If the snoring is worse on your back and quieter on your side, you're not imagining it, and most people who sleep next to a snorer have noticed the same thing. Side sleeping is the easier position for a lot of snorers, and an anti snore pillow is for the nights they end up on their back anyway.
Here is how the two positions compare, what keeps someone on their side, and what to do about the rolling over.
Snoring on your back vs your side
Lie on your back and the snoring tends to be louder and more regular. Roll onto your side and a lot of snorers drop to a few grunts or go quiet. If you only ever notice it when they're flat on their back, you've already found the pattern.
Back sleeping has its good points. Your head and neck sit in a line, your arms rest where they like and nothing is pressed under you. Plenty of people who snore on their back simply fall asleep best there, which is why telling them to switch sides rarely lasts past 2 AM.
Side sleeping is the quieter option for many snorers, but it has gaps of its own: the one under your head, the one between your knees and the one in front of your chest. Our side sleeper setup guide goes through all three.
Back vs side at a glance
On your back: more snoring for a lot of people, a straight line from head to neck, easy to fall asleep in. On your side: less snoring for a lot of people, a bit more setup with the pillow height and the knees, and a position you have to hold on to through the night.
Neither is wrong. The real question is which one you or your partner will stay in until the alarm, and only the sleeper can answer that.
If you share a bed, ask the snorer too. Someone who has slept on their back for 20 years will tell you straight away whether side sleeping is a deal.
Work out which position it is
Before you buy anything, find out when the snoring happens. Don't trust one rough night. Over about a week, jot down each morning how it went: was it loud, was it quiet, and which way were they lying when you woke up or got up for water?
Seven mornings is enough to see it. If the loud nights are the back nights, you have your answer, and the next two sections apply to you. If the snoring is the same in both positions, moving them won't fix much and the other ideas in our guide to sleeping next to someone who snores will do more.
Staying on your side
This part is free or cheap, so start here.
Put a firm pillow or a rolled blanket along the back of the person who snores. It makes rolling over a bit more effort, and someone who's asleep often won't bother.
Add something between the knees. Side sleeping is a lot more comfortable with a pillow in the gap, and comfortable people stay put. Our Knee Pillow is C$28.99, and the knee pillow guide shows exactly where it goes.
Check the head pillow too, since it does half the work on your side. The pillows collection has the contour pillow and the others side by side.
Where an anti snore pillow fits
Some people roll onto their back no matter what you put behind them. That's where an anti snore pillow comes in, and the one we sell is a pad that goes under the pillow.
The Snore Pillow Pad starts working when you snore. A small control box sits by the bed, and a cable runs from it to the pad. When the snoring starts, air fills one side of the pad, the pillow lifts on that side and the sleeper's head turns. Then the air lets out and the pillow settles flat again.
It runs on USB power, and it goes on the snorer's side of the bed, so it's their pillow that moves and yours stays put.
The position stays the one the sleeper chose. The pad only turns their head when the snoring starts, which makes it a different tool from a pillow behind the back: the blanket tries to stop the roll, the pad deals with it after it has happened.
Pad only or the set
It comes two ways. Pad only is the air pad and the control box, and you slide it under a pillow they already like. The Pillow + pad set adds an oval pillow with a hollow for the head, made to sit on the pad.
Both have the same pad and the same box. If they love their current pillow, pad only is the simple pick. If their pillow is flat and tired anyway, the set saves you buying one.
Which one to try first
If they snore mostly on their back and will move for a pillow, try the side setup first. It costs the least, and some people never need anything else.
If they roll back every time, or they won't give up their back, go for the pad. It's built for exactly that person.
If you aren't sure, run the free version for a week and keep your notes. Rolled blanket behind them, a tally of loud nights, and a look at whether the count drops. A number tells you more than a hunch does.
What the pad costs
Pad only is C$169.99 and the Pillow + pad set is C$184.99. Shipping is free and returns run 30 days, so you can try it in your own bed.
You can see both on the Snore Pillow Pad page, or start with the C$28.99 Knee Pillow and the side sleeping route.