Is turning a lot in your sleep normal?

Changing sleep positions during sleep is absolutely normal. We change positions about 15 to 30 times every night : in a sleep lab study by De Koninck and colleagues (1992), this occurred an average of 3 to 4 times per hour in young adults. But is turning a lot in your sleep normal? As you get older, you move less: for those over 65, it was about 2 times per hour. Under normal circumstances, you notice little or nothing yourself. So you don’t have much impact on it because you are sleeping.

And that’s the difference with tossing and turning, because most of the time you don’t sleep or sleep only very lightly. Wobbling in bed not only disrupts your bed partner’s sleep, it also affects you. Often tossing and brooding go hand in hand. Stress from your work or problems in your personal life are running through your head so you literally can’t find your bearings.

Eating and drinking before bedtime

Did you eat late, and is your stomach still full? Or is the caffeine from that last glass of cola, cup of tea, or coffee getting in the way of your sleep? If so, you’ll likely find yourself tossing and turning because you just can’t drift off. Thuisarts recommends avoiding heavy meals 2 hours before bed and stopping caffeine intake 6 hours beforehand; in a study by Drake and colleagues (2013), caffeine disrupted sleep even when consumed 6 hours before bedtime.

If you train hard right before bed, your body is still ‘on’ when you climb under the covers. Your heart rate and body temperature are still elevated, and your nervous system is in active mode, whereas your body actually needs to cool down and relax to fall asleep (Oda and Shirakawa, 2014). A regular workout a few hours before bedtime is usually not a problem according to a review study by Stutz and colleagues (2019); however, try not to schedule heavy exertion in the final hour before you go to sleep.

Lying awake for a long time? Get up for a bit, do something quiet, and only go back to bed when you feel sleepy. This is called stimulus control: it’s how your brain relearns that your bed is for sleeping, not for lying awake and worrying. It is a standard part of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). Both the European Insomnia Guideline (2023) and the American AASM (2021) recommend this therapy as the first-line treatment for long-term sleeplessness. Have you been sleeping poorly for weeks? Then discuss it with your GP.

A mattress that is too hard or a poor sleeping position can bother you during sleep. Sleeping too hard can restrict your blood circulation or cause oppressive pain, causing you to roll from one side to the other.

What is a good sleeping position for me?

We know by now that during sleep we frequently change positions and often adopt intermediate postures. We have little control over this. How we fall asleep we do consciously determine ourselves.

You often already have a preference and will naturally seek out that specific sleep position to start the night. Physiotherapists and scientists active in studying human ergonomics prefer sleeping on your back. However, as with almost everything in this world, there is something to be said for every sleep position. Let’s quickly go over the different postures:

1. Sleeping on your back

From an ergonomic perspective, this sleeping position is the most restful for a healthy body. At least, that is what many physiotherapists and sleep scientists claim. During the first year of life, you should always place babies on their backs to sleep, even for a daytime nap: this reduces the risk of SIDS (Kind en Gezin; NHS). Sleeping on the stomach or side is not safe for a sleeping baby. If your child can easily roll from back to stomach and back again on their own, you don’t have to keep turning them back, but do always place them down on their back. Playing on the stomach while awake is allowed and even good for development, as long as you stay with them. Want to know more? Then read the article: What should you do if your baby won’t sleep?

There is also a downside: you often snore more on your back. In the case of sleep apnoea, breathing pauses are even most severe and numerous in the supine position; according to a review study by Joosten and colleagues (2014), more than half of people with obstructive sleep apnoea suffer mainly when lying on their back.

2. Sleeping on your side

Do you suffer from sleep apnea or are you a talented snorer? Then side-lying is the ideal sleeping position. Also, if you are awake with lower back pain, it is better to fall asleep on your side. When you assume the pose, stretch your body sufficiently. Avoid a fetal position that is too curled up; this allows your back to relax from tailbone to neck.

Choose a medium to soft mattress if side lying is your favorite sleeping position. This way you avoid pressure spots and pinched blood vessels, especially at the level of your shoulders and hips.

3. Sleeping on your stomach

Why do some people love sleeping on their stomachs so much? There is surprisingly little research into it, but there are a few possible explanations. Perhaps the feeling of pressure plays a role: firm, even pressure on your body, such as with a weighted blanket, can appeal to the calming part of the nervous system in some people and provide a sense of security (Reynolds and colleagues, 2015). Furthermore, with your stomach against the mattress, you likely retain more heat, which one person finds cosy and another finds too warm. And some people experience less tension in the back, shoulders, or neck in that position, although the opposite is true for many people with back problems (Ylinen and colleagues, 2024). Interestingly, young children lie on their stomachs about as often as on their backs or sides, but the older we get, the less we sleep on our stomachs (De Koninck and colleagues, 1992).

In my practice as a sleep coach, I see that stomach sleepers often lie on a mattress that is (too) hard. Sleeping is also a habit and so your body is going to adapt to that habit. They often move their legs a lot, from an intermediate position with the leg raised on the left to one on the right. The pressure on the lower back becomes high and your body anticipates. It often does come at the expense of your sleep quality because your sleep phases are interrupted each time.

The fact is that your back and neck vertebrae will have a pretty hard time in this sleeping position. Best to opt for a lower or even no pillow if you do sleep on your stomach.

Problematic excessive exercise or restless legs

When movement becomes problematic, there may be a sleep problem, better known as Restless Legs Syndrome (RBS, or Restless Legs Syndrome RLS). How can you know this?

• Your legs regularly feel annoying or restless?
• It cheers you up when your legs move?
• When you sit the feeling increases?
• It feels exactly more intense during the evening or night?

If you notice that you are regularly nodding along and you recognise yourself, be sure to contact your GP. If you don’t sleep alone, your bed partner has probably already told you that you move a lot. RLS often runs in the family. Your GP can, among other things, check your iron levels (such as ferritin): an iron deficiency can worsen symptoms and is easy to treat. Medications also exist, but which one fits best varies per person. Drugs that act on dopamine can actually make symptoms worse in the long term (this is called augmentation). That is why international guidelines increasingly recommend other treatments first (see also AASM, 2025). Never start or stop medication on your own.

Read also: is sleeping on your stomach bad for your back? and learning to sleep on your back.

Frequently asked questions about turning in your sleep:

Is turning a lot in your sleep normal – conclusion

Turning a lot in your sleep is normal, but tossing and turning in bed can indicate stress, poor digestion or the wrong mattress.

Your sleep position can also affect your health and sleep quality. The best sleeping position depends on your personal preference, but some positions have more advantages or disadvantages than others.

If you have problematic exercise or restless legs, it may indicate a sleep disorder that requires treatment.

Resources

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