Sleeping with another person not only provides us with feelings of safety and security, bonding, and closeness, but it also has considerable health benefits, like lowering levels of cortisol or reducing inflammation. It’s a nice addition to experience, all things considered.
Yet some people just seem sleep-incompatible. Opposing sleep cycles, snoring, blanket-hogging, and more are just obstacles that lead to low cortisol levels. But let’s not give up — there are many compromises we can make in terms of bed real estate.
It always pains us at Bright Side to see relationships get ruined by minor issues. So we gathered some common problems that affect couples at bedtime and want to share them with you.
Some sleepers are just not into blanket-sharing. You go to sleep with your relationship being 50/50, but the next thing you know, it’s freezing cold, you’re curled up in a corner, and shivering. There’s no blanket left for you! It’s futile to try to pull it back since the hogging will just happen again. Despite the comical nature of the blanket controversy, it can actually stiffen your relationship and have a bad impact on the quality of your sleep.
Imagine you’re snoozing, feeling warm and comfy in your bed, and suddenly, a locomotive’s horn tuts right above your ear. Nope, it’s not an emergency alert, it’s just your beloved failing to push the air through their nose properly.
As a single incident, snoring is not a big deal, but in a worst-case scenario, it can be a symptom of a bigger problem. It sabotages bedtime for both parties, leaving the snorer with headaches, weariness, and other evidence of sleep deprivation the next day.
66°F to 69°F (19°C to 20.5°C) is considered an optimal sleeping temperature for most people, but sometimes it can slightly vary. You can discover that your partner’s preferable “sleeping settings” differ from yours. With uncomfortable ambient temperature, it takes longer to fall asleep. It’s harder to get into a deep sleep as well, so you might have trouble staying asleep.
Unprompted waking up in the middle of the night isn’t uncommon. It can be a sign of insomnia or a result of stress, electronic-use, a poor sleep environment, or just a unique sleep schedule. When you wake up and can’t get back to sleep after 15 or 20 minutes, there’s no point in just lying here. And if it happens frequently, the first thing to remember is to be courteous toward your partner.
You slipped into a fresh, cool bed and everything seems perfect. But as hours tick on and 2 people’s bodies heat up the environment, many people start to get sweaty. Night sweats can quickly turn into a joint problem if you use one blanket or cuddle in your sleep. Surely, cuddling or even laying close to a sweating person is uncomfortable.
This is known as the early bird vs night owl war. We all have our own “chronotype” that reigns over our internal sleep clock. It may change as we get older: young adults peak in “eveningness” and grow to be “morning types” with age.
If you’ve realized that you and your partner have an opposing circadian rhythm, it’s important to follow your own sleep schedule and live according to your chronotype. Evening people who try to go to bed too early might end up with insomnia since the pressure to sleep when the body is not ready triggers anxiety and frustration.
Sharing a bed with one partner is already a feat on its own, but adding a child to the mix can really ruin your nighttime rhythm. You’re suddenly awoken, your sleep is disrupted, and the child crawls into bed, taking up more space. The marriage can become tense because of this, especially if someone has to leave to make room, and parents often feel stuck in situations like this.
What sleeping problems do you or your family members have?