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Let’s imagine the following situations;
- Your partner is occupying the whole bed with her arms and legs outstretched. And you need to get some space.
Or,
- Your baby just falls asleep on your lap, and you feel the need to place her down.
Or,
- You are a nurse and come to check your patient who just fell asleep.
Have any of the above situations ever happened to you? If so, you may feel the urge to move them when they sleep. How to touch someone in their sleep without waking them up?
Well, we all have a different level of sensitivity and type of sleep. The same method may not work for all. Depending on the individuals and scenarios, you need to try different tactics.
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Read on below to know about the tips for touching someone without waking them up.
What Happens with Your Sense of Touch While Sleeping?
The sense of touch is somewhat intricate. It determines how you move and interacts with surrounding objects and environmental factors. When you sleep, it slightly gets reduced but doesn’t turn off completely.
It works differently than when we are awake. Your senses don’t stay properly conscious; it can respond if triggered severely. It remains somewhat active so you could wake up in an emergency.
Depending on your sleeping stage, your sense of touch would also differ. Humans usually have two sleep stages – Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep and Non-Rapid Eye Movement sleep.
Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
In the non-REM sleep or deep sleep stage, our brain cannot sense external stimuli. The brain stays in the lower lowest activity level. In this stage, our body refills energy. So, the non-REM stage is ideal for waking someone up.
Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
During REM sleep, our brain stays slightly active, and we see dreams. This stage is also called paradoxical sleep. Your eyes will move under the eyelids in this stage. The activity level of the brain remains close to the waking state.
In this stage, the sleeping person may respond to external factors. If you want to wake someone up, the REM stage is the best.
How to Understand If the Sleeping Person Can be Touched?
The sense of touch remains active when a person sleeps. You can wake the person up in case of any emergency. Also, you can let the person sleep while touching him.
This is only possible if you can determine in which sleeping stage the person is in. Above, we already mentioned two sleeping stages. You can wake someone up if they are in the REM stage.
If you want to keep the person asleep while touching them, you can do it in the non-REM stage. During this stage, our bodies, as well as our eyes, stay motionless. The non-REM itself can be categorized into three sub-stages – light, moderate and deep sleep.
The deep sleep stage is what can keep someone sleeping even after disturbance. So, how to understand that the person is in a deep sleeping stage? If you notice the following signs, it means the person is in a deep sleep.
- No motor reflexes
- The relaxed and motionless body
- Deep and slow breathing
How to Touch Someone in Their Sleep without Waking Them up?
You may have felt the need to move someone to a comfortable position in their sleep. Or you want to take them out of danger. As the scenario could be different, so there could be different solutions. Let’s see the possible solutions in the four common situations.
Touching the Babies
Babies are touchy sleepers. They spend up to 50% of their sleeping time in the REM stage. So, you have to be extra careful if you want to touch their cute little hands, feet, or head.
It might seem tricky, but touching a sleeping baby is easier than you think. However, you need to check out a few things;
- Check the baby’s eye movement and breathing. If there are no eye movements and deep breathing, you are good to go.
- You can try rubbing your baby’s palm and notice if he grasps your finger or not. This action is called a grasp reflex, which is controlled by motor neurons.
- If you want to check your baby’s body temperature, go slowly.
- Lift your baby’s hand up and gently drop it. If they don’t respond, you can move your baby.
Touching Your Sleeping Partner
The most common scenario that we all confront is moving our sleeping partner. Sometime you may need to move them to get some space or to stop their snoring. In any way, follow the instructions below.
- If your partner is sleeping on his side, slightly turn his upper body. Then, push toward the neutral position so they could move to another location.
- Apply gentle pressure on your partner’s body and push slowly. Your partner may feel the pressure at some point and will remove the hand without waking up.
- If your partner is sleeping in a twisted position, move them one step at once.
Touching Sleeping Patients in the Hospital
Working in healthcare is quite stressful for health workers. Sometimes you may need to touch your sick, sleeping patient to check their vitals. So, you can follow the steps below.
- If you need to check vital signs, place the rear side of your hand on the patient’s forehead. Then, gently press your hand for a couple of seconds.
- There comes a time when you need to adjust the equipment. Here, do one step at a time without rushing.
- If you need to move the patient to side, touch gently, and gradually increase the pressure. Make sure your motions are smooth.
Touching Your Snoozing Friend
When your friend sleeps in an uncomfortable position, they snore, and you need to help them get cosy. Before you do anything, check their sleeping stage at first. Then, take the following actions.
- Gently turn your friend to the other side.
- Instead of pushing too much pressure, move them one step at a time.
- You can help your friend relax by adding some cosiness. Add an extra blanket or move then to a more suitable position naturally.
Final Words
There you have it. This is how to touch someone in their sleep without waking them up. You can try all the probable actions. The summary of all actions is you need to take advantage of someone’s natural inclination.
Test for the person’s sleep stage, maintain contact and go slowly. Thus you can get your spot back in the bed or lessen your partner’s snoring. Don’t get stuck in between any situations.