With new research* showing that 36% of couples regularly sleep separately, we ask…
YES‘We aren’t compatible at night’
Claire Ferguson, 60, is a life coach and lives with her husband Steve, 70.
My husband Steve and I have a happy, fulfilling relationship, and a lot of that is down to the fact that we sleep apart. We’ve been married for four years and we worked out within a month of marriage that we weren’t compatible at night.
I’m a snorer and snore about as loudly as a runaway train fuelled by jet engines. After a busy day I need a solid seven hours, whereas Steve is a newspaper cartoonist and practically nocturnal, often drawing throughout the night. He’ll go to bed for a couple of hours and then get up again to draw for a few more hours. He usually has the TV on in the bedroom too, watching the news for cartoon ideas.
For me, sleeping apart means I get a decent night’s sleep – and for Steve, it means he’s not subjected to my snoring. Occasionally we do have to sleep in the same room if we go on holiday, but we keep each other awake. He’s always to-ing and fro-ing and I get really stressed. Plus my snoring keeps him awake, which isn’t fair on him.
That’s why if we’re away for longer than a night we’ll book a suite with a separate bedroom, and one of us sleeps on the couch - we’ve learned that we’re far less irritable with each other if we’ve had a decent night’s sleep!
No one’s ever criticised or passed judgement on our arrangement. In fact, quite a few of our friends and family have the same set-up. We all seem to agree that we want our own space, and it helps our relationships too.
✣ claire-ferguson.com
NO‘It’s lovely to have someone to cuddle’
Anna Roberts, 40, runs an online comparison site for self storage and lives in Anglesey with her partner Aled, 37, and their son Ed, three.
Most people would probably have a bett
