Contributed by Elias Malek, PhD
If you share your bed with a furry companion, you’re not alone. Conventional sleep advice often warns against letting pets share your bed because they may disrupt sleep by increasing nighttime awakenings. Our research reveals a more surprising story about how pets may influence your sleep.
Eight Sleep analyzed over 2,200 nights of sleep data from 114 members who slept with pets in bed vs. 204 members who didn’t. We found interesting insights about how pets affect – or don’t – your sleep.
Key takeaways
- When a pet slept near their owner’s head, members experienced 46 fewer minutes of total sleep than those who slept with a pet by their feet.
- Members who slept with a pet on the bed for more than half of the night spent 9 more minutes awake on average, vs. those with pets on the bed for less than half of the night. This adds up to more than 1 hour awake per week.
- Pet type, weight, and number of pets in bed did not affect sleep or cardiovascular recovery metrics compared to those sleeping without pets in bed.
How we determined if pets affect sleep among 318 members and 2,200+ nights
To determine if (and how) having a pet in bed affects sleep, we surveyed Eight Sleep adult members each morning for one week who slept with a pet in bed (n = 114) vs. members who did not sleep with a pet in bed (n = 204). The morning survey included questions about:
- Whether or not a pet slept in bed with them last night
- If a pet slept in their bed, we asked:
- Pet characteristics: type (cat/dog), weight, and quantity
- Pet location in bed (from the member’s point of view): by their head, side, feet, or varied
- Pet-on-bed duration: in bed more or less than half of the night
- Perceived impact of the pet in their bed on sleep: helped, worsened, no effect
- Perceived overall sleep quality (1-5 scale)
We paired these morning survey responses with objective sleep data from the Pod: heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), wake after sleep onset (WASO), sleep stages (deep, light, and REM), and sleep duration.
Pet presence alone doesn’t disrupt your sleep
Previous research suggests that sharing your bed with pets leads to more nighttime awakenings. Our data indicate that the story is more nuanced: simply sleeping with a pet in bed does not lead to increased nighttime awakenings or altered sleep patterns. However, when we look specifically at those who slept with a pet in bed, two factors significantly affected sleep metrics: 1) pet location and 2) the duration their pet slept on the bed.
Compared with members whose pets slept at their feet, members whose pets slept near their head experienced, on average:
- 46 fewer minutes of total sleep per night, equating to almost 5.5 hours less sleep per week (see Figures 1 & 2)
- 2.7% less REM sleep per night, or 21 minutes less REM sleep per week
This makes sense: having a pet close to your head might shift your pillow, disturb your breathing space, or wake you up with their movements. On the other hand, a pet near your feet or not in bed at all (see Figure 1) is less likely to disturb your sleep because they’re not right by your head or face.
Figure 1. Pet location impacts nightly average sleep duration. Each boxplot represents the distribution of nightly total sleep duration across members, grouped by where their pet slept. The horizontal axis shows pet location (from the member’s point of view), and the vertical axis shows nightly total sleep duration in hours. The top and bottom of each box represent the 75th and 25th percentiles, respectively, showing the range in which the middle 50% of observations fall. The line in the middle shows the median sleep duration. Orange diamonds indicate the mean. *Indicates a statistically significant difference between groups (P<0.05).
Figure 2. Pictorial diagram representing the change in sleep duration based on where the pet sleeps in bed. On average, members slept 7.0 hours on nights when pets were by the head and 7.8 hours when pets were by the feet, a 46-minute difference.
Pets sleeping on the bed for more than half of the night increase nighttime awakenings
The amount of time the pet spent on the bed also affected members’ sleep, though more subtly than pet location. We found that nighttime awakenings, also called wake after sleep onset, increased by an average of 9 minutes per night when pets remained on the bed for more than half of the night. More time on the bed meant more chances for those small shifts and movements to wake members up. Surprisingly, pet characteristics such as type (cat vs. dog), number (1, 2, or 3+), and weight did not affect members’ sleep or cardiovascular metrics.
People generally feel that sleeping with a pet does not impact their sleep
On nights when members slept with their pets, most didn’t actually perceive their pets as sleep disruptors:
- 68.4% reported no noticeable effect of their pet in bed on their sleep
- 17.9% felt that their pet being present helped their sleep
- 13.7% felt that their pet being present worsened their sleep
These findings are generally similar to a research study from the Mayo Clinic, which found that 41% of pet owners perceive their pets as beneficial or having no impact on their sleep, compared to 20% who report that a pet disrupts their sleep.
You don’t need to choose between sleeping with your pet and getting a good night’s sleep
Our data indicate that simply having a pet in bed vs. not having a pet in bed doesn’t impact sleep quality. However, for those who choose to allow a pet on the bed, the pet’s sleeping location and duration on the bed are key factors. For important occasions, such as before an exam, a race, or an interview, we recommend keeping your pets off the bed. Removing pets ensures the best chance for restful sleep, since their sleeping location and nighttime movements can be unpredictable.
Bottom line: The “no pets in bed” rule might be too simple. Keep them away from your head, and you can still enjoy quality time cuddling with your furry friend.
