Should You Let Your Pets Share Your Bed?

It’s one of the great debates among pet owners: should you let your pets sleep on the bed?

Some people would never consider it, while others love snuggling up with their pet at the end of the day.

Before letting a pet into your bed, there are a few things to consider.

Some studies found that people who were sharing a bed with their pet took about four minutes longer to fall asleep and felt tired when they woke up, although the drowsiness didn’t last all day.

But four minutes seems insignificant compared to the cuddles and bonding time sharing a bed allows you and your pet. A pet usually won’t affect your sleep enough to kick them out.

As long as you and your partner don’t have allergies (think of the potential pet hair in your bed) and clean your sheets, mattress and pillows often, sleeping with your pets shouldn’t have much of an impact on the quality of your sleep.

So before jumping to any conclusions, what are some of the risks and benefits of sleeping with our pets?

Benefits

1. Sleeping with your pet can make you feel safer and more secure.

2. Petting your cat or dog releases oxytocin in the brain, so sleeping with them has a similar effect. You may feel less stressed and more relaxed with them in bed with you.

3. Sleeping with your pet, just like sleeping with your partner, strengthens your physical and emotional bond. Plus, if you get the best mattress for sleeping with a pet, you can bond when you want to and sleep when you don’t.

4. Also for some pet owners, just knowing that a warm fuzzy body is there and hearing the rhythmic breathing of their pet can help lull them to sleep.

5. This is also true for many pets, sleeping with you just makes them happy. That warmth and comfort are even more noticeable when it’s cold.

Risks

1. They Might Wake You Up

As you can imagine, if your pet – especially a bigger dog – stirs in the middle of the night, snores, or likes to sprawl out, it may interrupt your sleep.

If this situation sounds familiar to you, you could experience sleep deprivation, and sleep deprivation can lead to various health issues. If you do have a dog that likes to take up as much space as possible it may be a good idea to have them sleep near you but in their own special spot. 

2. Pets Could Worsen Allergies

You may not notice it during the day because you are not right up against your pet, but having them sleeping in your bed could aggravate symptoms of allergy sufferers. If you do suffer from allergies, it is recommended that you do not let your pet sleep in bed with you.

While it’s impossible to control every piece of dirt, every mite, and every allergen that may accompany our pets, we can limit them in our mattress. By this, we mean that there are many mattresses designed to repel dust mites and other allergens. Going this route can save a lot of trouble down the road.

Hypoallergenic mattresses that clean themselves reduce those allergy symptoms. Our WHISPER mattress which has covers woven with real silver yarn prevent dust mites, bed bugs, and pet dander from getting into your mattress. This also helps extend the life of your mattress and guards against stains, tears, and dirt from your pet.

Now that we’ve established that, let’s talk about another aspect to look up in your mattress. Which is the best mattress for you and your dog or cat to share?

There are certain mattresses that are better if you plan to sleep with your furry friend. Just like a partner, animals move around on the mattress, get up in the middle of the night, and jump in and out of bed.

Chances are if you can feel the mattress moving every time your pet moves, you aren’t going to get much sleep. If you’re planning to let your pets share your bed, you may want to consider getting a mattress with low motion transfer. Memory foam mattresses are great for this, with very little motion transfer.

Because the foam conforms to your body, you will sink slightly into the bed and be less disturbed by your pet moving around. This becomes especially important for light sleepers or owners of large dogs or particularly frisky cats.

Conclusion

Pet ownership is rewarding, but it can also come with a few extra concerns, too. By considering some of these finer points before that big mattress purchase, you’re much more likely to be fully satisfied with your choice later on.  In the end, mattresses that are good for pets are mattresses that are good for pet owners as well.