Why does my bed feel like it's shaking at night.

Sounds like a friendly ghost ;)

How long does it last? Do you live in a single-family home or an apartment?

I had an apartment once in a really old house. On occasion, I’d be lying in bed at night and it would feel like someone was at the foot of my bed, shaking it back and forth. I lived there about a year or so before I figured out what it was.

People upstairs were having sex. The house was really old, so it shook every time. I tried not to contemplate what that might mean in terms of the house’s structural integrity.

The end.

Um, do you perhaps live with anyone? Or two people? Two people that are in a relationship?

Is there a train track or an interstate near by?

Whatever it is, it is not uncommon. Just Google “feeling that bed is shaking” and you find many people experience this.

It might be a result of being overtired.

The monster under your bed is squirming. Tell him to stop because it bothers you…

No train tracks.
I live in a single family house so yeah…. no one is doing anything.
@HungryGuy darn I though I got rid of him!
@marinelife Maybe it is over tiredness but why exactly at midnight? 11:59 it is shakeless.

Then it’s definitely a ghost.

A ghost having sex.

I thought I got rid of the ghosts to, not kidding.

Sometimes I imagine I’m floating just above the surface of the bed. I think I’m just half asleep then. I like that feeling. Sometimes I think it’s my heartbeat moving the bed. That’s weird, because it doesn’t seem possible that the flow of your blood could move the entire bed. I don’t really like that feeling.

I think you’ve discovered ballistocardiography, which measures movements of the body in response to the beating of the heart and flow of blood within the body. (Not used much medically.)

Funny, the night before last I woke from a sound sleep. It felt like someone had picked up the bottom of the bed and given it a good shake. My first reaction was to say “cut it out, I’m sleeping here” and roll over. WTF?? Were you scared or just annoyed like me?

@gasman – Whoa, that’s what that is!! I was even going to ask a question here about it. My heart is apparently powerful at pumping, because if I sit completely still, I’ll find my body rocking in time to my pulse. I notice it all the time and wondered what it was and whether I should be worried that my body was going to explode or something. I do have very normal blood pressure, so I knew that wasn’t it. Cool.

i get that, it’s the transition stage between consciousness and deep sleep.

Last time that happened to me I was about 4. We lived in Seattle. Found out years later that it was probably a small earthquake. Do you have earthquakes there, and are they on some sort of schedule? If not, I have to go with the ghost theory. :)

@janedelila – Sounds like a hypnagogic jerk. would make a great usernane Not to be confused with the hypnopompic state.

Do you have sleep apnea or chronic sinus/breathing problems by chance? This has happened to me most of my life but has been attributed to when I snortle out of tune and my not breathing for a little bit wakes me up funny.

@gasman nope. I know those this was not that. Thanks though

I don’t know what it is, but I have often felt something similar – I think the cat is on the bed giving herself a bath, but when I look she is not there. The movement continues. I have not noticed any certain time that it happens, though.

@MissAnthrope Me too! If I sit cross-legged on the floor, my body rocks back and forth. If I am in a chair and cross one leg over the other, the leg on top bounces lightly. I typically have low blood pressure. It is weird, isn’t it?! I never knew there was a name for it.

Good times. Sorry, I’m reading this in a perverted way.

I have been experiencing the same thing…. that is how I found this site. However this sensation is concentrated in my lower extremities…. feet and legs. I think it is more likely to be associated with circulation/nerve damage sensations rather than any other factor. Possibly more noticeable in cold weather and it’s influence on skeletal muscle. It could be indicative of something serious or nothing at all. You should inform your doctor. I am 25 but I am a runner, constantly wear heels and stay on my feet all day. I run up and down my stairs constantly and am very hard on my legs. I initally thought the bed was shaking but then more rationally concluded it was probably associated with restless leg syndrome or some tissue damage in my legs. I’m a light sleeper and I have a hard time falling asleep because of this. I only notice it on very cold weather days and it always goes away in the morning. Hope we both figure out with certainty what it is!