The nation’s bedrooms are under threat due to ‘sleep divorce’

ALMOST half the couples in Britain are often sleeping apart because of the irritating bedtime habits of their partner, a study shows.

Snoring unsurprisingly tops the list of annoying traits, but other major causes include being too hot, disturbing them when they get up for the loo, taking work to bed and even farting and cutting toenails in bed.

1 in 4 Brits have said their or their partner’s bedtime habits have even caused arguments, and over 1 in 10 have broken up with a past partner because of them according to research by Eve Sleep.

A whopping 8 out of 10 adults (86%) say they have trouble sleeping generally and the research has found that the top reasons behind disrupted sleep are being too hot or cold at night (51%), multiple trips to the loo (28%), being a light sleeper (26%) and that 1 in 4 Brits are stressed about the current world situations i.e. COVID, Brexit or US politics, affecting their sleep.

There has been a rise in sleep divorce with nearly 1 in 2 often sleeping apart because of their bedtime habits with an average of 4 nights per week of sleeping separately. The main reason for doing this was snoring (41%), tossing and turning in bed (25%), enjoying the extra space in another bed (19%), and being a lighter sleeper than their partner (19%).

Even if they are sharing the same bed, over half (54%) of them go to bed at different times to their partner which can cause issues of its own as they wake their partner up by watching something on their phone or on the TV (25%) or when they climb into bed (22%).

Snoring is the top of list of Britain’s bedtime habits (47%) with tossing and turning second (27%) and falling as sleep at different times to your partner third (22%).

Britain’s TOP 10 bedroom habits they find most irritating:

Snoring 44%
Hogging the duvet 31%
Clipping toenails 30%
Farting 27%
Take up too much space in bed 27%
Toss and turning 27%
Eating 24%
Leaving clothes everywhere and not use the washing basket 21%
Playing games or watching something on their phone

21%
Bringing work to bed i.e. your laptop / taking calls / looking at work on your phone 21%

Dave Gibson, Sleep Expert for eve sleep, commented: “It is certainly true that the year just gone was one of the worst years for sleep in recent memory. Many couples are now essentially living at work with a complete shake-up of their routines. The resulting blurring of work, rest, play, and bedtimes has caused them to be both out of sync with their natural sleep patterns and with their partners, adding to a restless night. There are simple ways we can try and overcome these bedroom battles such as establishing a bedtime routine with your partner, tackling the temperature battle by changing your duvet or by leaving devices in the kitchen, all helping you become the perfect bedfellow.”