It is the last thing we need during an already exhausting pandemic: a partner that interferes with our sleep.
However, many of us lose our eyes as our partner snores like a bear or turns on the covers. It lasts until the small hours of scrolling on a phone. He throws and returns with insomnia. Or he has a different sleep schedule that we are constantly trying to adjust to.
Wendy Troxel is a social behavioral and social scientist at Rand Corp. and clinical psychologist who specializes in sleep medicine. In her new book, Sharing Covers: Each Couple’s Guide to Better Sleep, she explores how sleeping together affects both sleep and our relationship.
I spoke with Dr. Troxel about how to negotiate common sleep problems. Excerpts from that interview are edited here.
How important is sleep to a relationship?