Is this Swedish sleep trend the best way for couples to share a bed?
People are pretty used to their bedding looking a certain way: There’s a fitted sheet, a top sheet (at least in the United States), and then a large duvet. But IKEA is trying to get people to rethink that concept.
The inexpensive furniture giant has launched something called the TOG-ether bundle, which is essentially two single duvets that are made to be used on one bed. The idea behind TOG-ether, is that both people in the bed can sleep better (and not fight over blankets). At present, the bundle is only available in the U.K.
According to an IKEA press release, “Almost two-thirds (61%) of people in the U.K. are feeling fatigued from routinely sleeping badly.” The release also says that people who share beds have it the worst: “Bed-sharers seem worst off, with 50% losing out on the battle of the bedsheets by having covers stolen or being too hot or cold so their partner remains the perfect temperature.”
IKEA’s solution to these sleep problems is the TOG-ether bundle, which is inspired by the Swedish practice of sleeping with two duvets on the bed. “The individual is able to choose preferred weight and warmth, be as tucked in as needed, and not have their duvet stolen, therefore helping people to sleep better together when bed sharing,” IKEA says in the release.
“I love it,” says W. Christopher Winter, MD, of Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine, and author of the book, The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix It. He tells Yahoo Lifestyle, “I think this would certainly help people sleep better.” Winter says he thinks the idea is a good one, largely because it helps keep one person’s nighttime movements from interfering with their partner’s sleep. And, of course, you get to have your own set of covers.
In fact, Winter says he sees no downside to this, other than the fact that it might look a little weird on your bed. As for concerns about price — and whether or not buying two duvets will be more expensive than buying one — the cost of the TOG-ether bundle is ￡40, or roughly $57.
Of course, one of the perks of sharing a bed with your partner is physical closeness and being able to snuggle together under a warm duvet; having two duvets definitely makes that more complicated. Sleeping under separate blankets has the potential to create more distance at a time when you can have intimacy, even if it’s unconscious, licensed clinical psychologist Ramani Durvasula, PhD, author of Should I Stay or Should I Go?, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. But, she says, “anything that can help quell partner differences is great.”
Having two duvets may help address common sleep problems that couples face, licensed therapist David Klow, founder of Skylight Counseling Center in Chicago and author of You Are Not Crazy: Letters From Your Therapist, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “Many healthy couples end up sleeping in separate beds,” he says. Sleeping in separate rooms isn’t great for intimacy, he points out, so separate duvets may be a good in-between solution.
Still, this sleeping practice is not for everyone. “I do not think this is a solution for all couples, many of whom benefit from the skin-to-skin contact that bedtime brings,” Durvasula says. “But for those for whom sleep and temperature conflicts can cast a pall on bedtime, two duvets may be better than one.”
There are currently no plans to bring the TOG-ether bundle to the U.S., IKEA press officer Starr Mclean tells Yahoo Lifestyle. So, if you like the idea, you may just need to buy two single duvets to recreate it on your own.
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