We’re all after the secret to getting a good night’s sleep. But for those of us that don’t sleep alone, our sleeping partner’s bedtime habits can cause all sorts of mayhem when we’re trying to get some good quality shuteye. There’s the roaring snorers, the duvet hoggers, the endless toss and turners... And don’t even get us started on the midnight trumpers.
So with all of these goings on, it’s no surprise that there’s a phenomenon happening across Britain: the rise of the sleep divorce. We don’t mean an actual divorce, though; we just mean couples sleeping apart so they get a good night’s kip. Phew.
the rise of sleeping solo
To get our noggins around it, we picked the brains of sleepy Brits to discover exactly what’s causing almost half of couples to kip apart. Curiously, the majority said they couldn’t sleep as their other half was too hot or too cold, and a quarter said they knocked heads over their partner’s bedtime habits. Uh-oh.
What’s the deal with these annoying habits, then? Well, it turns out that snoring, duvet hogging and toenail clipping were the top 3, followed closely by bed hogging, wriggling and farting. Lovely.
And while eating in bed or bringing work into bed were major sticking points too, only a small number of Brits said that their partner wanting to cuddle them when they want more space is an annoying habit. Great news for the clingy types.
Here’s another interesting nugget: aside from the chance to starfish to your heart’s delight (and sleep soundly, may we add), kipping separately is no new thing. Yup, whether or not you’ve been getting your solo snoozing inspo from Bridgerton or The Crown, couples have in fact chosen to sleep apart for almost 2 centuries and Victorian doctors even encouraged it. Not so strange, then.
So the next time you’re left staring at the ceiling while your partner trumpets their way through the night, you could think about hopping into that spare bed to get some quality shuteye. Though talking of trumpets, this is where we can blow ours…
If you find yourself bouncing around when your partner turns over, it could be time to treat yourselves to one of our mattresses. They’re all non-motion transfer, after all.
At the end of the day, whether you opt for solo kipping or spooning heaven with your sleeping partner, finding what works best for you is key (though we’d draw the line at the duvet hogging).