Moving a person who’s sleeping doesn’t necessarily mean that you want to wake him/her up. There are sleep senses that stay alert in case of an emergency. This act, therefore, allows you to move either your baby or sleeping partner without interfering with their sleep.
Therefore, you don’t have to worry about moving your baby who’s sleeping in the wrong position. Use the following guide to move your loved ones without disturbing his/her sleep. You need to make sure the person you want to touch is in a deep sleep; test first.
Touching someone without waking him/her
Now, let’s have a look at some possible scenarios where you’re likely to touch people without waking them up. The everyday situations are primarily applicable when you want to move or feel an individual without interfering with his/her sleep.
Your baby
Babies tend to look cute while sleeping, and as a loving parent, you won’t have a choice but to touch their head, hands, or feet. There’s no way to avoid such situations; you will have to touch them carefully. However, you have to understand that children are sensitive sleepers, meaning that they can quickly get awake.
For experienced parents, you understand that a sleepless baby is a nightmare on his/her own. The entire family won’t be in peace. Sometimes you must touch your baby when you want to measure his/her temperature. Additionally, you may need to move the baby’s current sleeping position to a safer and more comfortable one. The main task is to figure out how deep the child’s sleep is during that moment. Use the following trick to understand when is the right time to touch your baby while sleeping:
Grasp reflex induction
I thought you should understand that motor neurons monitor a Grasp reflex, which has minimized activity while a person is in the deep sleep stage. Therefore, you are allowed to rub r hold the palm of your baby firmly; if she’s not in the deep sleep stage, she will grasp your fingers.
Inspect the baby’s breath and eye movement
While in the deep-sleep stage, your child will have no eye movement, and her breath will be deep and slow. She feels relaxed, so if you realize these indicators, you are free to touch or move the baby without waking her up.
Move the hands of your baby
Try to gently hold and lift your baby’s hand(s), not too high, and then drop it. In case she doesn’t wake up after the touch, you are free to move her.
However, your baby may start waking up when transferring him either from the bed to the crib. In such a case, gently pat his/her tummy until he feels relaxed. Alternatively, if the little one got some self-soothing skills, wait and watch the kid calm down on her crib.
Touching your snoozing friend
We have some people who habitually stretch across the bed in a disgusting and uncomfortable position. Helping them in such situations is necessary since that is what friends are meant to be. Therefore, you have to start by checking his/her sleep stage. Just like for babies, inspect for signs like the absence of eye movement and deep breathing.
Alternatively, you can try to lift his hand(s) and then drop it slowly. Now let’s figure out how you can touch or move such friends without waking them. Below is what your need to do:
Use gentle pressure
Gradually start by pushing the individual and then increase the pressure slowly to turn over the person. Exerting high pressure on sleeping fellows can wake them up unintentionally.
Apply some coziness
Sometimes your friend might be sleeping in a particular position because of freezing or a pet curled up on his/her legs. To handle such an issue, you can cover them with an extra blanket or remove the irritating pet near the friend’s legs. These people will naturally adjust to a recommendable sleeping position once they are comfortable.
Go one step at a time
Checking an individual’s sleeping position may enable you to develop an appropriate way to accommodate them. For instance, you may decide to use somebody’s natural inclination; push him/her to a safer or desired position.
In this case, the force of gravity will assist you in performing position change in the natural where without disrupting a friend’s sleep.
Touching your sleeping partner
Perhaps the typical scenario is when you touch someone while asleep, especially a sleeping partner. This mostly happens to active sleepers. Some of these fellows may maneuver around the bed, shifting you to the edge of the mattress; you will feel uncomfortable.
Sometimes these people can hug you, breathing barely, so you need some more space to live. The good news is that you can adjust such people’s sleeping positions without waking them up. You first have to inspect how deep the person’s sleep before an action is.
Secondly, you have to regain a little space by pushing your sleeping partner to the other bedside. You are supposed to begin with the gradual movement, and then gently, slowly increase the effort to move them to your desired position. Again, you should take advantage of the gravity and transfer the individual based on his/her inclinations; it will feel more natural.
More so, you can use this technique to handle your snorer sleeping partner. Occasionally, turning their heads to the other side can reduce snoring, hence giving you ample time to sleep. However, experts recommend informing your partner about his/her sleeping habits; communication is key to any relationship. Tell them how their sleep affects yours and makes you uncomfortable.
Touching a patient in the hospital
Here is another reason that we need to touch people without waking them up. If you are working in a healthcare facility, you know how hectic it is to unintentionally awake a patient. These patients might serve severe injuries and pain; they tend to have a sensitive sleep because of medications. No one would even wish to wake them up, but some reasons may force you to do so:
For equipment adjustment; if you’re dealing with a very active sleeper, touching them is inevitable to adjust items like cords and tubes wired to them. Changing these equipment is necessary from time to time. Take your time, and don’t do it faster. Use a patch where necessary; in situations where you intend to replace the dropper tube.
For inspecting vital signs; You are required to maintain constant contact with where you are applying pressure. Don’t move too quickly or twitch your hands; you may end up waking up the individual. For temperature check, gently place your palm on the patient’s forehead and gradually apply pressure for some seconds.
For transferring the patient; You are advised to begin with a gentle touch and then advance the pressure slowly while moving the individual to a specific position. Ensure your motions are smooth and don’t cease to maintain constant contact with the patient.
Frequently asked questions:
- What are some of the ways that can wake me up without interrupting my partner?
There are multiple ways, but the prominent ones are; using wake-up lights, smart watches, a bed-shaking alarm, acoustic sheep Headphones, Bose Sleepbuds, etc.
- Can you feel when being touched while in sleep?
Yes, that’s what we call tactile hallucinations. You feel as if somebody is touching yet not.
Final words
Adjusting the sleeping position of your sleeping partner, baby, patient, or snoozing folk is now easier. Sometimes we intend to touch them, but they accidentally wake up; it’s so disgusting, especially for nurses. But, the above tricks should educate you on how you can touch and move someone who’s sleeping without interrupting their sleep.
Leave a Reply