Explained as easy as pie

Why can’t you sleep standing up?

It's much more comfortable to sleep in bed.

(Bild: Konstantin Yuganov/stock.adobe.com)

Do your parents often hear you say "I don't want to go to bed"? But we explain to all inquisitive girls and boys why you can relax best there and why some animals can actually sleep standing up in our "Easily explained for children" section.

It's wonderful to snuggle up in bed in the evening and dream of wonderful experiences at night. But you might be wondering: why do you have to lie down instead of sleeping standing up?

Imagine you are a superhero who saves people all day long. In the evening, you are very tired and need a longer break. Lying down is the best way to sleep - as if you were resting in your "secret base". Your muscles relax and your body leaves all the stresses and strains of everyday life behind. The next morning, you wake up refreshed and ready for new adventures.

Too much work for the muscles
If you were to doze while standing up, your muscles would have to work all the time to keep you upright. It would be like doing superhero work all day and all night - without taking a break. This would make your muscles very tired and eventually too weak to hold you up.

You would soon lose your balance and wake up from it. In the worst case scenario, your legs would give way too quickly and you would end up on the ground and even hurt yourself. Unlike humans, however, animals can sleep standing up. Think of a horse, for example: nature has equipped it with what's known as a "tension saw" construction. This allows the horse to place its kneecap over its thigh bone and "hook" it in such a way that the knee joint is fixed and rigid. The hock joint is held in place by strong tendons. During sleep, the animal switches the load from one hind leg to the other - and can doze wonderfully and safely in a standing position.

Gathering energy while sitting
Would you still like to sleep differently than lying down? Then try sitting up, preferably with your back leaning against something. Your 'superhero power mode' won't be completely switched off and you won't usually sleep very deeply. Although your muscles don't have to work as hard sitting down as they do standing up, they still have to keep an eye on you so that you don't tip forwards or sideways. So you're like a superhero who sits down to recharge his batteries, but is still ready to get going again whenever an adventure beckons.