I love love, and I’m lucky to have found a partner who’s almost perfect ― when he’s awake, anyway.
Trouble is, for about a third of our time together, my boyfriend is asleep next to me. And until recently, that meant I absolutely couldn’t be.
The Sleep Demon that apparently lay in my partner’s subconscious would charge headfirst at me in his sleep, until my boyfriend’s diagonal cross-bed pose meant I had no room on the bed. Pushing him didn’t help. Waking him up was pointless, as he’d just do the same in an hour.
I had such little space that I’d find myself exiled from the mattress altogether, and when I wasn’t, I’d stay in an uncomfortable coiled position until I was eventually able to grab some disturbed sleep.
In fact, we’ve only recently settled into a somewhat reasonable sleeping routine (ie one in which I can get more than six hours of uninterrupted Zzzs) ― and it happened completely accidentally after I’d ordered a camp bed and blanket to sleep at his house. Yes, it had gotten that desperate.
Enter: the Scandinavian method
Of course, I’d heard of the Scandinavian method (where each partner has their own duvet). But honestly, I thought this wouldn’t apply to us as the issue wasn’t my partner snatching the duvet ― it was that he was apparently on a headfirst quest to conquer my side of the bed.
Still, not being bothered to blow up the camp bed, I thought I’d just try the blanket first ― and woke up from some of the best sleep of my life.
It turns out that even if you don’t think your partner’s issue is down to blanket hogging, the Scandi method is worth a go. Speaking to Refinery29, Neil Stanley, sleep expert and author of How To Sleep Well, shared that “Beds are quite good at dampening... turning, and it’s actually the blast of cold air or the tug of the duvet that’s probably going to wake you up.“
Then, there’s each partner’s temperature preference to consider. Even a The Spruce writer who didn’t like the method had to concede that this was a benefit of the method ― and given how much heat affects your sleep, I shouldn’t be surprised that picking our own toggage has helped our kips immensely.
Then, there’s the case of different sleep types
I’m a late-night scroller. My partner is not. The new Scandinavian method means I can hide my screen from my partner’s view ― without causing a chilly air gap in the duvet.
And it turns out that what I thought was my partner’s pursuit of mid-sleep hugs ― which I find stifling ― was more than easily satisfied by hogging an entire duvet. (It’s fine, I’m not taking it personally.)
Even those who get up to pee more often in the night than their partners could save them the sleep-ruining cold rush Niel Stanley spoke about earlier, The Sleep Foundation says.
Plus, they add, “The Scandinavian sleep method makes it easier for one person to crawl into bed while the other person is asleep, allowing each person to choose the bedtime that works best for them.”
In other words, the Scandi way isn’t just best for blanket hoggers ― it works for hot-vs-cold sleepers, late-sleeper-vs-early-worm couples, and people partnered with someone who does whatever you’d call my boyfriend’s nighttime quest for mattress dominion.
Before you splash the £23.99 campbed cash after a desperate 3am scroll, why not give it a try?