Waking up with a dry mouth again? Or perhaps someone sharing your bed has kindly informed you that you sleep with your mouth wide open. Always nice to receive feedback first thing in the morning.
So, can you actually train yourself to sleep with your mouth closed?
For some people, it may be possible to encourage more nasal breathing at night - but the answer isn’t simply forcing your mouth shut. First, it’s important to understand why your mouth is opening in the first place. Nasal congestion, anatomy, sleeping position, habit and sleep-related breathing problems can all play a part.
If you can breathe comfortably through your nose, there are a few simple things you can try to support nasal breathing when you sleep.
Why do I sleep with my mouth open?
There isn’t one universal reason.
Sometimes, the explanation is fairly obvious. You have a cold, allergies have kicked in, or your nose simply feels blocked. Other times, structural factors such as a deviated septum can make nasal breathing more difficult.
Your mouth can also fall open as the muscles around your jaw relax during sleep. And for some people, nighttime mouth breathing can be associated with sleep-disordered breathing, including obstructive sleep apnoea.
Which brings us to one rather important rule:
Before you try to keep your mouth closed at night, make sure you can breathe freely and comfortably through your nose.
If your nose is struggling to do the job, shutting off the alternative route isn’t something to push through.
How can I tell if I’m mouth breathing at night?
Unless you have a very observant partner - or sleep in front of a camera, which feels excessive - you might not know for certain.
There are, however, a few clues.
You might:
- wake up with a dry mouth
- have a dry or scratchy throat in the morning
- feel particularly thirsty when you wake
- notice your mouth is open when you wake during the night
- have a partner notice you regularly sleep with your mouth open
These signs don’t prove that you’re mouth breathing. But if several sound familiar, it may be worth paying more attention to how you breathe during sleep.
Can you train yourself to sleep with your mouth closed?
Not quite in the “21 days and you’ve cracked it” sense.
Unfortunately, your sleeping body has not read the habit-forming books.
There isn’t strong evidence that you can simply teach yourself, while unconscious, to keep your mouth closed on command. But if you can already breathe comfortably through your nose, you can build habits that support nasal breathing and become more aware of when mouth breathing has become your default.
The aim isn’t to battle with your body all night.
It’s to make nasal breathing feel like the easy option.
5 things to try if you want to encourage nasal breathing at night
1. Check that you can comfortably breathe through your nose
Start while you’re awake.
Close your mouth and breathe normally through your nose for a few minutes. No heroic breathwork required. You’re simply checking whether breathing this way feels natural and comfortable.
If it feels difficult, restricted or uncomfortable, don’t jump straight to mouth tape.
A persistently blocked nose is something to investigate rather than override. Nasal congestion, allergies and structural obstruction are all possible reasons for nighttime mouth breathing.
2. Notice how you breathe during the day
Where’s your tongue while you’re reading this? And are you breathing through your nose or your mouth?
Daytime awareness isn’t a magic subconscious retraining technique. But checking in occasionally can help you notice whether mouth breathing has simply become habitual.
No need to turn it into another wellness metric to obsess over. Just notice.
3. Make breathing through your nose feel easier
If your nose is generally clear but you sometimes feel that airflow is a little restricted, an external nasal strip may help.
Nose strips sit across the outside of the nose and gently lift the sides of the nasal passages. This can make nasal airflow feel easier for some people, although research on their wider effects on sleep and breathing has produced mixed results.
kip&glow Nose Strips are our simple, stick-on way to help make nasal breathing feel a little easier at bedtime.
Explore nose strips for sleep →
4. If it’s appropriate for you, consider mouth tape
Once you know you can breathe comfortably through your nose, mouth tape is another option some people use to encourage their lips to stay closed during sleep.
It’s worth being precise about what that means.
Mouth tape doesn’t treat the reason you’re mouth breathing. It acts as a physical cue that can gently discourage the lips from falling open.
That distinction matters.
kip&glow Sleep Tape has been designed for light contact around the lips rather than covering the whole mouth.
The idea is gentle lip closure — not feeling as though your mouth has been aggressively sealed for the night.
Explore gentle mouth tape for sleep →
5. Start slowly
Going from nothing to a full night of mouth tape on night one can feel like quite the commitment.
If you’re new to it, try wearing Sleep Tape for 15–30 minutes while you’re awake — perhaps while reading or watching TV. It gives you a chance to get used to the sensation while you’re fully conscious and in control.
Apply it to clean, dry skin after your skincare has absorbed, keeping oily balms away from the area where the tape needs to stick.
Comfortable? Breathing easily through your nose?
Then bedtime can follow.
Does mouth taping actually work?
The short answer: research is still limited.
Mouth taping has received an enormous amount of attention online. The science is rather less dramatic.
A 2025 systematic review looked at 10 studies examining different forms of mouth taping or oral occlusion in people with mouth breathing, sleep-disordered breathing or obstructive sleep apnoea.
Some studies reported improvements in certain measures, while others showed little or no benefit. The researchers concluded that more evidence is needed and highlighted potential risks for people with nasal obstruction.
In other words: the internet is several steps ahead of the science.
We don’t think it’s responsible to present mouth tape as a treatment for sleep apnoea, snoring or another sleep disorder.
At kip&glow, we think about Sleep Tape much more simply: a gentle physical cue designed to encourage your lips to remain closed when you’re already able to breathe comfortably through your nose.
No miracle cure. No claims to transform your life overnight.
Just one small addition to your nighttime routine.
Why breathe through your nose in the first place?
Your nose does rather more than sit there holding up your glasses.
As you breathe in, the nasal cavity helps warm and humidify incoming air before it travels further into the respiratory system. Your nose also helps filter particles carried in the air.
These are well-established jobs your nose performs perfectly happily without an influencer explaining them to it.
You may have seen much bigger promises attached to nasal breathing online — everything from dramatic oxygen boosts to a sharper jawline and instant anti-ageing benefits. The evidence behind many of those claims is far less clear.
We’d rather keep things simple.
Your nose was built for breathing. If you can comfortably use it at night, it makes sense to give it the chance to do its job.
When shouldn’t you tape your mouth?
This is the point where we stop being breezy for a moment.
If you can’t breathe freely through your nose, don’t tape your mouth.
Persistent nasal congestion or obstruction, significant difficulty breathing through your nose and untreated sleep apnoea are all reasons to speak to a healthcare professional before considering mouth taping.
Restricting mouth breathing when nasal airflow is already impaired can make breathing more difficult.
Speak to a healthcare professional rather than reaching for the tape if you have symptoms such as:
- persistent nasal blockage
- persistent loud snoring
- choking or gasping during sleep
- suspected or untreated sleep apnoea
- significant breathing difficulties
- unusual or excessive daytime sleepiness
Sleep Tape is a general wellness product, not a treatment for a sleep or breathing disorder. If you have a medical condition related to breathing, or you’re unsure whether mouth taping is right for you, speak to a healthcare professional first.
Good sleep should never involve ignoring what your body is trying to tell you.
Can you use nose strips and mouth tape together?
If you can breathe freely through your nose and both products are appropriate for you, they can play two different roles.
A Nose Strip works from the nose side of the equation, gently lifting the sides of the nasal passages to support airflow.
Sleep Tape works from the mouth side, gently encouraging your lips to remain closed.
For people who want to incorporate both into their nighttime routine, the kip&glow Sleep Starter Kit brings them together.
Nose open. Lips gently closed. Bed.
Frequently asked questions
Can you train yourself to sleep with your mouth closed?
There isn’t strong evidence that you can simply teach your sleeping body to keep its mouth closed. If you can breathe comfortably through your nose, however, becoming more aware of your daytime breathing and using tools that support nasal breathing may help you encourage the habit at night.
Why does my mouth open when I sleep?
Your mouth may open because of nasal congestion, allergies, structural nasal obstruction, habitual mouth breathing or the natural relaxation of your jaw muscles during sleep.
Mouth breathing can also occur alongside sleep-disordered breathing, so persistent symptoms are worth discussing with a healthcare professional.
How do I stop breathing through my mouth at night?
Start by considering why it might be happening. Make sure you can breathe comfortably through your nose first.
From there, you can pay attention to daytime breathing habits and consider options such as nasal strips or, when appropriate, mouth tape.
Do nose strips help you breathe through your nose at night?
External nasal strips gently lift the sides of the nasal passages and may make nasal airflow feel easier for some people.
They won’t fix every cause of nasal obstruction, and research on their wider effects on sleep has been mixed.
Can you use nose strips and mouth tape together?
For some people, yes.
Nose strips are designed to support nasal airflow, while mouth tape is designed to discourage the lips from falling open. You should only consider mouth tape if you can already breathe comfortably through your nose.
The takeaway
If you’re trying to sleep with your mouth closed, start with your nose — not the tape.
Make sure nasal breathing feels comfortable. Pay attention to what your body is doing. Make things easier where you can.
And only then decide whether Sleep Tape belongs in your nighttime routine.
Because better sleep rarely comes from forcing it. Usually, it starts with removing a few of the things getting in the way.
Good nights make great mornings.
Written by Louise Hudson, founder of kip&glow
Last updated: August 2026
About the author
Louise Hudson is the founder of kip&glow.
Louise founded kip&glow after becoming interested in the relationship between nighttime breathing and sleep. kip&glow creates women-first products designed to support better nighttime routines.
Sources & further reading
StatPearls / NCBI Bookshelf. Physiology, Nasal.
Cleveland Clinic. Is Mouth Tape Safe To Use While Sleeping? Updated July 25, 2025.
