Why don’t we fall out of bed more often?
A tumble out of the wrong side of the bed can ruin your day.
Asked by: Lois Rumsey, Southwell
When we sleep, a lot goes on in our bodies. We continue to breathe and growth hormone is released – we do not need to be awake for these things to happen. Similarly, we have some awareness of our body position and movements, and some people even manage to sit up or walk during their sleep! Most of us have enough awareness to ensure that we do not fall out of bed, but this ability develops over time. Young children are still growing and understanding how their bodies fit into the world around them, which is why they might benefit from a bedrail.
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Authors
Alice is a Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths. She has contributed to several diverse research areas, including the longitudinal associations between sleep and psychopathology, behavioural genetics, sleep paralysis and exploding head syndrome. In addition to her scientific contributions she also excels in the public engagement of science. She has published two popular science book (Nodding Off, Bloomsbury, 2018 and Sleepy Pebble, Nobrow, 2019). She regularly contributes articles to the media and has had her work published in outlets including the Guardian, GQ UK, Sud Ouest, Slate Fr, Independent.
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