Sleep Hygiene Tip of the Week || Give Fido his own bed

Do you take a menagerie to bed with you every night?

Just how still and quiet are they? Hmmmmm?

You might laugh about the fact that pets are a major contributor to poor sleep for their human caretakers, but the truth is that people who take a lot of pets to bed with them may be making their sleeping life much more difficult than it needs to be.

Pets get up and moved around. They make sounds in their sleep. They act out their dreams sometimes. Is it any wonder that sleeping with pets might be one reason why you aren't getting a full night's sleep?

SLEEP HYGIENE TIP OF THE WEEK: It may be difficult to retrain pets to NOT sleep with you, and it may be difficult for you to fall asleep without your beloved pets at your side. However, I see patients all the time who normally sleep with pets; in the lab during a sleep study, they have to sleep without their pets. Guess what? At least half of them sleep better WITHOUT their pets. It can be done if you are resolved to make the change.

If you are introducing a new pet to your household, make it a priority to train them to sleep in their own bed, even in a separate room. And don't forget, not only might you be suffering from poor sleep due to your pets' sleeping behaviors, but you may also be very active or noisy in sleep, keeping them awake as well!