How To Sleep on Your Back: 7 Tips To Train Yourself

How can I learn to sleep on my back?

• Back sleeping can help provide support for joint and spinal alignment.
• You can train yourself to sleep on your back with proper support from your mattress and pillows.
• Sleeping on your back may not be right for people who are pregnant or those with certain sleep conditions.

Your sleep posture is an integral part of getting a good night’s sleep, with back sleeping often considered one of the healthiest options for many sleepers. Despite the many health advantages, most people don’t sleep on their backs.¹

Back sleeping can help many sleepers, including those with back and joint pain and spinal issues.² Still, adjusting to a new sleep position can take time. 

If you’ve been a stomach or side sleeper your whole life, you might be wondering how to train yourself to sleep on your back for a better night’s rest. 

Learning how to sleep on your back will take a bit of time and practice — but it’s not impossible. With some training and persistence, you can learn how to become a back sleeper.

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In this guide, we’ll go over seven steps to becoming a back sleeper and the potential benefits of doing so.

What To Expect When Training Yourself To Sleep on Your Back

Training yourself to sleep on your back can feel awkward at first, especially if you’re used to sleeping on your side or stomach. This is normal because you’re sleeping in an unfamiliar position, so it might not feel natural. 

You might initially have a hard time figuring out how to fall asleep on your back, or how to stay sleeping on your back instead of rolling on your side. These early challenges are common. You can learn to sleep on your back with consistent effort, even if you’re not perfect at it at first.

How To Train Yourself To Sleep on Your Back in 7 Steps

If you’re a side or stomach sleeper, sleeping on your back may initially feel unnatural and even uncomfortable. But with the right support (especially when it comes to pillow placement) and some adjustments to your sleep habits, you can train yourself to sleep on your back.

To sleep on your back with ease, we recommend finding a supportive mattress, elevating your head, and placing pillows underneath your knees and lower back to reduce strain.

The following steps will help your body adjust to sleeping on your back faster. 

1. Invest in a Supportive Mattress

Your mattress is the most important component of good sleep. After all, its job is to support your body for comfortable rest. Before changing your sleeping position, make sure you’ve selected the right mattress for sleeping on your back. 

A medium-firm to firm mattress may be better for back sleepers compared to plush mattresses. This is because firmer mattresses provide more support and stability that prevents you from sinking deep into the bed. This, in turn, can keep the spine in a neutral position.

A mattress that is too firm can keep the lower back from sinking enough, which can contribute to lower back pain. Medium-firm mattresses generally provide the right balance of back support and pressure relief.

Because of Purple’s patented GelFlex Grid® technology that provides the perfect flex and support for your body, Purple mattresses deliver pressure relief for back sleepers with both firm and soft mattress preferences. The Purple RejuvenatePlus® Hybrid Mattress instantly adapts to any sleep position, so you’re supported when learning how to train your body to sleep on your back.

2. Use the Right Pillow for Neck Alignment

For back sleepers, neutral head and neck positions are important for avoiding muscle strains and stiffness. 

The neck is naturally curved like a “C,” so your ideal pillow height should be enough to support your neck, but not too high that your neck becomes overextended. The Purple Freeform™ Pillow allows you to customize your support with removable MicroFlex® Moon Foam for personalized comfort.

3. Place a Pillow Under Your Knees

Sometimes, sleeping flat on your back with your knees unsupported can lead to knee and lower back pain. As such, sleep experts recommend placing a small pillow or rolled up towel under your knees to support the lower back’s natural curves.³ 

The pillow should still allow your feet and ankles to lie on the bed. The Purple Harmony Anywhere™ Pillow gives you the comfort you need in a compact size. Plus, it uses the temperature-balancing honeycomb GelFlex Grid® to keep you from overheating. 

4. Add Gentle Lumbar Support

Because poor sleep quality is associated with an increased risk of chronic back pain, maintaining proper lower back support while you sleep is important.⁴ 

Your spine, like your neck, has a natural curvature. When you lie flat on your back on the floor or a hard surface, you’ll notice a small space beneath your lower back. This space is known as the lumbar gap. 

The perfect mattress should cradle your hips and shoulders while maintaining contact support with your lower back — a benefit that the GelFlex Grid® was specially engineered to deliver. A supportive mattress can prevent back pain and stiffness.

If your mattress fails to support the curvature of your body, a short-term fix can be achieved by learning how to sleep on a pillow correctly. Place a small, thin pillow or a rolled-up towel in this area to support your lumbar gap. A pillow that’s too thick or large may lead to additional back pain. 

5. Use Pillows To Stay in Place

If you tend to move around a lot when you sleep, staying on your back all night can be difficult, especially when adjusting to a new sleep position. Some sleepers find that a pillow barrier helps them stay in place throughout the night. A side barrier setup can even redirect them onto their back if they toss and turn.

Try tucking a few pillows around your arms and legs to make a pillow barrier that keeps you from rolling over. You may need to stack multiple pillows on top of each other or place body pillows along your torso and hips, depending on how much redirection your body needs.

This physical barrier is often a better solution than relying on willpower alone, because many sleepers aren’t even aware of when they are changing position during the night. A pillow fortress provides essential physical redirection.

6. Spread Your Arms and Legs

If you’re having trouble sleeping on your back, the starfish sleep position may help. Like the name suggests, the starfish position entails having both your arms and legs splayed out, making you look like a starfish. This position can help if sleeping with your arms straight down your sides makes you feel stiff and uncomfortable, as it can relieve some pressure and tension. 

Be warned, though — spreading your arms and legs out is not recommended for couples who share a bed, unless you sleep on a bed that is big enough to provide ample space for both sleepers. 

You can also give your arms and shoulders extra support by placing a pillow beneath your arms. This keeps the arms slightly elevated, which can reduce pressure on your elbows. As noted earlier, sleeping with a small pillow under your knees can also help promote more natural leg positioning to reduce discomfort and restlessness during the night.³

7. Try To Relax and Be Patient

Adjusting to a new sleep position can be tough, especially considering that comfort is such a crucial part of getting a good night’s rest.

You may find yourself lying awake longer or wondering “Why can’t I fall asleep on my back?”, as your muscles get used to the new position. Try to be patient and avoid getting frustrated. Forming new habits takes time — the most important thing is that you get enough sleep to feel well-rested and energized the next day.

If you’ve given yourself time to adjust but are still struggling to sleep on your back, try some other tips that can help when you can’t sleep.

Benefits of Sleeping on Your Back

Is it good to sleep on your back? It depends. Back sleeping is recommended by many sleep experts, as it’s often easier to maintain your spine’s neutral alignment in this position. It can also keep you from applying undue pressure on the joints in your hip, knees, shoulders, and ribs.² 

Some people with certain conditions like arthritis, spondylosis, and scoliosis, are often advised to sleep on their backs to speed up recovery or reduce pain.⁵

If you’re not used to it, you may struggle to get comfortable in bed while sleeping on your back. While it’s not for everyone, becoming a back sleeper can bring positive changes to certain people. Here are some of the health and wellness benefits of sleeping on your back:

Promote Spine Health

The biggest benefit of back sleeping is its effect on spinal health through improved spinal alignment during sleep. Sleeping on your back can help conditions such as IT band pain by reducing stress and tension throughout the body. Becoming a back sleeper may help maintain your long-term spine health, reducing your risk of neck and back pain from poor sleeping posture.² 

Sleeping on your back with a pillow under your knees may also reduce stress on your spine and help maintain the natural curvature of your lower back.³

May Reduce the Risk of Wrinkles

Have you ever heard the age-old saying that sleeping on your back reduces wrinkles? Well, there may be some truth to it.

Some experts believe that sleeping on your face may hasten the development of wrinkles.⁶ Sleeping on your back reduces facial compression (and the likelihood of getting wrinkles) because you’re not pressing your face against a pillow all night. Of course, other skincare and sleep habits will also influence your results.

May Reduce Tension Headaches

Tension headaches can be caused by a variety of factors, including stress, poor posture, and sleep position. Interestingly enough, those who prefer stomach sleeping may be more prone to tension headaches. Experts believe that sleeping on your back and keeping pressure off your neck may reduce chronic tension headaches.⁷ 

May Reduce Congestion From Allergies and Sinusitis

Sinus pain and congestion can keep you up at night. Sleeping on your back could help ease these symptoms when your head is properly elevated. Sleeping flat on your back can actually make congestion from allergies and sinusitis worse. When you sleep with your head elevated, it decreases the buildup of mucus and promotes proper drainage, preventing sinus congestion.⁸

Improve Sleep Quality and Daily Comfort

Over time, training yourself to sleep on your back can prevent excessive tossing and turning, improving your overall quality of sleep. 

You can also use an adjustable bed frame to customize the way you sleep on your back for maximum comfort. Purple’s collection of adjustable bases allows you to add personalized comfort to your current bed frame.

When Sleeping on Your Back May Not Be Right for You

While there are many advantages to sleeping on your back, it's not for everyone. In some cases, it can lead to poor sleep quality, insomnia, and discomfort — the very issues you may be trying to avoid.⁹ 

Here are some signs that sleeping on your back is not right for you:

• May exacerbate snoring and obstructive sleep apnea: When people with sleep apnea sleep on their backs, their airways are more likely to become blocked or narrowed, making it harder to breathe at night. For the same reason, back sleeping can also make snoring worse, leading to poor quality sleep for the snorer and their partner.⁹
• May increase discomfort during pregnancy: Not only is back sleeping uncomfortable for pregnant people in their third trimester, but it can also be dangerous, as it can reduce blood flow to the fetus. For pregnant people, side sleeping (particularly left-side sleeping) is the recommended position.¹⁰
• May increase the risk of sleep paralysis: Some research shows that sleeping on your back may be linked to sleep paralysis.¹¹ That said, you likely don’t need to worry about sleep paralysis while sleeping on your back if you don’t typically experience it.
• May increase heartburn and acid reflux symptoms: If you suffer from heartburn or acid reflux, back sleeping might not be right for you. Elevating your head can help prevent these issues, but sleeping on your back typically worsens nighttime symptoms.¹²
• May cause increased back pain: Everyone’s body is different, and the best sleeping position for lower back pain for some could make things worse for others. If sleeping on your back causes more back pain, side sleeping might be better for you.

If back pain remains an ongoing issue for you, it may be a good idea to talk to a clinician to check for any underlying issues that could be contributing to the problem.

How Long Does It Take To Get Used To Sleeping On Your Back?

For most people, it takes about two to four weeks to get used to sleeping on their back. 

Remember, though, that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to changing your sleeping position. For some people, it can take a few months to adjust, especially if you’ve consistently slept on your side or stomach for years. Other people might adjust in just a few days. Everyone has their own timeline for turning back sleeping into a natural habit.

You’ll know you’re successfully adapting to back sleeping when you start noticing improved sleep quality and comfort. If you’re still experiencing restlessness, discomfort, and frequent wakings after trying for an extended period, it’s probably best to stop trying to force the new sleep position.

Purple Mattresses for Every Sleep Position

Whether you’re a lifelong side sleeper or learning how to train yourself to sleep on your back, Purple mattresses like those in the Restore Hybrid Collection can support a range of sleep positions. 

Training yourself to sleep on your back is entirely possible, but it’s not right for everyone. The most important sleep tip is to prioritize comfort. With a Purple mattress, you can experience comfort and support for a restful night’s sleep, no matter which sleep position feels best for you.

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Purple’s Restore® Hybrid mattresses provide adaptive support for a feel that's just right for you.

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