cause snoring?
Several factors—including your sleep position—can trigger or worsen snoring. Sleeping on your back causes your airway to narrow, which can lead to loud, frequent snoring. But changing your pillow can enable you to sleep on your back in silence.
What is the best sleeping position for optimal digestion?
Try lying on your left side if you’re dealing with digestion issues, such as GERD. Experts say this helps keep acid away from the valve and prevents it from backing up into the esophagus. To promote optimal digestion and sound sleep, avoid eating anything within three hours of bedtime.
