Sleep Divorce? What It Is And Why It’s A Growing Trend In Utah And The USA

In the 1960s, animated TV show "The Flintstones" broke ground in showing Fred and Wilma Flintstone sleeping in the same bed.

It took more than a decade for real humans on TV to be shown sleeping in the same bed ("Mary Kay and Johnny" and then "The Brady Bunch's" Mike and Carol Brady).

It seems kind of silly now, but I guess producers and the TV executives didn't want to imply that couples actually touched each other at night.

But most real couples do sleep in the same bed and often enjoy cuddling and snuggling at night.

However, a new trend is taking hold in Utah and the United States.

It's called sleep divorce, where married (or otherwise committed) couples are opting to sleep in different beds, often even in different rooms.

As we're finding out through modern science and human behavior studies, getting enough sleep is crucial for mental and physical well-being.

This sleep chart, put out recently by the World Health Organization, lays it all out

• Newborns: 14 – 17 hours (half during naps)
• Infants: 12 – 16 hours (4 – 5 hours during naps)
• Toddlers: 11 – 14 hours (2 – 3 hours during naps)
• Preschoolers: 10 – 13 hours
• Children 6 to 12: 9 – 12 hours
• Teenagers: 8 – 10 hours
• Adults: 7– 9 hours

It's important to note that these are guidelines and every person is different. But these are good ranges for all people. Sleep is the time when your body rests, but also recovers and regenerates.

So if your partner snores, tosses-and-turns, sprawls, hogs the blankets or thrashes in their sleep, sleep divorce might just be what you need.

Separate beds is one solution, but that may not be enough if your partner is a loud snorer or makes frequent and disruptive trips to the bathroom.

To solve those issues, some couples are even opting for separate bedrooms.

"The goal for someone trying to improve their sleep should be to create a space where you're calm and relaxed — an environment conducive for sleep," sleep expert Karin Johnson told Axios.

There might be better solutions, like sleep apnea aid, white noise and even therapy, but sleep experts say no one should be ashamed if they choose "sleep divorce" if it actually helps them get enough sleep.

"There's a certain stigma about sleeping in a different place than your partner," sleep expert Dr. LaMont Richards said. "There shouldn't be. You can still love each other, even create intimate moments, without sleeping in the same bed. If you have the room in your home, and the need, sleep divorce may be the best answer."