What is the best sleeping position and which pillow suits it?

The best position to sleep in sounds like something science solved long ago. The short answer: not automatically side, back or stomach. It depends on your pillow, your mattress and how your head and neck lie later in the night.

Throughout history, people have tried everything. Sleeping on hard floors, raised beds, wooden headrests, soft mattresses, adjustable bases and pillows in every shape. That makes the question more interesting than just: what is actually healthy?

So do not start with the winner, but with the order: first your position, then your mattress and pillow. With side sleeping in particular, that becomes concrete. The space at your shoulder then has to be filled somewhere, for example with a rectangular pillow that stays snugly against your shoulder.

In short

• There is no fixed best sleeping position for everyone.
• Side sleeping suits many people, but usually calls for a pillow that properly fills the space at your shoulder.
• Back sleeping can feel comfortable as long as your head is not pushed too far forward.
• Stomach sleeping is less suitable for many people, but not automatically wrong for everyone.
• Each sleeping position asks something different of your pillow.

A short journey through the history of sleep

Look at very old beds and you immediately notice something striking: sleeping was not always soft. In ancient Egypt, people slept on raised beds and used headrests made of wood, stone or ceramic. That sounds harsh now, but there were practical reasons. You lay off the ground, air could pass under the bed and your head stayed clear of dust and insects.

It is sometimes said that the Egyptians already used beds that stood slightly raised. That idea fits what we now know as adjustable beds, but you should not take it too literally. An ancient Egyptian bed is not a modern box spring with an exact angle setting. What is interesting: people were already thinking about head support, air and how the head lies.

That does not automatically make elevated sleeping the healthiest way to sleep. Above all, it shows that people have been searching for the same thing for thousands of years: how do you keep lying comfortably long enough without constantly turning, pushing or adjusting?

What does the science actually say?

Research into sleeping positions is less simple than many blogs make it seem. People turn during the night. The position you fall asleep in is not always the position you wake up in. And what feels comfortable for one person can create pressure for someone else.

Still, there are patterns. When you sleep on your side, a large part of your face rests on the pillow and your shoulder rests on the mattress. When you sleep on your back, your head lies more directly above your body. When you sleep on your stomach, your head usually has to turn left or right so you can breathe.

That is why it is not just about the type of position. It is about what happens to your head, neck, shoulder and hip when you lie in it for longer. Does your head drop down? Is your head pushed up? Do you keep turning back to another position?

Side sleeping: popular, but not automatically right

Side sleeping feels natural to many people. You lie compactly, your arms find a place and you can bend your knees slightly. The downside is that a gap opens up between your head and the mattress. Your shoulder lies lower, your head lies higher and your pillow has to bridge that difference.

If your pillow is too low, your head drops down. If your pillow is too high or too hard, your head is pushed up. In both cases you often start adjusting. You pull the pillow closer, slide your hand underneath or end up turning onto your back or stomach after all.

With side sleeping, the side also matters. Some people lie more comfortably on their left, others on their right. With heartburn, for example, the left side is often described as more favourable in research, because the stomach and oesophagus are positioned differently then.

Back sleeping: comfortable, but sensitive to a thick pillow

Back sleeping can seem like a very straightforward position. Your head lies straight, your shoulders lie flat on the mattress and there is less of a gap between head and mattress to account for. Even so, a pillow can still go wrong here.

A pillow that is too thick pushes your head upwards. A pillow that is too low can give too little support if your neck needs more shape. Back sleepers often need less filling under the head than side sleepers, but that depends on mattress, build and preference.

If you sleep partly on your back and partly on your side, choosing becomes harder. You are then looking for a pillow that gives enough support on your side without feeling too full on your back. The separate guide to a pillow for back and side sleepers goes into that in more depth.

Stomach sleeping: usually tricky, not always disastrous

Stomach sleeping often gets the harshest criticism. That is understandable: your head usually has to turn to one side, your back can lie differently from your neck and a high pillow quickly makes that more awkward.

But it is too simplistic to say that stomach sleeping is unhealthy for everyone. Some people have slept comfortably that way for years, especially with a low pillow or no pillow at all. The problem mainly arises when you wake up with tension, keep turning or notice that your head keeps ending up at an odd angle.

If you want to stop sleeping on your stomach, there is an old-fashioned trick: sew a tennis ball in a small pouch onto your pyjamas, so rolling onto your stomach feels less comfortable. It is not an elegant solution and it does not work for everyone. But as a behavioural trick it does show something: your sleeping position is partly habit.

Three positions side by side

When is a position not right for you?

A position is not right for you if your body keeps working against it. You wake up in a different way than you fell asleep. You push your pillow back into place. You put your arm under your pillow. You turn because your neck, shoulder or ear does not lie comfortably.

That does not mean you immediately have to train yourself into a new position. Start smaller. Look at your mattress and pillow first. Sometimes your sleeping position seems to be the problem, when your pillow is actually too high, too low, too soft or too unstable.

If you want to read more broadly about how position and pillow work together, also see the explanation of an ergonomic pillow for side sleepers and the blog about sleeping without a pillow.

Why each position asks for a different pillow

A pillow is not a loose accessory. It is the part of your bed that directly determines where your head stays. That is why each position asks for something different.

A side sleeper usually needs more support at the shoulder. A back sleeper often needs less filling under the head. A stomach sleeper usually wants to lie low, because a high pillow turns or lifts the head further.

That is why a pillow that would be equally good for everyone is suspect. The better question is: what do you do in bed? Do you stay on your side? Do you pull the pillow towards you? Do you put your arm underneath it? Do you wake up on your stomach when you meant to sleep on your side?

Where SidePillow fits into this story

SidePillow is not meant as a pillow for every sleeping position. That would not be honest. It is a firm, rectangular memory foam pillow for people who mainly sleep on their side.

The straight shape is easy to place against your shoulder. The memory foam core moulds around your head and neck, without loose filling you constantly have to push back into shape. That can be a good fit if you are a side sleeper and notice that your current pillow sags, shifts or does not stay close to your shoulder.

SidePillow is a less obvious choice if you mainly sleep on your stomach, want to lie very low or like to sink deep into an airy pillow. In that case another type of pillow may suit you better.

If you are torn between a regular pillow and a longer body pillow, also read the comparison of a side sleeper pillow or regular pillow.

Sources and further reading

For this blog, the approach has deliberately been kept practical. The historical context draws on descriptions of ancient Egyptian beds and headrests in museum collections. The ergonomics angle draws on the origin of the word ergonomics, from work and natural law, and on the later ergonomics movement of the twentieth century. The sleep side draws on research into sleeping position, reflux and position behaviour during the night.

More important than any single source line remains your own bed. A position can be right on paper and still stop feeling comfortable later in the night.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best sleeping position?

There is no fixed best sleeping position for everyone. Side sleeping, back sleeping and stomach sleeping each have advantages and disadvantages. Above all, notice whether your head, neck and shoulder stay comfortable.

Is sleeping on your left better than sleeping on your right?

Not automatically. Sleeping on your left is often mentioned in connection with heartburn and certain care advice, but that does not mean the left side is better for everyone. For choosing a pillow, what matters most is which side you can lie on without constantly searching.

Is stomach sleeping unhealthy?

For many people, stomach sleeping makes less sense, because your head usually turns to one side. Still, it is not necessarily wrong for everyone. Waking up comfortably without any problems is different from noticing tension or restlessness every night.

Can I train myself not to sleep on my stomach?

Sometimes you can. A well-known trick is a tennis ball in a small pouch on your pyjamas, so turning onto your stomach feels less comfortable. Start small, because you do not want to end up sleeping worse because of it.

Which pillow suits side sleeping?

For side sleeping, you are usually looking for a pillow that properly fills the space at your shoulder. The pillow should not lie too low, should not push your neck up too far and should ideally stay snugly against your shoulder.

Conclusion

The search for the best sleeping position is older than modern mattresses. From Egyptian wooden headrests to adjustable beds: for centuries, people have been trying to make their neck, head, bed and position work together better.

Yet the outcome is simple. There is no position that wins for everyone. Side sleeping asks something different of your pillow than back or stomach sleeping. So do not just go by what sounds best, but try out at home what actually works best for the way you sleep.

Mainly a side sleeper?
Take a look at SidePillow if you sleep on your side and want a firm, rectangular feel, with a pillow that stays close to your shoulder.

View SidePillow