Why Is Sleep Important?

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Many report better sleep with pets, despite objective disruptions.

Sleep has both physiological and subjective dimensions.

Short-term comfort may come with longer-term sleep costs.

Although some people may frown upon the idea of sleeping with a pet, it is a common habit among many pet guardians. This practice includes room-sharing and bedsharing, and in both cases, many pet guardians describe feelings of comfort and relaxation when their pets are right beside them. In some cases, people may joke that their pets take up more space than they do, but they still view this experience positively.

Research about this topic has often focused on understanding why people choose to sleep with their pets, as well as the impacts of this practice on sleep. These studies may use both subjective measures and objective parameters to explore whether and how the presence of a pet in the room or on the bed affects sleep quality.

Here, something interesting is often observed. While some pet guardians seem to associate sleeping with their pet with feelings of comfort, safety, and emotional regulation, recent studies are pointing in a different direction. In this context, when we look more closely at sleep, there is evidence of greater disruption, including micro-awakenings and increased nighttime movement. In some cases, this includes an increased likelihood of sleep disorders, such as insomnia.

At the same time, there seems to be a form of behavioural synchrony between people and their pets. More movement from the pet tends to be linked to more movement from the human, and vice versa. The sleep quality of both humans and pets may therefore be impacted by this experience.

If sleep tends to be more disrupted, why do so many people still choose to sleep with their pets?

Two Ways of Understanding Sleep

When we think about sleep, there are two dimensions. One is physiological, and the other is subjective. The physiological dimension is related to general sleep architecture. To understand these dimensions, researchers often assess very concrete aspects such as how long it takes to fall asleep, total sleep time, the number of awakenings during the night, sleep fragmentation, and sleep continuity. These aspects of sleep are associated with biological restoration and can be measured using a range of instruments, including polysomnography, actigraphy, and standard sleep questionnaires.

Alongside the psychological component, there is a subjective aspect of sleep. Within this dimension, what typically defines the sleep quality is how rested or comfortable the person feels and how the overall sleep experience is perceived. Emotional regulation is another possible mechanism in this context, as feeling safer can lower emotional arousal. In this regard, many pet guardians report sleeping better with their pets. Waking up with the pet next to them might reinforce the human-animal bond, which may lead pet guardians to feel they slept well.

Although the psychological and subjective aspects of sleep don’t always align, this isn’t necessarily a contradiction. They simply are different layers of the same experience. In this context, the physiological effects of poor sleep may not be immediately noticeable after just one or two nights. So it might be easier to focus on the immediate emotional comfort the experience provides. Over time, though, the impact of poor sleep tends to accumulate, gradually shaping how we feel and function during the day. For example, poor sleep quality can potentially impact emotional regulation, leading to higher stress and anxiety levels, lower tolerance for frustration, and more difficulty handling emotionally difficult situations. It can also be detrimental to attention and memory, besides showing up physically, with symptoms like headaches and fatigue.

Why Is Sleep Important?

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Find a sleep therapist near me

Finding a Balance Between Comfort and Health

Considering these possible negative impacts over time, why do so many pet guardians sleep with their pets?

Not surprisingly, the answer isn’t as simple as it involves understanding the particularities of each situation. One way to make sense of this experience is to pay attention to how these two dimensions are showing up in each person’s life, both in how their body feels and in how they experience sleep emotionally.

Sometimes what we need emotionally in the moment can take precedence over what the body needs over time, but a more nuanced understanding of how co-sleeping with a pet can impact pet guardians' physical and mental health can help inform decisions that are more attuned to each person’s needs.

In some cases, for example, co-sleeping with the pet can be very meaningful, aligned with people’s emotional needs, and potentially linked to a sense of comfort and well-being. At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that our perceptions do not always fully reflect what is happening in the body.

That said, sleeping with a pet can be both comforting and disruptive. In this sense, closer attention to how pets are integrated into our lives can help pet guardians make decisions that consider both our physical and mental health, without neglecting the potential impacts of those decisions on the pet.

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