Should You Let Pets Sleep in Your Bed? with Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer

Podcast Transcript

John Horton:

Hey there, and welcome to another Health Essentials Podcast. I'm John Horton, your co-host today, with my dog Charlie, a 12-year-old fuzzball, who is very interested in our upcoming topic. The reason is that we're going to talk about whether pets should share a bed with their favorite humans. As you might have guessed, Charlie has a definite opinion on the topic. He's a bit biased, though. So, we ask sleep medicine specialist Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer to join us and offer some input. She's one of the many trusted experts at Cleveland Clinic who pops into our weekly podcast to answer health-related questions. So, with that in mind, let's see where Charlie should sleep tonight. Welcome to the podcast, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer, thanks for carving out some time for us today.

Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer:

Absolutely.

John Horton:

So, as you might have guessed from my co-host here, today's topic is a personal one in the Horton house. I'm going to guess, though, that this is not the first time that you've been asked about sleeping with a pet.

Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer:

It is not the first time.

John Horton:

And I see it seems like a lot of people just, they naturally just do it. We get so attached to these little critters. I think I saw one thing where 50 percent of dog owners say they sleep with their pet. So, I guess, let's get right to the main point here, which is, sleeping with your pet is something that sleep experts would recommend doing.

Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer:

Well, sleep experts, by the way, good morning, Charlie. Sleep experts will recommend optimal sleep hygiene. So optimal sleep hygiene is embedding healthy habits, healthy behaviors and the right environmental factors collectively to ensure a good night's sleep. And so generally, that means not having things or friends in the bed who should not be there. And so generally, we would recommend that Charlie not be sleeping in your bed.

John Horton:

Aw, it's bad news for you Charlie. So, Charlie wants to get the bad news out of the way first here. So, let's start with the reasons why it's not a good idea to have pets as bed buddies.

Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer:

Yeah, well, pets can affect sleep quality. So, when pets move, people often wake up. Many of our patients wake up repeatedly during the night because a pet is repositioning or moving or barking or needing to get up to be taken out. So, there's that component of sleep disruption that can happen with pets in the room. There are also other medical-related issues. Many people with sleep disorders and sleep problems also have allergies. People with asthma may have their allergies and asthma activated by having pets near them all the time, including in the bed. Certainly, there's exposure to germs that happen when we have pets in bed. So those are general side issues that do play into getting a good night's sleep.

John Horton:

Well, I think Charlie's usually pretty good, but there has been more than one occasion where he's growled where I've moved when he didn't like it. So, I definitely understand what you're saying. So, it's not looking good for Charlie right now. Sorry, buddy. But let's talk about some of the potential benefits that might come with sleeping with a pet.

Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer:

Well, again, I think it's about individualizing our sleep strategies. Some people are actually really great sleepers, and they enjoy having a pet in the bed and the pet is really not contributing to any sleep problem. They're happier with the pet in the bed. The pet helps them wind down at night and maybe they even feel more secure in their environment having a pet in the bed. And if the pet is not leading to any health or sleep issues, that's probably fine. It's really for the folks who are having problems with their sleep that we would caution against having Charlie in the bed. So, it sounds like you might be doing fine with Charlie in bed.

John Horton:

Well, I got to say, he's like a professional sleeper and I found that after I started working from home, where he's pretty much down for 20-plus hours a day I think, so I'm trying to learn from him.

Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer:

He's your sleeping coach.

John Horton:

He is. He is. So, if you're going to sleep with your pet, are there things that you can do to create a setup that will increase your chances of having a good night's sleep?

Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer:

Yeah, absolutely. And these are an extension of normal sleep hygiene, which are the things we practice doing to help promote a good night's sleep, but we figure those out on our own, they're individualized. So, for example, if we're concerned about allergens, you might invest in an air filter for your bedroom. You may choose a different type of bed or a larger bed so that there are defined places: here's my space and here's Charlie's space. And if one of us moves, we're not disrupting the other. You need to think about cleanliness of sheets, your bedding, as well as the pet, and just monitor and make modifications over time.

John Horton:

Are there things you could even do — because like, as you said, pets are prone to sometimes getting up in the middle of the night — could you even adjust your bedtime a little bit and work in a maybe wake-up call at 2:00 a.m. for a drink of water?

Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer:

Yeah, absolutely. If your brain allows that to happen. Some people are very flexible sleepers, and they can wake up and get to sleep very quickly. Others, once they're woken up by something in the environment, will have an hour or two of difficulty falling back to sleep. So again, this is something that needs to be individualized.

But if you read about sleep before the invention of the light bulb, there was this concept of the two sleeps — the first sleep three to four hours early in the evening, and then there was a natural one- to two-hour wake-up period where people woke up and actually did things and then fell asleep again for another four hours. And some modern scientists feel like this concept of insomnia, in part, is due to the fact that we as human beings are sort of forcing ourselves to sleep in these specific timeframes and expect to sleep well when human biology actually was not that way forever.

So, for those who have the flexibility to maybe go to sleep a little bit earlier, anticipating that there's going to be a wake up in the middle of the night, and they can fall asleep again after that to get your full seven to eight hours of sleep, I think that's perfectly fine.

John Horton:

Well, that seems like something I might be willing to do to keep Charlie in his spot.

Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer:

Aw.

John Horton:

Do you have any advice on how I can — I know, he's a cool little guy — so do you have any advice on how I can keep him from taking up the space of a St. Bernard? Because I don't know how he does it, but he takes up half the bed at 13 pounds.

Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer:

Yeah, that's challenging, it's the same with other human bed partners and not that different from when children want to come in your bedroom, in your bed at night. I think it's just about setting limits. If you can be consistent about where Charlie should sleep and habits, pets, children will accommodate, too. So, I think consistency with your expectations might eventually lead to a standard practice that Charlie will adhere to.

John Horton:

All right. Well, I'm hoping both of us are going to work on these tips that you gave us. So, before we say goodbye, do you have anything else to add as far as sharing a bed with a pet?

Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer:

I would just again say, it's really an individual choice, but important to recognize if you're sharing a bed with a pet and it's affected your sleep quality. Because sleep is foundational to health and wellness, it's critically important for cardiovascular health, metabolic health and brain health. And as much as we love our pets, it's important to not allow poor sleep to affect your health long term.

John Horton:

Great advice. At this point, though, I think Charlie has me trained, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to turn him around. So, thank you so much for joining us today, and Charlie and I both appreciate all the good advice.

Dr. Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer:

You are very welcome. Bye, Charlie.

John Horton:

Pets bring a lot of joy to our lives and can be wonderful companions. But when it comes to sharing your bed with your pet, give it some thought. They might seem a lot less cute when they growl over who has the sheets at 2:00 a.m. Till next time, be well.

Speaker 3:

Thank you for listening to Health Essentials, brought to you by Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Children's. To make sure you never miss an episode, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or visit clevelandclinic.org/hepodcast. This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your own physician.