We believed that sleeping with our dog or cat was a comforting and healthy idea. Science shows that it destroys your night’s rest

More than ten years ago it was carried out a survey of 23,000 pet owners. There were curious data: a quarter of them admitted treating their pet as if they were small children and a little less than 75% admitted keeping photos of them.

But perhaps the most striking thing is that half admitted sleeping with their pets. There is no memory of a sociological division of this magnitude since the potato omelet. So we’ve been wondering what science said about sleeping with your dog or cat.

Do people really sleep with their pets?

The truth is that sleep researchers haven’t paid much attention to the topic. We have a lot of pseudo-theories about ‘dominance’ or ‘doggy soul’ that are very successful on reality television, but the research in the ‘human-animal co-sleeping‘was a relatively forgotten area that in recent years has experienced a boom.

As we have spoken on other occasions, sleep is a more cultural phenomenon than it seems and changes a lot between regions and times (Blunden, Thompson and Dawson; Worthman and Melby; Munroe, Munroe and Whiting). In the same way that it was relatively recently that Western societies separated resting places by age (children and adults), it was only relatively recently that spaces between humans and animals were completely separated. In fact, there are many cultures in which these coexistence practices are maintained naturally. And the most solid studies (Albert and Bulcroft; Westgarth et al.; Overgaauw) coincide with the survey in that there is a 50% split in co-sleeping with dogs and cats – which are the most common nocturnal companions (Albert and Bulcroft). And it’s curious because Since 2018 we know that dogs are less annoying than cats.

In this sense, it cannot be said that the results of the survey are surprising. Research maintains that humans continue to show a strong attachment to their pets and are often considered important members of the family (Archer). As it says Smiththis is not free: animals are a source of support, affection, comfort, security and stability which can have important health benefits.

It is true that the size of the pet has a lot to do with it and if we look in more detail (for example, in dogs) we see that 76.85% of Yorkshire Terriers or 62.96% of Chihuahuas sleep with their owners compared to 18.18% of Saint Bernards or 30.27% of Labradors. Even so, the percentage of Saint Bernards is a very high percentage. In addition to what Eckstein already pointed out, other factors that intervene are the number of children in the family (more likely where there are no children – Albert and Bulcroft) or gender (more likely with women).

Some problems of sharing a bed with pets

Research suggests there are some potential problems with sharing bedding with animals.

• Health risks. These include some immune responses, allergies, asthma or hypersensitivity pneumonitis; Bites and scratches can also occur through which infectious diseases associated with domestic animals can be contracted (Plaut, Zimmerman and Goldstein). Those most susceptible to these types of problems are young children, pregnant women and immunocompromised patients (Smith). However, the overall health risks are very low; almost insignificant if the animals receive medical care and maintain proper hygiene.
• Sleep problems. In general, the main problems related to sleep quality involve companions (kicking, snoring, etc.) and children, but pets also play an important role. Without going any further, a study from the Mayo Clinic found that fifty-three percent of pet owners who slept with their pets had problems resulting from it. Nevertheless, it is difficult to know the real impact of these interruptions because they are very short interruptions that by themselves explain little: however, it seems that Yes, there is a difference between sleeping in the bedroom or in the bed.. This is because interruptions can be related to temperature imbalances between humans and pets; as well as differences in sleep and wake cycles (Campbell and Tobler). If they only sleep in the bedroom, everything becomes easier.
• Behavior problems in animals. Jagoe and Serpell found that dogs that are allowed to sleep with their owners may experience an increase in aggression and separation-related problems.
• Effect on interpersonal relationships. Finally, animals can be an important source of conflict and stress in relationships. Coming to generate intimacy problems (Jagoe and Serpell)

Should we sleep with our pets?

Smith and his research team found that sleeping with pets in the bed had a small impact on sleep quality in the time taken to fall asleep or feeling tired when waking up. However, the authors maintain that the continued practice of co-sleeping with pets indicates benefits of social support, social interaction and personal safetydespite the disadvantages.

In general, it seems that science agrees with common sense. Sleeping accompanied by animals can have some problems but always related to previous problems at a health and behavioral level. And, on the other hand, if our pet is healthy, has proper hygiene and a ‘good education’, not only are there no problems, but it can have very positive effects. The evidence has been divided in recent yearsbut remains unanimous in this regard

Images | Faith Goble, John Liu, Tony Alter, Jon-Eric Melsæter.

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*An earlier version of this article was published in January 2016