How to Be in a Relationship with a Loud Sleeper
As we’re sure you’ll agree, sleep is one of the best times of the day. It’s our quiet and alone time to simply zone out and be genuinely stress-free.
Until our partner starts snoring that is.
Although snoring is relatively common, it can be an annoyance when it comes to getting to sleep next to someone that snores loudly. Or even breathes loudly for that matter. And we’re here with some great tips if you’re in a relationship with a loud sleeper.
Keep in mind that a staggering 60 per cent of us lose sleep because of a partner who sleeps too loudly, and although this is quite troubling, it also means there are a tonne of creative ways people have thought of to combat their noisy spouses.
Take a look below at how to be in a relationship with a loud sleeper.
Understand Why They’re a Loud Sleeper
To kick things off, it’s good to get into a little bit about why your spouse might be a loud sleeper and to tackle things from an educated angle.
The Sleeping Position
One of the more common reasons for snoring is simply down to the angle of the way your partner sleeps. Snoring occurs when there’s something obstructing the airways and that could be anything from the angle of the neck on a pillow, the shape of the muscles in the mouth and more.
It might be worth taking a look at which position your partner is sleeping in when they snore and talking this over with them. A higher profile or lower profile pillow might be on the cards too.
Sleep Apnea
A common sleep issue that affects thousands of us is sleep apnea. As a sleep disorder that affects the body’s ability to breathe when we sleep, the natural reaction to this is snoring to get the air into our throat.
The fix to this is as simple as investing in a CPAP machine to help your partner’s airway remain open at night. This might greatly improve their night’s sleep as well as yours.
Lifestyle Choices
Another big reason for snoring are lifestyle factors that could easily be changed. A tonne of these aspects can be dealt with just by talking over them and seeing if a reduction in smoking, drinking or taking an anti-inflammatory before bed helps out with the issue.
As you might already know, alcohol and smoking cigarettes does cause snoring to worsen. Alcohol has an ability to relax the muscles in the throat and cause snoring to occur, whereas smoking cigarettes inflames these muscles and creates a small passage for air to pass through.
Allergies or Seasonal Sensitivity
If your partner is someone who suffers from seasonal allergies or even allergies to mites, then there’s a good chance this is increasing their snoring’s loudness and your nightly disruption.
In a similar way to how alcohol and smoking inflame the airways, allergies also cause the air passage in the neck to swell. This makes it difficult for air to pass into the lungs and creates the snoring sensation.
To remedy this, it’s a good idea to determine whether your partner has a seasonal allergy and deal with this through medication like a hay-fever tablets. However, if the problem is dust mites in the mattress, you can look to hypoallergenic mattresses and bedding to handle the issue.
A Few Tips for You
Other than a good old sit down to discuss lifestyle changes, medications or a new mattress there are a few things you can personally do to help get to sleep next to a snorer.
Invest in Sleep Headphones
One easy way to handle noisy sleepers is to grab yourself a pair of sleep headphones, or AirPods work great too, and have these in during the night. You’ll have your favourite tunes here and a good night’s sleep with no snoring!
Earplugs will also work great as well.
Try Different Sleep Schedules
Another great way to bypass the noisy sleeper is to knock out before they do. If your partner is willing, ask them to consider staying awake later than you so you’re able to get into bed and fall asleep before they go to bed.
You’ll have the freedom to unwind and relax without the snoring, and by the time they hop into bed you’ll already be sound asleep.
Add in Some White-noise
One last thing to consider before you request to sleep apart is throwing on a white noise machine in the bedroom.
Though this might seem counterintuitive at first, white noise is predictable to the brain and will help to combat the sporadic snoring from a partner. Essentially, you’ll be able to zone into the relaxing white noise and drown out the sounds of snoring.
