Do you share your bed? Do you sleep with another adult, with pets, or have an open family bed policy?

Do your evening’s sidekick wakes up often, have allergies, and take up too much of the bed or the blankets, snore, watch late night TV from bed, or go to sleep with cold feet?

Do they have any habits that may be restricting your sleep? The sleep wake cycles of your bed partners can negatively affect you. Discussing the problem with them and making some physical changes may therefore be necessary.

Snoring affects approximately 30 to 40 percent of adults. For those who snore and their partners, the sound effects and health hazards are more than a noisy nuisance. Snoring can curb both intimacy and sleep. Sometimes separate bedroom are necessary to assure the nonsnoring partner a good night’s sleep.

If your partner snores, recommend that he or she consult a healthcare practitioner. There are remedies to lessen snoring. And snoring can be symptom of sleep apnea, a disorder that requires medical treatment.

One average sized woman complained to her doctor of sleep problems. When queried, she revealed that she had recently remarried and her new husband, who was 6 feet tall and weighed 205 pounds, was now sharing her double bed. The problem sleeper had overlooked the obvious – that little mattresses are not good matches for big people. After purchasing a new king side bed, the woman regained the deep sleep of her single years. Is your mattress large enough for you and your companion?

Another couple had to change sleeping positions to regain refreshing sleep. From the beginning of their 20 year relationship, they would fall asleep “spooning,” their bodies in contact all night. This position was initially very comfortable for both partners and continued to be so until the woman approached menopause. “Now I don’t like to be touched in bed at all when I am going to sleep. I’ve been having trouble with night sweats. My husband’s body temperature irritates me.”

After some discussion, the couple decided to sleep with a bit of distance between them. The recent change in their lives made them reevaluate a habit that had previously enhanced their sleep. There is an important lesson here: Are there any bed sharing behaviors that no longer work for you?

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 18th, 2008 at 8:23 am and is filed under Insomnia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.