SLEEP WITH ANY WOMAN
(Men's Health) Yes, sleep, as in hibernate. Learn to sack easy sleep and wake up refreshed. Keeping your mate up all night isn't something to brag about. In fact, about one in four American couples sleep in separate beds because they just can't sleep together. Seven out of 10 women in a recent Women's Health poll said their partner keeps them up at night by snoring and moving around. And a groggy partner is a cranky partner. "If that person is waking up grumpy and it's a new relationship, it'll probably get worse over time," says Rafael Pelayo, M.D., a Stanford sleep physician. "Lack of sleep makes people feel irritable, inattentive, and sometimes even guilty because they bark at their partner in the morning." See if any of these problems sound familiar, and then take action to sleep well tonight:
Snoring keeps one of you up all night
Sleep on your side to keep your tongue out of the way, Dr. Pelayo suggests. Or do palate exercises, like pushing the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth and then sliding your tongue backward. In a 2015 Brazilian study, such exercises involving the tongue, soft palate reduced snoring frequency by 36 percent. Another option is the Max-Air Nose Cone nasal dilator a plastic thingy that props your nasal airways open, encouraging nasal breathing. In one study, it increased airflow by 110 percent.
One of you is a restless sleeper
Go royal: With a queen or king mattress, you'll have more elbow room. A Sleep Number bed with air chambers for each side or memory foam mattress isolates movement. On a budget? Wedge a body pillow between you and your bedmate, Dr. Pelayo says. Or try slipping into a thin sleeping bag beneath the sheets.
She's always cold and you're a furnace
Women tend to feel colder than men because their smaller frame and higher body fat equals a slower metabolism. And once you hit dreamland, you internal thermometer changes: "You tend to feel colder in the morning than at the start of the night," Dr. Pelayo says. Performance bedding fabrics can help, Sheex, made of moisture wicking microfiber polyester and spandex, absorb sweat and help regulate body temps. A ChiliPad Cube mattress pad uses silicone tubing to circulate cold or warm water on either side of the bed.
She wants to sleep, you're wide awake
Your chronotypes may be out of sync. You each have your own natural sleep cycle; we don't know how they develop, and altering your chronotype isn't easy, says University of Pittsburg sleep researcher Heather Gunn, Ph.D. Is your mate's internal clock powering down as The Bachelor credits roll while yours keeps ticking well past the Sham Wow infomercial? Ask each other if hitting the sack together is really that important. If you're a night owl and she rises with the roosters, try heading to bed separately. "If you wake up feeling good," Dr. Pelayo says, "all is forgiven in the morning."
Spooning puts your arm to sleep
Curling up together can have direct physiological benefits like reducing stress response, says behavioral and social scientist Wendy Troxel, Ph. D. Start out in a bodies-touching position to generate oxytocin the "cuddle hormone," suggests body language expert Patti Wood. Then segue into something more conducive to slumber. The back-to-back "Zen position" reveals trust and the ability and desire to be independent, Wood says, but the "tushie touch" shows that you want to stay sexually connected. It's all about the oxytocin: Scientists in France say this hormone makes men perceive their partner as more attractive than other, unfamiliar women, possibly making the men less prone to infidelity.
Sleeplessness is tearing you apart
Snoring keeps one of you up all night
Sleep on your side to keep your tongue out of the way, Dr. Pelayo suggests. Or do palate exercises, like pushing the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth and then sliding your tongue backward. In a 2015 Brazilian study, such exercises involving the tongue, soft palate reduced snoring frequency by 36 percent. Another option is the Max-Air Nose Cone nasal dilator a plastic thingy that props your nasal airways open, encouraging nasal breathing. In one study, it increased airflow by 110 percent.
One of you is a restless sleeper
Go royal: With a queen or king mattress, you'll have more elbow room. A Sleep Number bed with air chambers for each side or memory foam mattress isolates movement. On a budget? Wedge a body pillow between you and your bedmate, Dr. Pelayo says. Or try slipping into a thin sleeping bag beneath the sheets.
She's always cold and you're a furnace
Women tend to feel colder than men because their smaller frame and higher body fat equals a slower metabolism. And once you hit dreamland, you internal thermometer changes: "You tend to feel colder in the morning than at the start of the night," Dr. Pelayo says. Performance bedding fabrics can help, Sheex, made of moisture wicking microfiber polyester and spandex, absorb sweat and help regulate body temps. A ChiliPad Cube mattress pad uses silicone tubing to circulate cold or warm water on either side of the bed.
She wants to sleep, you're wide awake
Your chronotypes may be out of sync. You each have your own natural sleep cycle; we don't know how they develop, and altering your chronotype isn't easy, says University of Pittsburg sleep researcher Heather Gunn, Ph.D. Is your mate's internal clock powering down as The Bachelor credits roll while yours keeps ticking well past the Sham Wow infomercial? Ask each other if hitting the sack together is really that important. If you're a night owl and she rises with the roosters, try heading to bed separately. "If you wake up feeling good," Dr. Pelayo says, "all is forgiven in the morning."
Spooning puts your arm to sleep
Curling up together can have direct physiological benefits like reducing stress response, says behavioral and social scientist Wendy Troxel, Ph. D. Start out in a bodies-touching position to generate oxytocin the "cuddle hormone," suggests body language expert Patti Wood. Then segue into something more conducive to slumber. The back-to-back "Zen position" reveals trust and the ability and desire to be independent, Wood says, but the "tushie touch" shows that you want to stay sexually connected. It's all about the oxytocin: Scientists in France say this hormone makes men perceive their partner as more attractive than other, unfamiliar women, possibly making the men less prone to infidelity.
Sleeplessness is tearing you apart
Two words: separate beds. Maybe it's not so romantic, but a good night's sleep trumps all. In a University of Pittsburgh study, married men were more satisfied with their relationship after a good sleep. About a quarter of U.S. couples don't share a bed, the National Sleep Foundation reports. Have a snuggle or more before retiring to separate beds, and then climb back into bed together in the morning. "Time spent side by side in an intimate space is important," Wood says. That's when men are more likely to share intimate thoughts. And you know where that can lead.
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