Many Americans aren’t getting a lot of sleep. I know because I used to be one of them. And in a 2024 study published in Sleep Health, researchers found that just 15% of nearly 65,000 participants got the doctor-recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night.
Why is poor sleep such a common plight? There’s an endless list of reasons, but for me, it was always the tiny disruptions that did me in: My partner getting up for the bathroom, that cold whoosh of air leaking into the warm cocoon as he lifts up the comforter. The light of his reading lamp keeping me awake while I’m desperately trying to get some shut-eye. Not to mention the tossing and turning—his or mine—that left us both awake and just slightly enraged.
That all changed when I started using something called the Scandinavian sleep method. It’s a deceptively simple yet completely transformative approach to co-sleeping that has helped my insomnia and made sleeping next to my partner more restful and enjoyable.
Here’s what you need to know about the Scandinavian sleep method, plus my favorite tips for getting started.
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What is the Scandinavian sleep method?
The Scandinavian sleep method is a co-sleeping approach where both partners have their own duvet. It’s long been a part of the culture in Nordic countries, including Iceland and Norway, but it’s also common in other European countries like Austria and Germany.
Sometimes, each person sleeps in their own twin bed, with their own mattress and comforter, though the beds are pushed together to create a “separate but together” feel. The approach stems from a practical, wellness-first philosophy that emphasizes each person doing what’s best for them—no hard feelings.
I began to seriously consider adopting this technique when my partner and I took our first trip to Europe together, just a few months into dating. We stayed in an Airbnb in Vienna, where a king-sized bed was outfitted with two smaller duvets. My boyfriend, who grew up in the Netherlands, Austria and the Czech Republic, didn’t think much of this setup.
But me? I remember having one of the longest, most restful sleeps of my life and wondering: Could my bed coverings really make that much of a difference in my sleep? The answer, my friend, was yes.
What makes it so great?
The Scandinavian sleep method helps prevent the ever-frustrating blanket-stealing dynamic that inevitably occurs when sharing one duvet with someone else. But there are many other benefits to this sleep style—many of them backed by science. Here’s what the method does:
Regulates body temperature
Temperature plays a major role in our sleep cycle. Your body’s temperature changes in accordance with different sleep phases, and any disruption to that delicate balance can cause us to wake up.
It’s also true that some people tend to get warmer when they sleep; others may run colder and need a thicker blanket. The Scandinavian method accounts for these differences because each person can get a duvet that matches their preferences.
Accommodates different schedules
Despite evidence that going to bed and waking up at the same time is ideal for high-quality sleep, most of us can admit that, realistically, it’s different day to day. It’s also likely that our bedtime differs from our partner’s. The Scandinavian method caters to each person’s sleep schedule in a way that’s less disruptive than a singular sheet.
For instance, when I climb in bed early and my partner plans on staying up, he’ll fold down the corner of his duvet so he can easily slide into bed without waking me up. If I wake up before him, I can slip out of my personal duvet without a sound. In both cases, there’s no tugging sensation or rush of cold air to disrupt the sleeper.
This has been a great help to my insomnia. As a light sleeper, shuffling sounds and movement from my night-owl partner would wake me up soon after I fell into a deep sleep, making it hard to fall asleep again. Now, fewer disruptions equals better sleep overall.
Prevents sleep divorce
Sharing a bed has been shown to have positive psychological benefits, including a reinforced sense of intimacy and connection with one’s partner and their family unit as a whole. Married couples who co-sleep (if they’ve found the right bedding arrangement) also have better REM sleep—a phase of rest associated with better memory, mental health and longevity.
But when partners struggle to get a good night’s rest, those benefits are hard to realize. Some partnered adults have skipped the two-duvet method and jumped straight into a sleep divorce, where a couple sleeps in separate beds (usually in separate rooms) to ensure control over their sleep preferences.
The Scandinavian sleeping style offers a more personalized approach for each partner, without giving up the benefits of co-sleeping.
Accommodates late-night readers and early-morning scrollers
Nine nights out of ten, I’ll turn off my bedside lamp before my partner. He’ll stay up late reading through that week’s Economist with a small reading light, and I pull the comforter up like the snuggliest bug-in-a-rug and fall fast asleep, without waiting for him to do the same.
Likewise, I know that scrolling in bed is bad for you. Sometimes, though, I wake up and immediately check the text message notifications I’ve missed from my loved ones, many of whom are in a time zone two hours ahead of me. Luckily, I can pull the covers up over my phone and text with delight while my partner slumbers away.
Requires little investment
We’ve all heard about the fancy daylight alarm clocks and uber-sustainable mattresses that promise a better night’s sleep. What I love most about this Scandinavian sleep method is it’s super affordable—likely even free—because you can do it with items you already have. If it turns out to be the wrong method for you, nothing precious was lost in the process.
Who might not love this idea?
Despite the Scandinavian sleep method hype, there are certainly people for whom it won’t work. For instance, you might prefer a one-duvet approach if you:
- Primarily sleep alone
- Love the top sheet and don’t want to give it up
- Hate making your bed every day
- Share a smaller, full-size bed with your partner
- Rely on snuggling or being connected under the sheets to sleep
- Are primarily kept awake by a partner who snores—this won’t solve that!
So how do I use the Scandinavian sleep method?
The secret to getting this right is remembering that it’s all about personalizing your approach. However, there are a few things I’ve tried that I think will help get you started on the right track to better slumber.
Skip the top sheet
One of the most important ways to follow the Scandinavian sleep method is to give up the top sheet—the sheet that Americans typically put between their fitted sheet and their comforter (sometimes called a flat sheet).
Giving up the top sheet was strange at first. I wasn’t used to having the duvet cover directly against my body. However, we chose linen duvet covers, which are thin yet cozy enough to make up for the top sheet’s absence. And you know what? After a night or two, I really didn’t miss it!
Use the same two duvet covers
On our king bed, we use the same two twin-sized coverlets and fold them in half side-by-side to create a consistent look. We also have the same two duvets inside the covers—but that’s not necessary!
A couple with contrasting preferences could get two different duvet inserts (one thicker, one thinner, for instance) and put them inside the same covers to keep the bed feeling clean and fresh.
Make your bed with an added blanket
As Norwegian influencer Cecilia Blomdahl shows in her Scandinavian sleep method demonstration, adding a full-size blanket on top of the double duvets makes your bed cozy, inviting and more like the one-duvet-style appearance you might be used to.
Sleep inside the taco … or not
Depending on how large your bed and your duvets are, you may need to fold the covers into what can only be described as “duvet tacos” to fit them side-by-side on top. My partner says he sometimes loves to sleep inside his taco because there’s less fabric on top of him to deal with. But I only sleep inside the taco when I’m really cold and want to cocoon myself inside. (As you can see, we have different temperature thresholds for sleep!)
Most nights, though, we fully spread both duvets out on the bed (it’s OK if they overlap in the middle). I think that any Scandinavian, practical as they are, might suggest that there is no “right way” to sleep like them. In fact, the best way to actually follow this method is to use the variation that works best for you.
Tuck your ends in
My only complaint with this sleeping style is that my comforter (when not taco-ing) has a tendency to slip off my side of the bed during the night. After some research, however, I realized most countries that follow this style tuck their comforter into the end of the bed, much like you’d do with a fitted sheet. For some people, this feels too constricting. For me, it’s the perfect way to feel snuggled in and secure.
Give yourself one less thing to worry about
The Scandinavian sleep method is certainly not a cure-all for the many sleep problems that plague anxious, overworked Americans. However, I do love that it helps me decide what feels best for me each night, and that my partner can do the same. In a stressful world, it’s one less thing to think about.
RELATED:
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- Here’s Why People Are Freezing Their Blankets Outside—And Whether You Should Try It Too
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Sources:
- Sleep Health: “Are we getting enough sleep? Frequent irregular sleep found in an analysis of over 11 million nights of objective in-home sleep data”
- International Journal of Molecular Sciences: “How Temperature Influences Sleep”
- International Journal of Behavioral Medicine: “Re-considering the Role of Sleep Hygiene Behaviours in Sleep: Associations Between Sleep Hygiene, Perceptions and Sleep”
- British Sociological Association: “Co-Sleeping with Partners and Pets as a Family Practice of Intimacy: Israeli Couples’ Narratives of Creating Kinship”
- Frontiers in Psychology: “Couple Relationships Are Associated With Increased REM Sleep”
- TikTok: @sejsejlija
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