Your pillows falling off of your bed is an annoying occurrence that can hurt your sleep and other parts of your life. Fortunately, you can solve this problem in many ways, to make sure that you never have to stick your arm down the gap between your bed and a wall to grab a pillow again.
1 – Make Sure That Your Bed is the Right Size
When your mattress is not the same size permitted by your bed frame, there is most likely a gap somewhere on your bed. If this gap is near where you put your head, your pillows will naturally slide down into the gap at any point during the night, which often changes your head placement and might wake you up.
If you attempt to put a larger mattress on a smaller bed frame, you will have an equally bad problem, as pillows are more liable to slip off of the slope the extra mattress creates. In this case, if you end up having problems sleeping or with pillows, the easiest solution is to just get a different mattress or bed frame.
As long as you are okay with going without one, you can just get rid of your headboard on your bed and simply press your mattress up against a wall in your room. This solution gets rid of the gap caused by the former headboard and gives you the freedom to do whatever you want with the headboard that you no longer need.
If your mattress is smaller or shorter than the bed frame you use, you might want to consider getting a new one, although this is not necessary as you can actually fill the gap using other techniques.
2 – Add a Mattress Pad
Headboard pillows and pads are also great solutions to blocking the gap between your bed and a bed frame or wall. These devices block off the space behind your head and instead offer a solid spot for you to lay your pillows on top of.
Although these products are safe for most people, if you or whoever is using the bed accidentally moves the pad, it is easy to fall through the gap. Again, this is not a danger for most people, although for small children and impaired people unable to pick themselves up from the ground very well, the gap is a hazard.
You also may want to customize your pillow pad or add one as a decoration for your bedroom. When using a mattress pad, just remember that there is still a gap beneath the pad, even though you probably do not see it.
3 – Block the Gap Between the Mattress and Wall
For a do-it-yourself or temporary fix, you can screw in a few wood boards to your bed frame to bridge the gap between your mattress and the wall or bed frame. You can also try to secure other parts of your mattress to the bed frame, although this idea depends on the type of bed frame you own and whether you can secure your mattress to it.
With so many bed frames and mattresses to choose from, the opportunities are endless for how you want to secure your mattress and fill the gap between your mattress and bed frame. Think outside the box and look for any ways to secure your mattress in a specific position.
In most cases, you will not find much success by filling in the gap where your pillows fall all the way to the ground, as the filling material will eventually fall, causing your pillows to fall down soon after. If you have a very low bed, however, you might consider giving it a shot for a night and seeing if it works.
Importance of Good Sleep Posture
Once you figure out how to keep your pillows from falling down that annoying gap between the mattress and wall, the next step to optimizing your sleep is getting perfect sleep posture. Different sleep habits and positions will work for some people and not others, so figuring out what is best for you is most often a process of trial and error.
Picking which type of pillow works best for you is also not a one-size-fits-all solution, as all human bodies vary in spine configuration and curve, as well in muscles and lifestyle. A good starting part is to find a pillow that is, for one, comfortable, and two, supports the natural curving of your spine.
Replacing your mattress and pillows every few years is also a good idea to support your sleep posture; experts recommend replacing your mattress every five to seven years and replacing your pillows every two to three years. Take some time to keep track of how long you have had your mattress, and pay attention to your pillows to make sure that they are supporting your head and aligning your body properly.
Proper alignment when sleeping will keep your ears, shoulders, and hips aligned no matter which side of your body you sleep on. There are some tips for which area of the body you should sleep on and how to align your pillows, whether it be on your back, stomach, or side.
Tips for Sleeping on Your Back
One of the most common ways to sleep for humans is on the back, as it is natural and comfortable for many people. It usually keeps your spine aligned and skin unwrinkled, whereas sleeping on your side or stomach habitually might give you wrinkles on one or both sides of your face later in life.
If you naturally sleep on your back or plan on training yourself to sleep on your back, placing pillows beneath your head, under the small of your back, and beneath your knees is a good idea if you are not getting outstanding rest every night. This will further help align the spine in some people, and potentially help you improve your sleeping experience.
Other benefits of sleeping on your back include preventing stress on the shoulders and the head, which might help in reducing tension headaches and other health issues. Without a proper pillow setup or with a gap between your bed and wall, sleeping on your back may not aid your sleep.
Tips for Sleeping on Your Side
Sleeping on your side with proper side alignment works for lots of sleepers too, as you can limit joint and lower back pain, and is an especially good solution for chronic snorers. You can also help relieve digestive problems by sleeping on your side, although you will find some drawbacks to this approach.
As the most popular sleeping position, side sleeping contributes to wrinkled facial skin, which may be an issue. If you worry about your skin when you are older, you might want to consider switching sleeping positions to support your healthy skin.
You can find large pillows that support side sleepers if you want to get more support while sleeping, or you can place a pillow or pillows between your legs to keep your spine nice and straight. While this is not always necessary to get a nice night of sleep, it can help you if you wake up with your back or neck feeling sore.
Tips for Sleeping on Your Stomach
The last popular sleep position is on your stomach, which comes with a host of benefits and drawbacks, but is ultimately the least healthy when it comes to back and neck pain and overall sleep quality. While sleeping on your tummy can reduce snoring and sleep apnea, it is unnatural for your back and neck, which is what often results in pain in those regions in the morning.
Pressure on your abdomen might also add more pressure to your spine, and adds to facial wrinkles later in life. If you decide to stick with stomach sleeping, you should consider placing some pillows under your body to prevent additional pains and unnatural body positions.
A pillow below your face or head will cut the risk of neck pain while adding a pillow below your spine will help keep it aligned with your back. Try to keep your legs straight and not out of whack, as this threatens to twist your spine, which results in that irritating pain along your back.
Final Thoughts
Preventing your pillows from falling in between your bed and a wall might seem hopeless when you wake up in the middle of the night, although there are many ways that you can solve this issue. Making sure that your bed frame is not larger than your mattress is the most simple way to fix this, although you can also add objects to fill or bridge the gap.
Adding a mattress pad or using a DIY fix, such as wood boards, to fill in the hole will work for many scenarios. Good sleeping posture is necessary for a good night of sleep in all sleeping positions, whether you are sleeping on your back, stomach, or side.
We sleep for almost a third of our lives, so doing it well is something that we should take pride in.
I have two Associate’s degrees, one in Medical Assisting and the other in Computer Technician, and I am roughly five classes from a bachelor’s degree. Though I never ended up working in the medical field, I have five and a half years of experience in IT. I recently became a stay-at-home mom to my two young boys, and I’m so excited to start this adventure with them! In my spare time, I love to bake and read pretty much anything I can get my hands on.