Survey: How Sleep Habits Change in the Winter

Wintertime Heats Up Cuddle Time

It’s no surprise that wintertime is a popular season to spend nights curled up inside next to a cozy fire with your favorite blanket, not wanting to venture out into the cold. But research from the Better Sleep Council (BSC) found that Americans report they’re also sleeping more soundly during the winter, staying in bed longer, and for some, even having better sex. Key findings from this study discovered that winter isn’t just the season for hibernating indoors: It’s also the season to snuggle and smooch.

Couples snuggle up to bundle up

There are many benefits to staying in bed during the colder temperatures. For couples, it means they have more time with each other.

  • The top place people like to cuddle in is bed – more than one-quarter (28%) of all Americans say they enjoy cuddling in bed
    • Most Americans surveyed (86%) think there are benefits to cuddling. These feelings were strongest among respondents who reported having a comfortable mattress.
  • A majority (77%) of those who keep away winter’s chill by having more sex say they find intimacy more satisfying when the weather’s cold outside, particularly in the winter
  • Of the Americans who think they sleep fewer hours in the winter, 17% of them say they sleep less because they were too busy “gettin’ busy!”

The young and the restful

  • Those younger than 50 are more likely than those older to say they cuddle and/or “make love” to stay warm in the winter
  • Those younger than 50 are more likely than those older to say they sleep more in the winter than other times of the year

Excited for winter bedtime bliss

  • More than half (53%) of all people are looking forward (at least somewhat) to the cooler weather
  • A little more than half of Americans (51%) sleep more in the wintertime, and 42% find winter to be the best sleeping season
  • Almost half (48%) of all Americans say they spend more time in bed in the winter
  • About two-thirds (64%) of those who say they sleep more hours in the winter answer “it gets dark early” as the reason why they do so

A comfortable mattress goes a long way

  • Of those who do find their bed/mattress very comfortable, they are also more likely than those who do not find their bed as comfortable to:
    • Look forward to the upcoming cooler/colder weather
    • Believe that there are benefits to cuddling
    • Say they sleep more hours in the winter than other times of the year
    • Say they sleep more hours in the winter because they sleep better after “making sweet, sweet love”
    • Say they definitely spend more time in bed in the winter

 

Survey Details: Better Sleep Council October 2017

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