Sleeping With Your Dog or Cat in Bed: What Studies Show
Sleep & NighttimeArticleNearly half of US adults in one national survey shared their bed or bedroom with a pet. Those who did reported worse sleep quality and more insomnia, mainly with dogs. In a Mayo Clinic study that tracked 40 adults and their dogs for a week, sleep was fine with a dog in the bedroom but less efficient with the dog on the bed. Here is what the studies show and how to find a middle ground.
In this article
A warm dog at your feet or a cat on the pillow can feel like the best part of bedtime. Two studies looked at what it does to sleep.
How common it is
In a national US survey of 1,591 adults, about 48% said they slept with a pet.1
What the survey found
Compared with people who didn’t share their sleep space with a pet:1
- Pet co-sleepers reported poorer sleep quality and more insomnia.1
- The link was with dogs, not cats.1
- It was stronger in people with more pets.1
- How close people felt to their pets made no difference.1
- Sleeping with a pet didn’t buffer the effect of stress on sleep.1
This was a one-time survey, so it can’t show that pets cause poor sleep. People who sleep badly might also be more likely to invite a pet in.
What a sleep tracker showed
Researchers at Mayo Clinic tracked 40 healthy adults, mostly women, and their dogs with motion sensors for 7 nights.2
- People slept about 81% of their time in bed, which the authors called good sleep efficiency.2
- Sleep was less efficient when the dog was on the bed than when it was elsewhere in the room.2
The authors concluded one dog in the bedroom didn’t seem to disrupt sleep much, but its position mattered.2
Finding a middle ground
- Try a dog bed in your room instead of on the bed, given the Mayo finding.2
- Test it for two weeks. Note how rested you feel with and without the pet on the bed.
- Consider the number of pets; more pets went with worse sleep in the survey.1
- Don’t blame the pet first if you’re exhausted; snoring, night sweats or insomnia may be the cause.
See also white noise and earplugs and separate bedrooms.
Try: “I sleep badly most nights. My dog sleeps on my bed. Is there anything else we should check before I move him off the bed?”
Did I Do That in My Sleep? covers bedroom arrangements in Chapter 11, “The Bedroom Treaty,” in a section called “Shared Rooms With Different Needs,” which suggests agreed arrangements, like separate blankets or a set spot for the phone, to cut down on night disturbance. See the book.
This article is for general educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It isn't a substitute for diagnosis or treatment from a qualified healthcare professional who knows your health history. See a doctor for insomnia lasting more than a few weeks, loud snoring or breathing pauses, or daytime sleepiness that affects driving. If you have allergies or asthma, ask your doctor about pets in the bedroom. Girl Playbook does not endorse any specific product, test, or provider.
Girl Playbook sells this book. It provides education and worksheets, not individualized medical care.
Sources
The research behind this article, in the order it’s cited. How we source our articles.
- Scientific Reports (via PubMed Central), 2024Co-sleeping with pets, stress, and sleep in a nationally-representative sample of United States adults (opens in a new tab)abcdefgh
- Mayo Clinic Proceedings (abstract via PubMed), 2017The Effect of Dogs on Human Sleep in the Home Sleep Environment (opens in a new tab)abcde
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