Forget the Scandinavian Sleep Method — why the Eight Sleep Pod 4 could be the answer to your bed sharing woes

If there's one thing that can cause an argument in the bedroom it's temperature. Central heating on or off? What about a bedroom fan? A thick or thin comforter?

While many people run hot at night, battling night sweats and hot flushes, some people easily feel the cold and like to snuggle up beneath mounds of blankets. When these two types of people meet in a relationship, there's a problem.

A recent study by Naturepedic found that different sleep temperature preferences was one of the top conflicts leading couples to take a sleep divorce. In fact, 39% of couples sleep separately because they prefer different temperatures.

The Scandinavian Sleep Method continues to rise in popularity, offering warring couples a cheap sleep solution to their nighttime temperature disputes. But if you find this method ruins the intimacy of bed sharing, one of this year's best smart beds could be a great investment for you in this month's mattress sales. Here's why...

What is the Scandinavian Sleep Method?

The Scandinavian Sleep Method is when couples share a bed but use separate twin or single comforters. The duvets may have different weights, tog or materials to accommodate different temperature preferences.

This provides a handy, cost-effective way for hot-sleeper cold-sleeper couples to avoid disagreements and get better quality sleep. This method is great if you like having your own space in bed, but people who sleep better when close to their partner may find it isolating.

In this case, we recommend the dual temperature-regulating Eight Sleep Pod 4 as your co-sleeping solution.

What is the Eight Sleep Pod 4?

The Eight Sleep Pod 4 is a smart mattress cover that fits over your mattress like a fitted sheet and is connected to a bedside control hub come water tank. Tiny tubes run through the mattress cover, forming the water-based heating and cooling system.

The Eight Sleep Pod 4 features in our guide to the best mattresses for couples, thanks to its advanced dual-sided temperature control function (no more arguments over keeping the window open or closed.)

The mattress cover is made of soft, cushioning black fabric and is laced with sleep tracking sensors too, which measure your health metrics through the night.

The pod is connected to the Eight Sleep Autopilot app (subscription starting at $17/month required) where you access the smart mattress controls and your sleep reports.

Why the Eight Sleep Pod 4 is the answer to your co-sleeping woes

Thanks to dual temperature controls and intricate sleep tracking, the pod can help you and your partner get better sleep. Let's take a look how...

Dual temperature control

The Eight Sleep Pod 4 features dual climate controls. This means each side of the bed can heat up or cool down independently of the other.

You can manually customize the temperature of your side of the bed and the Autopilot feature means your bed will track your body temperature through the night and adjust accordingly to keep you at the optimal sleep temperature (between 60-68°F.)

This is all independent on each side of the bed. So, you and your partner can sleep peacefully without kicking off or hogging the covers, or disrupting each other through the night with sweats or shivers.

Personalized sleep data

The best mattresses of the year all isolate motion well, minimising disruptions caused by your partner tossing and turning next to you. But no matter how good your mattress is at absorbing motion, a restless partner is likely to wake you up at some point.

Therefore, maintaining good sleep hygiene so you fall asleep fast and sleep through the night is not only key to improving your kip, but your partner's too.

One of the key contributors to quality sleep and a well-regulated circadian rhythm is a consistent sleep schedule, and the Eight Sleep Pod 4 can keep you accountable here.

Eight Sleep sensors track everything from the time you spend in bed to the time you actually fall asleep and how long you spend in each sleep cycle to give you a nightly sleep score. This score takes routine into account and if you don't stick to a consistent bedtime, your score will decrease.

Therefore, Eight Sleep reports can help you learn more about your sleep tendencies and needs, so you can work on optimizing your sleep, causing less disruption to your partner.

• Read more: Sleeping on the Eight Sleep Pod 4 has taken my sleep score from 59 to 91 — here's how

You can still share a comforter

While the Scandinavian Sleep Method means couples can each opt for a twin comforter with a tog and material that suits their preferences, some couples feel that separate comforters results in a physical disconnect.

With the Eight Sleep dual temperature control, couples can still snuggle under the same comforter while your bed does the heavy lifting in terms of keeping your sleep temperature just right.

This helps you maintain the intimacy of bed-sharing, which is associated with better sleep outcomes. Research shows sleeping next to your partner can be beneficial because it promotes a sense of security and connection, often leading to improved sleep quality, reduced stress and a stronger bond within the relationship.

It can also help couples synchronize their sleep cycles, leading to better sleep consistency and improved overall sleep quality for both individuals.

What if temperature isn't the problem?

Yes, temperature is a common co-sleeping bone of contention. But there are plenty of other reasons why couples struggle to co-sleep. 57% of couples say they sleep separately due to snoring, while 33% part beds due to different comfort preferences.

Providing you shop the right one, smart beds offer a solution in both these cases.

Many smart beds, including the Eight Sleep Pod 4 Ultra (the upgraded version of the Pod 4) and Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Ergo smart base, offer snore mitigation. This means they are lined with sensors that detect snoring and adjust sleeper's head position to open airways for easier breathing, helping you and your partner sleep in peace.

Alternatively, Sleep Number mattresses specialize in dual adjustable firmness. This means you can adjust the firmness level of your side of the bed to find the ideal level of pressure relief and support for your sleep style and body weight, regardless of your partner’s preferences.

Alternative tech that can help you sleep better next to your partner

Choosing the right mattress for both your sleep needs can go a long way in ensuring couples can sleep peacefully next to each other. For extra help in creating a harmonious sleep set up, these are the gadgets I recommend...

Earplugs

Overnight earplugs are a godsend if you sleep next to someone who snores, blocking out their ZZZs so you can sleep more peacefully.

Our panel of sleep product reviewers has tried and tested many a earplug and we recommend the Loop Quiet 2 Earplugs over all others. These soft silicone earplugs managed to muffle our tester's snoring partner and the hums of the nightclub next door.

Reading clip light

If you like to read before bed but your partner likes to go straight to sleep, a bright reading light can be a problem. Enter: Bon Charge blue light blocking clip light.

This handy little light clips on your book page so you have enough light to read without illuminating the whole room. Plus it emits red light, which is conducive to sleep, helping your partner sleep next to you and helping you fall asleep fast once you put your book down.

Sleep headphones

While silence is traditionally taken to be conducive to sleep, new research shows silence keeps 38% of Americans awake at night. If you're someone who likes to fall asleep to calming nature sounds, a guided meditation, white noise or soothing music but your partner only sleeps in silence, a bedside audio device will be no good.

Hence, a pair of sleep headphones, which sit comfortably in your ears in any sleep position are a great buy. We recommend the Philips Sleep Headphones with Kokoon.