It’s not always easy to share your duvet with your loved one, especially when the latter has a very restless sleep or suffers from sleep disorders. The radical solution chosen by some: have a separate room. But before getting there, the inhabitants of the Nordic countries suggest making a “duvet apart”. What if this was the solution? Dr Jonathan Taïeb, sleep doctor, gives us his opinion.
Can sleeping with a partner affect sleep quality?
“Nightmares, insomnia, restless sleep, sleepwalking, odd schedules… sharing your bed also means sharing your sleep problems” confides Dr. Taïeb of the Medical Sleep Institute, who regularly sees couples on the verge of a nervous breakdown for consultations! Sleeping together can both make it difficult to fall asleep and cause multiple nighttime awakenings, which are detrimental to the quality of sleep and its restorative activity. So much so that more and more couples are opting for the radical solution: having a separate bedroom.
According to a 2021 Ifop study, 10% of French couples would sleep separately, to which we can add 6% who would dream of doing so but do not do it. However, sleeping as a couple with your loved one would not only have disadvantages… and fortunately! “Sleeping together has a significant advantage, that of promoting the release of endorphins, hormones of happiness, with a euphoric and anti-stress effect.” indicates the sleep doctor. “In addition, sleeping together constitutes one of the structuring stages of a relationship: intimacy, trust, sharing” he specifies.
Two duvets: What is Scandinavian sleep, the good alternative to a separate bedroom?
So how can we suffer less from nocturnal cohabitation, without going so far as to divorce the bed? The people of Nordic countries seem to have found a pretty good compromise. The principle of the “Scandinavian method”? Keep just one double bed, but swap the double duvet for two single duvets. In summary: everyone has their own duvet for better sleep! “Making a separate duvet seems to be a good compromise.” approves Dr Jonathan Taïeb. This allows us both to keep the positive of the common bed – with the presence of the other by our side and the release of endorphins – and to attenuate the negative since some of the inconveniences passes through the duvet which moves to the rhythm of the partner’s movements.
The sleep specialist goes so far as to recommend making a separate mattress for even better sleep! “When you go from a 90 cm single bed to a 140 to 160 cm double bed, you lose between 40 and 20 cm in width, which is more than 10% less living space!” indicates Dr Jonathan Taïeb. Putting two single mattresses together and each keeping its own duvet also offers the possibility of responding to different needs: if, for example, the gentleman prefers a harder mattress than the lady, and if the lady is more cautious and opts for a down duvet warmer than the gentleman’s.
Consult a doctor online for your sleep problems
How to make your bed the Scandinavian method?
For all those who suffer the pangs of sharing the marital duvet, the Scandinavian method would reduce interruptions in the sleep cycle, thus making it more restorative and more serene! So how to set it up? Nothing could be simpler: just let the two duvets overlap in the center of the bed and hang on each side.
Everyone is then free to make themselves comfortable and wrap themselves up in their own duvet during the night! And for those who opt for two mattresses joined together: using a 180 cm “king-size” fitted sheet can give the illusion of a single large bed!
