The Scandinavian sleep method, also referred to as a 2-duvet system, is the term for sleeping in the same bed as your partner but each having your own blanket, quilt, or duvet. While this seems like it would be complicated in regards to a top sheet, that problem is mitigated by not using one. Studies have shown that sleeping in the same bed—and with the same blanket—as another person can reduce your sleep quality by 30%.1 If you live with your partner, it’s presumed that you share a bed together. But that doesn’t mean sleeping with another person is ideal for you. From insomnia, to blanket tug of war, to waking up chilled because your s.o. has stolen the covers again, some people just don’t thrive in a bed with another person. The Scandinavian sleep method, or use or two separate blankets, aims to make couples have a happier and easier time sleeping in a bed together by taking away the problems that sharing a blanket can lead to. Ahead, you’ll learn about how the Scandinavian sleep method came about, the potential benefits and pitfalls of it, and how you can switch to this method of co-sleeping if you’d like to. The History of the Scandinavian Sleep Method No one person invented this different way of sleeping. It’s popular in the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, and is also practiced in other areas of Europe, such as Iceland and Germany. These countries rank as some of the highest in the world in terms of sleep quality, while the United States is low on the list at 87th best.2 The Daily Scandinavian wrote about the sleeping method in 2019 after the above study was released that detailed how well people slept in Scandinavia versus the U.S. and other countries, in which they noted that sleeping with two blankets had been coined “the Scandinavian sleep method.” Since then, the concept has become more popular.3 That’s because it’s customary to want to follow the habits of people who are yielding good results with their habits, as Scandinavians are with sleep. Impact and Benefits of the Scandinavian Sleep Method The goal of the Scandinavian sleep method is for you and your partner to have a better night’s sleep. Sleep quality is vital to a happy life, and the more you wake up in the middle of the night, the less rested you’re likely to feel in the morning. And even if you’re having challenges currently sleeping with your partner, it doesn’t mean that you’d be better off sleeping alone: Studies have shown that bed sharing leads to improved and more stable REM sleep.4 The biggest benefit of the Scandinavian sleep method is that it can improve your quality of sleep without requiring a “sleep divorce” from your partner. By employing this method, you’ll be less inclined to be woken up by the movement of another person in your bed. In turn, you can sleep uninterrupted for longer periods of time, getting the deeper states of sleep needed to function at your best. Additionally, not everyone has the same temperature when they sleep. By using two different blankets, those who get colder can opt for heavier blankets than those who are warmer and want a lighter one. How to Implement It Getting started with the Scandinavian sleep method requires only the purchase of an additional top quilt, blanket, or duvet. It may seem a little tricky to fit two blankets on one bed; you’ll want to have two single sized blankets, not two king or queen ones, in order to not get lost in a sea of blankets. Once you have your blankets, you can either place them next to each other on the bed side by side, with one blanket on the side each of you sleep on, or you can overlap them slightly. To overlap them, you’d put one down, then put the other on the side and on top of it so that there is an area in the center where the two blankets overlap. Twin size blankets are the most common ones to use, but if you have a king size bed you may be able to fit two full sized ones on there. If you want a significant amount of overlap in the center, two full sized blankets on a queen or king will provide that. Now that your blankets are on your respective sides, you’re ready for bed! The placement of blankets and removal of a top sheet are all that is needed to get started with the Scandinavian sleep method. Tips for the Scandinavian Sleep Method Looking to get started with this different way of sleeping, but need a little more help? Here are some tips. Choose blankets that work for your temperature during sleep. If you know you get hot at night, a lighter blanket is a better choice than a heavy one. If you’re worried about your bed looking discordant, choose blankets that look similar to one another, and place them neatly next to each other so that it’s less obvious they are two and not one. Potential Pitfalls The main downside to this way of sleeping is that it doesn’t work well for cuddling. If you and your partner like to sleep close to one another, the Scandinavian sleep method might create challenges in that happening easily. There is also an innate lack of skin to skin contact with the sleep method. Skin to skin contact for sleep has been studied predominantly in relation to parents and children, rather than people in relationships,5 but science has proven that sleeping in the nude can lead to better quality sleep for anyone.6 It’s also accepted that skin to skin contact creates oxytocin for everyone, not just parents and babies. It’s normal for couples to have challenges in their relationship, including with sleeping. If you’ve been moving through a difficult period in your relationship, couples counseling might be a wise choice for you. If you’re suffering from insomnia, there are numerous things you can try to get a better night’s sleep.

If you’ve ever referred to yourself as a “morning person” or a “night person,” you were referencing your chronotype. It is a natural individual difference that can have a big impact on how much and how well you sleep, especially if you have a job or other obligations that adhere to a schedule that doesn’t work with your chronotype.

This article will define what a chronotype is, detail the categories of chronotypes, and explain why chronotypes differ between people. It will then wrap up with a discussion of chronotypes’ impact on sleep.

What Is a Chronotype?

Chronotypes are an individual’s natural predisposition to sleep and wake up at certain times of day. Chronotype also influences how alert or tired you feel at various times throughout the day and impacts when you’ll be most productive during your waking hours.1

Chronotype is related to circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm coordinates your body’s physiological processes, including the sleep-wake cycle, into a 24-hour sequence. Your chronotype, also known as a circadian preference or circadian typology, is your innate inclination to sleep or wake up based on your circadian rhythm.2

Research has shown that chronotype changes throughout the lifecycle.3 Kindergarten children prefer to wake up early,4 while adolescents prefer waking up and going to sleep later in the day, a phenomenon that increases throughout the teen years and peaks around the age of 19. Chronotype then shifts back to a preference for waking up earlier throughout adulthood. Men generally have later chronotypes than women before the age of 40, but after age 40 have earlier chronotypes.3

Chronotype Categories

Researchers have divided chronotype into three categories:2

• Morningness, or the preference for waking up and going to bed earlier than most people.
• Eveningness, or the preference for waking up and going to bed later than most people.
• Intermediate, which falls somewhere in between morningness and eveningness.

Even though both sleep scholars and the general population tend to emphasize morningness and eveningness when describing sleep timing preferences, the reality is that chronotypes are distributed nearly evenly along a spectrum. As a result, most people fall somewhere between the extremes of morningness and eveningness.3

Furthermore, a number of scholars have suggested there’s a fourth chronotype:

• Bimodal, or people who display some aspects of morningness and some aspects of eveningness.2

Discovering Your Chronotype

You may already know you wake up before the sun rises or prefer to go to bed after most everyone else is asleep, but if you’re not sure what chronotype category you fit into and want to find out, you can take the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. This is the measure most often used by scientists. It is available either online with automated results that come with personalized feedback or in a printable format that explains how to interpret the results for yourself.

One of the most popular chronotype assessments is the chronotype quiz by clinical psychologist and sleep expert Michael Breus, who has broken chronotype down into four categories based on animals, including:5

• Lion — which roughly correlates to morningness
• Wolf — which roughly correlates to eveningness
• Bear — which roughly correlates to intermediate types. According to Breus, this type is more productive before noon and decreases in energy in the late afternoon.
• Dolphin — which roughly correlates to bimodal types. Breus says these individuals are most productive between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

While Breus’ quiz is fun and easy to take, it’s important to know that there’s no evidence to suggest it has been validated or peer-reviewed, the gold standards for confirming that a questionnaire actually measures what it claims to.

Why Do People Have Different Chronotypes?

Some scholars propose that the variations in chronotype between individuals is a product of human evolution. A 2017 investigation6 of a hunter-gatherer tribe in Tanzania demonstrated that over 20 days, different individuals took turns sleeping while others were awake.

This asynchronous sleep-wake pattern was connected to variations in chronotype. Based on these findings, the researchers suggested that different chronotypes are a product of natural selection, ensuring certain people stayed awake to keep watch at various times throughout the night to protect the group against vulnerabilities to predators and other dangers during sleep.

How Do Chronotypes Affect Sleep?

Adequate sleep is essential for healthy functioning. Therefore, it’s valuable to know how our chronotype might impact our sleep. Chronotype can effect how individuals interact with their environment, especially when it comes to the social parameters of work and school hours or other scheduled activities. This can be especially problematic for people with an evening chronotype.

A single hour of social jetlag can increase cardiovascular disease risk by 11%, so evening types’ predilection toward social jetlag not only disrupts their sleep schedule, but it can also impact their overall health. In addition, those with later chronotypes have a tendency to have poorer sleep quality.7

Meanwhile, those with morning chronotypes appear to adjust more quickly to shifts in the duration, timing, and quality of their sleep than evening chronotypes. On the other hand, morning chronotypes may have difficulty staying up late to participate in social activities.

A Word From Verywell

If you have a later chronotype and work at an office that adheres to an earlier schedule, it might be beneficial to speak to your boss about your particular needs. Morning chronotypes will thrive on a standard office-day work schedule, but evening chronotypes are likely to be more productive if they start and end their workday later.

In fact, one study9 found that evening chronotypes who worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore had the flexibility to get up and go to bed later in the day no longer experienced issues with sleep. This indicates that if evening types were able to work on a schedule that lined up with their chronotype, their sleep quality and quantity would improve.