It’s one thing to analyze your own sleeping position, but when you throw a bedmate into that equation, you could glean even more intel from your combined body language. Cuddling up like a pretzel or claiming your side of the bed, for instance, are both common couples’ sleeping positions that could hint at certain relationship dynamics—so long as you consider a few baseline factors, according to body-language expert Maryann Karinch, co-author of The Body Language Handbook and 365 Ways to Get a Good Night’s Sleep. Namely, no single position is typically sustainable all night long, and, sometimes, staying cool and comfortable beneath the sheets can override a desire to get close to a partner, no matter your feelings for them.
- Maryann Karinch, Maryann Karinch is a body-language expert and co-author of 33 books including The Body Language Handbook.
- Michael Grandner, PhD, sleep expert and director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona
- Patti Wood, body-language expert
Take spooning, for example. While this is certainly a couples’ sleeping position that might signal romantic connection, it’s also bound to get super hot (in the sweaty way, that is) after some time. So, maybe you and a partner tend to shift apart—more so for comfort than for any lack of intimacy, says Karinch. And to be clear, that’s totally okay. In fact, a 2019 Casper survey of 1,000 people in relationships found that the most common preference for getting good sleep with a partner was to have “no contact” at all.
Other non-relationship factors that might affect a couple’s sleeping position? One partner suffering from a physical injury or managing insomnia, or even a change in how the two of you are using your bedroom. “Since the onset of the pandemic, for example, many bedrooms have become de facto offices,” says Karinch. “Laptop on a bed? Yep. Smartphone on a bed? Yep. This can reshuffle the priorities around what happens on the bed, and, in turn, have an effect on a couple’s sleeping position.” And that can be especially pronounced when work is happening right before bedtime, she adds: “If the light from your partner’s device is shining when you want to cuddle or sleep, your impulse might justifiably be to turn around and face the other way.”
“There’s a wealth of information about you and your mate to be interpreted from a typical sleeping position, since you’re not really thinking about it. You’re just doing it.” —Patti Wood, body-language expert
Caveats aside, though, the way you tend to fall asleep and wake up with a partner, in particular, can still shed light on elements of your relationship. And that’s because those positions tend to happen almost entirely subconsciously, says body-language expert Patti Wood, author of Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma: “There’s a wealth of information about you and your mate to be interpreted from a typical sleeping position, since you’re not really thinking about it. You’re just doing it.”
Below, Karinch and Wood describe common couples’ sleeping positions, and offer insight on what they might mean for folks at different stages of a relationship.
Here are 12 common couples’ sleeping positions and what they mean, according to body-language experts
1. The spoon
Of all the couples’ sleeping positions, spooning is easily one of the most common and recognizable. For spooning newbies, though, this position has one partner enveloping the other in a hug from behind while both lie on one side.
When you and your bedfellow start spooning, Karinch says it signifies a certain level of comfort—on both an emotional and physical level. “It’s a sexually vulnerable position,” Karinch says of the butt-to-genitals positioning, which can also be cozy and comforting.
Generally, it’s more common in new couples who are just starting to get vulnerable with each other, says Wood. “You have what I call windows on the front of the body, at your toes, your pelvis, your stomach, your heart, your throat,” she says. “And in a spooning position, the big spoon has all of their windows open to receive the little spoon. It’s saying, ‘I’m confident in myself, and I’m also comfortable with you.’”
In more established couples, that feeling tends to go without saying (er, touching). “It sounds ironic, but a growing level of intimacy can also be accompanied by distancing in the bed,” says Karinch. “At that point, there’s really no need to touch all the time in order to feel secure in the relationship.”
2. The chasing spoon
Another name for this position might as well be the forced spoon. Here, one person retreats to one side of the bed while the other person follows them over there, attempting to spoon them. As you might guess, this type of spooning can signify that both parties aren’t totally on the same page. “For an extended period of time, this can be uncomfortable because it’s hot (as is true with any kind of spooning), but it could also be uncomfortable psychologically because you’re not fully in charge. Instead, you’re being taken over,” Karinch says of the person being “chased.”
Overall, this position could signal that the chaser is a bit overprotective, while the person being chased is seeking some personal space. “If your partner is pulling away from you a bit during the night, don’t necessarily interpret that as, ‘Oh, they don’t want to be intimate with me,’” says Karinch, “but rather that they just need some air.”
3. The butt-kissers
Here, the two partners are sleeping back-to-back with their butts or low backs touching. This position suggests a confident couple, says Wood: “While these two people appreciate their own space and feel comfortable acting independently, they also feel connected to each other, perhaps in a sexual way.” As with spooning, butt-kissing is common for new couples who are building a foundation of intimacy and trust with each other.
4. The liberty lovers
As you might guess by now, sleeping back-to-back without contact—as with this position—isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In some cases, it might just be the natural result of relaxing and drifting off to slumber after untangling from a cuddle knot. “You could feel very secure back-to-back,” says Karinch. Perhaps there’s no inherent need to communicate that physically, or maybe, the novelty of bed-sharing has simply worn off a bit, says Wood, who adds that hot sleepers or folks managing particular health needs, injuries, or menopause might simply default to this position for maximum comfort.
That said, if there’s a sudden shift to this position that can’t be explained by any of the above, this may be a red flag. “It’s possible that there’s a disconnect or one partner doesn’t feel like the other is fully meeting their needs,” says Wood. “In that case, even if you don’t prefer to touch while you’re sleeping, I say to schedule 15 minutes in the morning or at night with your partner to snuggle, so that you can connect physically, without interfering with either of your sleep.”
5. The gazers
If you were awake, you’d essentially be gazing into each other’s eyes in this position, which has both partners sleeping on their sides, directly facing each other. And according to Wood, this position tends to happen in couples that quite literally see eye-to-eye in all things. “Sleeping face to face reflects a desire to keep this incredibly strong cerebral connection throughout the night,” she says. Though, if one partner suddenly starts to sleep facing the other, it could be a sign that they’ve been feeling distant as of late. “They’re likely hungry for more connection and intimacy,” says Wood.
6. The starfish and the snail
Or, if you’re a real SpongeBob SquarePants fan, “The Patrick and Gary.” This happens when one person is sprawled all over the bed, and the other has to make themselves more diminutive as a result.
“This can be a sign of selfishness in the partner who’s hogging the bed,” says Karinch. But, that doesn’t mean there’s no hope. If you’re the partner on the receiving end, she suggests simply having an honest talk with the bed hogger about your space needs. That way, if they still continue to encroach on your side, they won’t be surprised to receive a friendly nudge in the ribcage.
7. The nuzzle
Here, one partner sleeps with their head on the other partner’s chest. “This sleeping position indicates confidence and assurance,” says Wood. The person on their back is in the protector role, assuring the other partner of their willingness to support them, while the person resting their head on the first person’s chest is comfortable depending upon them. “The head is an incredibly vulnerable part of the body,” adds Wood. “And placing the head on a partner’s chest indicates that you’re willing to share your decision-making and thinking.”
8. The tangle (aka the pretzel)
Picture this position as the two partners being all wrapped up—legs, arms, you name it. Generally, it happens in new relationships, where the people just can’t seem to get enough of each other’s physical presence. But according to Wood, it can also show up in rekindled relationships or long-term ones where the two people’s lives are deeply intertwined. “People who sleep like this tend to function as a unit,” she says.
9. The footsie
Playing footsie in bed has a similar implication to playing footsie under the table: “It’s very playful,” says Karinch. “It still allows each partner to take on whatever sleeping position is most comfortable to them, while the light touch of the feet reinforces a sense of attachment.”
But according to Wood, if it happens out of the blue, footsie in bed could have deeper implications than that. “The feet are the most honest part of the body, the first part to move in a fight-or-flight type response, and the part under the least amount of conscious control,” she says. “So, if you get into a disagreement with your partner during the day, but then find your feet locked in bed, that’s a subconscious signal that you’re still feeling connected and you’re not going to stray too far from each other.”
10. The stomach sleepers
Sleeping facedown is synonymous with closing yourself off. (Remember those “windows” along the front of the body that Wood noted above?) If one or both partners in a relationship are snoozing on their stomach, it could be a sign of anxiety, fear, or hyper-vulnerability, says Wood. “This could be communicating a lack of trust, particularly sexual trust, and it might signal a need for an honest conversation,” she adds, noting that she’s seen a rise in this position among her clients since the start of the pandemic (which is not entirely unsurprising given rising levels of anxiety and stress across the board.)
11. The uneven back sleepers
You might not initially think anything of one person sleeping with their head closer to the headboard (or wall) than the other, but according to Wood, this can speak to something of a power dynamic in the relationship.
“Typically, the person closer to the headboard is the more dominant or more confident person in the partnership—perhaps they’re the breadwinner or tend to figure in the protector role,” she says. “And the other person might be more submissive or the person being protected.” Of course, she caveats, this doesn’t apply if either person is using a pillow for back or neck reasons that props them higher or lower on the bed.
12. The cliff hanger
If both people are as far apart on the bed as they can be, perhaps with a limb or two dangling off the edge, it’s reasonable to suspect there’s something of a disconnect in the relationship. Assuming that this position isn’t just the result of one or both partners running hot at night (and needing to cool off with an arm or leg out of the covers), it may indicate that one person is seeking independence from the other, or is feeling hurt or disrespected, says Wood. As a result, it’s a sign that a conversation may be needed for both folks to get back on the same wavelength.
It’s worth noting, however, that with any of these couples’ sleeping positions, these potential explanations are simply another tool for your relationship toolkit—and they might work more effectively for some partnerships than others. But no matter how much you do or don’t cuddle (or the particular position you choose), the end goal for any sleeping situation is always maximum comfort for everyone involved.
While body-language cues can be helpful to analyze, communicating your sleep needs with actual words can also go a long way toward that comfort. To some hot and bothered sleepers, for instance, asking, “Can I open a window?” is way more romantic than spooning. Below, Casper sleep advisor Michael Grandner, PhD, director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona, shares more advice for clocking better zzz’s with a partner.
How to get better sleep with a partner, no matter which couples’ sleeping positions you practice
Meshing your sleep patterns with those of a partner can feel like a doozy, particularly if you’ve never shared a bed before. But while some evidence suggests that sleeping in the same bed as a partner can lead to more shallow sleep with more frequent awakenings (you might respond to any noises or movements that your bedmate creates), there’s also research to show that those who sleep with a partner report higher satisfaction with their sleep and sleep quality, and may experience improved REM sleep, says Dr. Grandner.
To wit, there’s no real scientific reason not to share a bed, so long as sleep disruptions are kept to a minimum. In that vein, earplugs or an eye mask can be real game-changers, particularly for couples whose sleep schedules don’t align, says Dr. Grandner, who also recommends a split-king mattress (two twin XLs, instead of a single king) to keep one person from feeling any of the other person’s movements as strongly.
While Dr. Grandner generally recommends going to bed whenever your body naturally prefers to sleep (based on your particular sleep chronotype), he does caveat that spending a few minutes in bed with a partner who goes to bed earlier can be a good thing, too, in terms of minimizing stress and enhancing feelings of intimacy. “On the other end of the night, if you’re getting up early, be sure to protect your partner’s sleep as much as you can by keeping the room as dark and quiet as possible,” he says.
Additional reporting by Mary Grace Garis.
