Sharing a bed – dream or a nightmare?

Whether you share a bad with a significant other and/or the kids, often the last thing you can do is sleep. If you’re not eating, working or playing in bed, sharing that space can be tough when night falls and you need some rest. 

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Of course, there are serious medical conditions like sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome which can impede a good night’s sleep, but apart from them, there are several other reasons why we hinder everyone’s repose:

• Natural night movement. Even the most sedate of us turn and wriggle up to 70 times a night. Increase that number if it’s a child – they spend their nights exploring every corner of the bed.
• Working in our sleep. Yes, it’s a sad fact that many of us take our job to bed. Now, it’s not so bad if you’re an office worker, you’ll simply ghost type until dawn. But what if your partner is a butcher or lumberjack? In those cases, you’re at grave risk of being disturbed as they act out their jobs.
• Nightmares. Certain people have extremely graphic dreams that they actively fight to escape. This leaves their bed companion(s) awake and cursing.

Body heat. As women age we could heat up a greenhouse. That’s fine if your partner is a reptile, but otherwise it leads to sleepless, sweaty nights.

So, what can you do?

Increasingly more people are sleeping separately. According to the Sleep Council’s study of British sleepers, numbers of couples splitting up at night rose from 8% in 2013 to 12% in 2017. That’s one answer, but there’s a more relationship-friendly solution and it’s very simple.

Get a bigger bed.

Why?

Here are some reasons to consider:

• We tend to buy a bed based on price. However, a bed is a long-term (10 years) investment and costs you a single dime a night for every $127 dollars spent over 7 years.
• We limit ourselves to what’s available in the store. However there are more sizes available at online outlets as this mattress size guide shows.
• A third of our lives are spent in bed. And yet we spend more on the furniture we never use than we do on a decent sized mattress.
• More space = less tension in a relationship. Divorces and yes, murders, occur simply because couples aren’t sleeping comfortably together.
• A bed isn’t just for sleeping. We perform multiple activities in our beds apart from sleeping. If you have two people with laptops and papers strewn, you need the space to work amiably together. Never mind when the kids join you for a sleepover or breakfast in bed.
• We’re all different sizes. Large and/or tall people find it problematic to rest in regular sized beds. They need the room to stretch comfortably without endangering others.

A bigger bed makes for happier couples and families. That’s why the average size of bed bought has increased to 33% of current sales. So, to make your nights a dream and not a nightmare, get a bigger mattress and relax.