I noticed that I actually slept better this week when I wasn’t using a pillow. Made me curious.
ETA: I think my framing was slightly unhelpful. I do understand why babies don’t sleep with pillows due to the risks. I am more curious about if there are benefits to using a pillow as an adult.
In: 493
Babies don’t use pillows because you don’t want them to struggle to breathe while sleeping. I think their reflexes aren’t developed and sometimes they will suffocate and die from SIDS.
Pillows aren’t safe for babies. They can smother.
When I was a child I didn’t use a pillow because I slept on my stomach. But as I became older stomach sleeping was no longer comfortable. Stomach sleeping is not recommended because it puts stress on your back and neck.
But if you aren’t a baby a pillow is recommended if you sleep on your side or back. Pillows are intended to keep your spine in a neutral position.
If you are more comfortable without a pillow, and you aren’t a stomach sleeper, maybe the pillow you use is just too thick or firm. Try a thinner or softer pillow and see how that feels.
Babies mattresses are firmer, babies heads are bigger and their necks/shoulder proportionally smaller, their joints are also more flexible. Babies are also encourage to sleep on their back until they can roll themselves over. As a result, if you look at a sleeping baby, it can comfortably have it’s head on the mattress without bending the neck as much. Sleeping on their side, as they get older, the shoulders sort of collapse, allowing the head to still keep a fairly neutral spine – thus comfortable.
For adults, our shoulders get wider and head gets proportionally smaller and our joints get stiffer. We also tend to start to like softer mattress. So, if you try to lie on your back or side without a pillow, you’ll find your head awkwardly pulling your neck into a bent position which can cause back and neck pain.
Additionally – babies can roll onto a pillow and not be able to breath – so babies shouldn’t have pillows in their cribs. Or blankets – use a sleep sack.
My dog uses pillows to sleep all the time and when a pillow is not available he keeps his hand under his chin to sleep just like we do. So the head shape and spinal curvature lends to using a pillow as a good support to feel less tense and comfortable. Try sleeping flat on the floor or sideways, your neck will fall off to one side and you will need to tuck your hand in under your head to keep your spine in a neutral position.
I tried sleeping without a pillow for a few weeks. I could do it if I laid on my back, as my spine aligned reasonably for my head. But I was mostly a side sleeper, and if you try to lay on your side then your neck has to flop for your head to rest on the bed and it just doesn’t work.
But babies have a proportionally larger head and small shoulders, so they can sleep in those positions just fine. Around 3-4 years old, they might sleep better with a thin pillow.
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> I am more curious about if there are benefits to using a pillow as an adult.
Most people find them more comfortable. That’s the benefit, people use them because they are more comfortable and people like being comfortable while they sleep.
If you are an exception to this and do not find pillows comfortable, just don’t use them.
As someone that suffers from chronic spinal issues I can say that most of the benefits of using a pillow as an adult are erased by people using improper pillows – because there’s no such thing as a pillow that will work in all sleeping positions. Most people change positions 1.6 times per hour of time in bed (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5677378/). A pillow that correctly positions your head while on your back is not going to position your head correctly when on your side, or stomach, and the same goes for a “side sleeping” pillow for back sleep, etc…
There are some fancy pillows that are variable heights, fill weights, densities, etc… that claim to be a “one size fits all” but I’ve yet to find one that lives up to the claims, is comfortable, or easy to use.
Personally, before most of my lower back was fused, I slept almost exclusively on my stomach, and so a thin pillow was ideal. Now I can’t sleep on my stomach at all (at least without pain) so I’ve had to adapt to sleeping on my side and back. I sleep mostly on my side now, so I have a good pillow for that. Most of the time when I transition to my back I move the pillow and simply sleep with my head directly on my bed. The mattress I have allows you to sink somewhat into the foam while still providing enough firmness, so the angle of my head and neck without a pillow is pretty comfortable, though not ideal.
Funnily enough, the best, least painful and most restful sleep I get is in my backpacking hammock (Warbonnet Blackbird). Because of the design sleeping on my back is very comfortable, and I don’t need a pillow at all when I’m sleeping in it. Unfortunately, sleeping in a hammock indoors isn’t very convenient, nor is it conducive to cuddling/sexy times with the missus.
A baby’s ‘neutral position’ is less exaggerated that an adults due to the formation of the spine.
Been sleeping w/o pillow for many years. Back and side sleeper. Less pain, better breathing for me esp on back with head back and chin lifted up.
My hot take: pillows are a moneymaker for someone.
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