6 Months of Sleeping on the Floor

This is my experience of sleeping on the floor every night. As a disclaimer, I do have a 2″ mattress topper over the ground and I did not jump right to the floor. I started by removing my comforter, then frame/box, and lastly the mattress. This is not meant to sell you on why you should sleep on the floor, it’s just a description of my experience. If you’re interested on the benefits behind ditching your mattress just search the web or check out this blog by Katy Bowman.

Night 1:

I immediately regretted it. I was wondering if there was a way to get my bed back. Didn’t sleep well, to say the least. I woke up feeling like I got my ass kicked.

Night 2-4:

Every night was a little better but it still sucked. I was forced to sleep on my back. Every time I would roll over I would hear pops throughout my body. My neck would be tight and sore when I woke. I had to use two pillows for my head, which I never do.

Night 5-7:

Sleeping slowly got easier. Sometimes I would wake up on my side and a shoulder would hurt the next day. Still lots of popping while moving around at night. Still falling on the floor sometimes when I go to lay down because I forget a mattress isn’t there to catch me. I realized how much the bounciness of the bed was helping me move. It was difficult to come up on my elbows when there was no give, followed by more pops in my shoulders.

Week 2:

Sleeping improved and I didn’t have any glaring tight, sore spots upon waking. I just felt a little sore all over but but not as bad as the floor beat down I received the week before. I’m able to move in more positions throughout the night without discomfort. I went down to using just one small pillow.

Week 3:

Sleeping felt normal. I would find myself in many different positions with no discomfort. I could still feel a difference the next day, not like being beat up, but more like I’d been tumbling around on the floor.

Week 4:

Feeling pretty well adjusted. I actually find myself sleeping in more positions that would have bothered me when in a regular bed and without the need for pillows I would usually put between my legs or prop my body with. The time it takes to fall asleep is the same but I find myself sleeping in later than usual. Although I still feel slightly sore when waking, during the night I’m out cold.

Month 2-4:

Feels like my new normal. I now wake up early and roll out of bed, literally. Sometimes I’ll even wake up off the mattress topper and on the actual carpet. Not only have I gone back to baseline in regards to sleep quality but my body feels better, not necessarily more refreshed but less tight spots and kinks. My mental alertness is the same when I wake up but my body feels more awake without the need to warm up.

Month 5-6:

My pillow is now just a folded towel. I find myself on the floor a lot more during the day and getting down on the floor is less of a fall. Even falls are less of a fall. At the end of long days I long for hopping in my bed (I call it my bed now) just like I when I had a mattress.

Conclusion:

Sometimes I wonder if I were to play a game of football again, how wrecked I would be after, or if I could even handle 10 minutes of it. Even though I feel stronger now than when I was younger, those forces on my body never really bothered me much back then. Now that I think about it, there was times I slept on the floor at sleepovers and I never thought twice about it. Don’t get me wrong, beds still feel amazing, just like a comfy pair of shoes, a squishy chair, or a hot shower, but it came with a cost. Ultimately, I’m going to continue sleeping on the floor and hopefully regain that thing I lost after adolescence, a strength we all used to have.

Update: 6 years Floor Sleeping

It's now been over 6 years sleeping on the floor. I have since removed the mattress topper and only have a thin blanket between myself and the ground.

I've had questions about parents co-sleeping with their babies on the floor. I actually think it's a good idea. Remember the mattress commercial where they dropped the bowling ball on the bed holding a wine glass? Well the ball was engulfed in the soft depths of the mattress while the glass was perfectly still and unaffected. On the floor you feel everything, so there is much more awareness of your surroundings. The chances will unknowingly roll over and smoosh your infant is drastically reduced. You also have a lot more "bed" real-estate on the floor, really as much space as in clear in the room (but somehow you will still get pushed into a corner).

When I'm traveling I will sleep in beds, and yes, they feel amazing. It's a nice treat that I can now appreciate, like a hot drink on a cold day.

Currently, I'm working on making more of my home environment conducive to more movement. In the living room I have floor couches, low Moroccan Pouf style seats, and a low table.