Head banging in bed

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Do any of you with AS and/or high functioning autism bang your head on your pillow, before you fall asleep and have others tell you that you do so while asleep?

I even "bang" my legs, thus my entire body moves while I am "fast asleep."

I have been doing this pretty much my entire life. I believe I do and more frequently when I have something on my mind that is planned for the next day; but I am not sure if that is the case.

[I'm not sure if I should respond, as I am just a very untypical NT (until proven otherwise). But maybe you will find my post entertaining. ]

For me going to bed is like going to gym. I've got a queen bed just for myself, and I use a little pillow (I am very particular about pillows and their fabric). It takes me quite a long time to fall asleep, I wake up many times during night, and I need 30-60 minutes to wake up in the morning, in which time I am "half asleep" (I alternate short periods of being awake with periods of dreaming).

When I am awake or half-asleep, I constantly move the pillow and myself from one side of the bed to another, or flip the pillow, straighten it, reorient, etc. I raise my head up, do whatever is "necessary" with the pillow, and then let my head drop down. I also do it just to move my head to a different place on the pillow or bed; why does it feel necessary I do not know. I frequently change position of my body from laying on my back to laying on my stomach or on side. I usually fall asleep laying on my stomach an having head on the pillow, and I usually awake on my back and keeping my head on the oposite side of the bed. So most likely I do the "gymnastics" while asleep too. I also actively "control" the comforter while sleeping, so that it covers my body (unless it is very hot).

I often feel unsure if my legs are still there, so I usually keep them strangely tangled, and they touch each other in many spots. For the same reason I position my arms under my body, which is not a good idea as they sometimes get numb while I am sleeping and can't feel that. This does not happen often, because I usually roll or make other whole body movements and they are set free. I have slept this way for my entire life, but the queen bed surely brought many new possibilities!

I don't bang any part of my body when I sleep, but I do tend to toss and turn for at least an hour before I fall asleep, even if I'm pretty tired.

I don't do any of that when I sleep, I know for a fact since I once videotaped my self asleep at night. However I once saw a television program about sleeping disorders and one of the people featured on it, when he sleeps, will begin to rock back forth so violently that it wakes him up. Result.... he only gets about 1hr of sleep total a night. If your head banging interfertes with your sleep, I would hope that you would get it checked out by a sleep specialist.

My movements during sleep don't effect my sleep. I have gone this long without any evidence of it. My immediate family is obviously aware of it, as I alluded to.

I was observing myself yesterday night, and indeed I banged my head into the pillow a couple of times before it felt comfortable. It seemed a very natural thing to do. So you are not alone doing this!

I usually bang my head a few times and then burrow. I crawl under my pillows and kinda bundle up my blankets-- apparently it's very hard to tell if I'm actually there!

I like bouncing my tete to flatten out the pillow for comfort before I sleep, too.

Mum said I used to thump my feet in my cot until I was about 2 years old and then I used to roll my head at night to get to sleep until I was about 9 (that was mainly to drown out the noise of the mosquitoes). I used to have matted hair at the back of my head.

I now have to hug a pillow to get to sleep.

No head banging. For me it's sliding my feet back and forth like running, well more like race walking but slower. And I have to sleep in a sleeping bag so I can have my feet wrapped up. And I can't sleep without my whippet and my favorite stuffie.

As a child, I used to 'rock' my self to sleep and sing. I also did it in the car. I realized that it was an "odd" habit and stopped when I was around 14.

I don't do head-banging, but I do leg-bang.

I had a sleep study done a couple of years ago, and when I woke up the next morning the nurse commented that it was no wonder I was waking up all the time; I kicked so hard my whole body would jolt.

I headbang, but not specifically at that time of day. I do know a guy who does that though.

I foot flap as I'm falling asleep every night. And also run my finger along the edge of my pillow cover. "Finger-tickling" I call it.