You might love nighttime snuggles with your pet — but it can actually make your sleep worse.
Getting your pets to sleep in their own pet bed or crate can be tough. Many pets just want to snuggle close at night, and how can you resist your favorite animal’s cute face?
But just like newborns, pets can wake you up at night and disturb you. Whether you already have pets or are considering getting one in the future, thinking twice about your sleeping arrangements can affect how rested you feel over time. Ultimately it’s a personal choice, but if you’re looking for some insight on the pros and cons of sleeping with your pets, keep reading — it might make you reconsider your own habits.
The case against pets sleeping in your bed
Dander and allergies
If you suffer from allergies, you might want to think twice about letting pets like dogs or cats sleep in the bed. Dr. Kunjana Mavunda, a pediatric pulmonologist, warns that pet dander can irritate allergies, especially when you sleep in the same bed. “Even if a person has no allergies to pet dander, if they choose to sleep with a pet, it will be prudent to get special protective mattress and pillow covers with zippers that completely cover the mattress and pillow,” says Mavunda. That can help keep your mattress and pillow clean and prevent dander from lingering.
Depending on how dirty your pup gets, you might have a strict no-bed or co-sleeping rule. Again, it comes down to personal preference and how you feel about your pet potentially tracking in dirt from the outdoors into your bedroom.
Sleep disruption
Some pets are more active at night, which can wake you up and mess up your sleep. If you’ve ever raised a young puppy, you are very familiar with the reality of being woken up several times a night for potty breaks (or simply because your pup is bored). Even though dogs tend to sleep better when they’re older, there’s still a case to be made for pets disrupting your sleep.
Even though it’s normal to have your sleep disrupted from time to time, ongoing disturbances can lead to bigger issues like not being able to fall back asleep or stay asleep, or restlessness throughout the night when you need consistent deep, uninterrupted sleep. If you continually find your pets waking you up throughout the night when they sleep with you, you should reevaluate sleeping with pets if they’re keeping you from getting the rest you need.
Safety
Pet experts who recommend crate training usually encourage it for dogs to help with housebreaking the dog, among other benefits. Safety is another concern — I remember when I first got my puppy and I felt guilty putting her in the crate, but then I knew she’d be safer there than in my bed where she might fall off or worse, like if I accidentally hurt her when I was sleeping (she was a tiny 2-pound pup).
Now that she’s older, I still feel more safe with her in the crate, knowing that she won’t potentially fall and hurt herself or wake me up to play in the middle of the night.
The potential benefit of having pets sleep in your bed
If your pet is not disrupting your sleep and waking you up throughout the night, you could argue there are several benefits for letting them sleep with you. Since so many people love their pets and find comfort from their presence, you may even sleep better with them near you.
Some research backs this up, showing that owners who sleep with their pets reported that it does not disrupt their sleep, and some single people reported that pets helped them sleep better.
If you’re still on the fence about whether or not to let your pets sleep with you, remember that it’s a personal choice. Weigh the potential benefits and drawbacks for you, and go with the choice that helps you sleep best, since sleep is so important for overall health — for you and your pet.
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