Sleeping with significant other may lead to relationship problems

According to the Mayo Clinic Online, adults should receive seven to nine hours of sleep each night to be healthy.

After a few jabs at the ribs and countless kicks in the side, when is it time to tell your boxer-of-a-partner enough is enough?

Catching z’s with your significant other may have become a cultural norm, but it may not have the fairytale effect people are looking for.

Snoring, sleep-walking, sprawling and sleep-talking are all common subconscious habits that may drive sleeping partners out of the bed and into straitjackets.

“The amount of sleep you need depends on various factors, especially your age,” said Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler from the Mayo Clinic Online.

In order to be deemed “healthy,” adults should receive seven to nine hours of sleep each night. With your partner’s sleeping techniques punching, prodding, and poking at your nerves, how is sleep even in the cards?

“69 percent of all couples’ problems are unsolvable,” said Amber Paulk, UNA professor of human environmental sciences. “These problems center around different things and sleeping together could definitely be one of them.”

Without angrily pulling out the kindergarten cot or pitching the tent in the backyard, Paulk gives tips on how to bring up the subject of your sleeping partner’s bad habits lightly.

She said sleeping is as much a physical experience as it is an emotional and mental one.

“Communication is key,” she said. “Come up with some options.”

Many couples are facing a simple dilemma: ignore it or address the problem directly?

“96% of the time, the way a conversation starts is the way it will end,” Paulk said.

She suggests a calm, “sandwich” approach to structure a difficult conversation. The first slice of bread — a positive statement about how you’re so lucky to have Mr./Ms. Right in your life — should set the tone for the conversation. The meat and cheese — pointing out the problem at hand — should still be calm but very direct. The final piece of bread — another positive reassurance that your partner is the greatest — should be light-hearted and sincere.

Fight the urge to channel your angry inner Bruce Lee by tying on an imaginary apron and making a sandwich. It may not be tasty or satisfying, but it will be healthy for you and your relationship.

UNA marketing major Kayla Stinnett believes in the exact opposite.

“Sleeping together is a piece of cake as long as I’m comfortable with them,” she said. “The part I hate is when they don’t leave. We’re going to have a problem if I get up, go to class, come back and you’re still sleeping.”

Sophomore Emily Davidson is making amends for the future.

“Sleeping in the same bed is so easy to do, now that I’ve done it before,” she said. “I’m changing my habits so when I meet the one guy I want to spend the rest of my life with, he won’t judge me based on my past.”

Stressful situations arise in our daily lives frequently, yet those seven to nine hours we set aside for our bodies to recuperate should be tranquil.

Use the sandwich approach to civilly present the problem to your sleeping partner, or else your subconscious might beat you to the punch, literally.