Six couples agreed to be filmed during their sleep as part of a revealing experiment documenting their nighttime habits.
All six pairs had cameras recording them in September 2017, and a new video published today by Cut.com shows footage of their nocturnal behavior as well as comments by the 12 participants to shed further light on the images.
Among the recorded behaviors was significant cellphone and tablet use in bed, and, when screens were not involved, some rather noticeable flatulence as well as some sweet cuddling.
Doing it for science: Six couples agreed to be filmed during their sleep as part of a revealing experiment. One of them (pictured) has been dating for a year and a half
Screen usage: These two men said that since the beginning of 2017, the first thing they do in the morning is check the news to find out what happened while they were asleep
One of the couples, which has been married for nine years, usually gets in bed by nine. Then, one of the spouses said they typically turn the lights off at 11, but his wife argued they do so around 9:30 or 10—only for her husband to respond they usually make use of their cellphones at that time.
The mother is currently seven months pregnant and nursing a broken ankle, meaning her sleep quality, at the moment, is only ‘OK’. When her husband pointed out he usually wakes up earlier than her, she responded: ‘I’m disabled and pregnant, so give me a minute.’
For now, the parents share the bed with their young daughter and, according to the mother, are trying to enjoy the habit before she ‘gets of age and tells [them] to get lost’.
‘She’s so cuddly, it’s gonna be so hard to kick her out of bed,’ the mom added.
Another couple has been dating for a year and a half and usually hits the hay at midnight.
The pair said they typically sleep ‘very well’ and are keen cuddlers. The only time when their perfect union becomes troubled, it seems, is in the mornings—she wakes up earlier than he does, and admits she gets ‘a little bit impatient’ when her partner remains asleep.
Sharing is caring: These two women sleep along with their baby daughter as well as their cat
Apparatus: One couple has been married for 39 years. The husband has to wear a mask for his sleep apnea, which his wife joked makes him look ‘like an alien’
‘I usually annoy him until he wakes up in the morning,’ the girlfriend said. This isn’t to the taste of her partner, who would rather be able to sleep in.
The experiment revealed that some people do their fair share of talking in their sleep, including one woman, who has been with her significant other for nine years.
In the video, the woman can be heard sharing a comically nonsensical update with her partner, telling her: ‘I’ll like open like sesame and I pressed exit, connect it through.’
The two women sleep with their cat and baby, and their sleep patterns are thus regulated by their tiny daughter, who wakes up every two to three hours.
One of the participating duos has been dating for 39 years and usually goes to bed between 7:30 and 8. This early bed time means they are also early risers, and typically wake up at 3 or 3:30, which the spouses say is now a solidly ingrained habit.
The husband has sleep apnea, and therefore has to sleep with a mask on his face to keep his breathing in check.
‘It’s kind of weird, because he looks like an alien,’ his wife joked.
As for cuddling, the husband usually sleeps turned away from his wife, on his side, but every so often he turns the other way and puts his arm over her.
The video also revealed that while his wife wasn’t in bed, the husband also audibly passed gas in his sleep—a natural reaction experienced by many at nighttime.
Trio: These two parents have chosen to share the bed with their young daughter, who is very cuddly according to her mother
Cramped: This couple shares the bed with four dogs, a baby and a cat, making for a rather crowded space come nighttime
Other couples said their pets’ behaviors impacts their sleep quality. Among one man and his husband said they have a lot of animals who go about their lives on the bed or on the floor.
Despite this disruption, the pair manages to get about eight hours of sleep each night, although apparently that doesn’t include much cuddling.
‘We’ve been together for so long, I don’t need to cuddle,’ one of the men joked. ‘I know where he is.’
One of the partners said that since January 2017, screen usage has increased in the mornings, as both men reach for their cellphones to check the news first thing in the morning.
‘This is what our life has been since January 20th 2017. I wake up and make sure I’ve still got my rights,’ he said.
Another couple typically shares the bed with four dogs, a baby and a cat, making for a crowded space.
‘It’s kind of like Tetris, you’ve got to kind of move with the dogs,’ one of the partners said. ‘We do wake up sore sometimes because you’re crammed in between a dog and a cat and it’s kind of hard on the back sometimes.’
One of the dogs, the video revealed, snores incredibly loudly, but the pair still manages to get in a reasonable amount of sleep every night.
‘I sleep like six to seven hours and I’m good, she sleeps 10 to 12 and she’s not good,’ the father said.
To this, the mom responded that while she can sleep 10 to 12 hours, she doesn’t get to do it now that she has a daughter.
‘I think part of me never gets to that super deep level of sleep because I’m always partly thinking about her,’ she said.
Several couples agreed that their shared bed acts as a comfort zone to them.
‘I guess we do it because that’s what you’re supposed to do,’ the male partner in the former couple said of sleeping with his other half. ‘But I guess my favorite thing is waking up next to her.’