It’s three o’clock in the morning and you’re lying awake. Not because you’re worrying, but because your partner has turned over and taken the duvet with them. Or vice versa: you’re sweating under a winter duvet that the other person finds cold enough. In Sweden, Denmark, and Germany, no one is surprised that a double bed has two single duvets. Here, it’s suddenly called the Scandinavian sleep method, as if it’s some kind of trick. The question behind it is simpler: is it better to have two separate duvets or one large one? The answer depends on what keeps you awake at night. And there is more known about that than you might think.
Two sleepers, one climate
To fall asleep and stay in a deep sleep, your body temperature needs to drop slightly. Your body dissipates that heat through your hands and feet (Harding, Franks, and Wisden, 2019). This creates a personal climate under the duvet of about 32 to 34 degrees Celsius, and that climate remains surprisingly stable, even if the bedroom is colder or warmer (Okamoto-Mizuno and Mizuno, 2012). The duvet therefore determines much more than the heating thermostat.
The point is: two people under one duvet share that climate, while their bodies don’t always require the same thing. Men produce more heat on average and feel more comfortable at a lower temperature than women (Kingma and Van Marken Lichtenbelt, 2015).
Those with cold feet find it harder to fall asleep (Kräuchi, 1999).
As a result, many beds contain two bodies that each need a different warmth rating. One duvet in a single warmth rating is then by definition a compromise that isn’t right for at least one of the two. A four-season duvet only half-solves this: it regulates warmth per season, not per sleeper.
The hogging, the turning, and the numbers
Why 2 separate duvets go unnoticed in Scandinavia
The name ‘Scandinavian sleep method’ is younger than the habit itself. In 2022, Swedish Cecilia Blomdahl, who lives on Svalbard, showed on TikTok how she makes her bed: two single duvets with a throw over them. American viewers, used to one large blanket with a sheet underneath, found it unusual and gave it a name. By late 2023, the term was established in the UK and the US, and in 2025 it appeared in Dutch lifestyle media.
In Sweden, Denmark, and Norway themselves, as well as in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, it’s not a method but the standard.
There are three practical reasons for this.
- Firstly, the duvet culture: Northern and Central Europe have slept under down duvets for centuries, and it was always a personal piece of bedding, just like the pillow.
- Secondly, the bed construction: a German or Scandinavian double bed usually consists of two separate mattresses in one frame, and two mattresses almost naturally call for two duvets.
- Thirdly, the sizing: the single duvet of 140/150 x 200/220 cm is so established there that a double duvet is the exception. A Danish duvet factory would sell nine out of ten covers as singles; that’s a statement from a podcast, not a study, but it says enough.
What is incorrect is the idea that there is Scandinavian research behind it. That doesn’t exist. Scandinavians score high in quality of life rankings, not in duvet studies. The label is a marketing invention from the outside; the habit itself is simply practical.
Two separate duvets, do they actually help you sleep better?
To be fair: whether two duvets measurably improve sleep has not yet been researched. No study has tested two duvets against one. What is known, however, argues for staying in one bed. Sleeping together feels better for most people, even though researchers then measure more movements and shorter awakenings (Andre, Lovallo, and Spencer, 2021). A small laboratory study even saw about ten percent more and calmer dream sleep in couples who slept together (Drews, 2020). That study is small and was done with young, healthy couples, so it’s an indication, not proof. But it points in a different direction than a ‘sleep divorce’.
Two duvets maintain that benefit of sleeping together while removing two disruptors. What they don’t solve: snoring, a partner who sleeps poorly themselves, and movements transmitted through the mattress.
Sleep and wakefulness are transferred between partners: those who sleep next to someone with insomnia also wake up more often themselves (Walters, 2020). A different duvet won’t help with that, but treating the insomnia will. And snoring with sleep apnea belongs with the GP, not in the bed shop.
How it works in practice
Two single duvets of 140 x 200 or 140 x 220 cm fit on a bed 160 or 180 cm wide. On a 140 cm bed, they overlap significantly, which is exactly what you don’t want. The warm sleeper gets the lighter duvet, the cold sleeper the warmer one: a summer duvet next to a winter duvet is not a strange sight. Two identical duvets only solve the hogging; only with different warmth ratings does each sleeper get their own climate.
The objections are well-known and fair. Two duvet covers instead of one means more laundry. Cuddling under one duvet is no longer automatic, although “together first, then each under their own duvet” solves this for most couples. And a bed with two duvets looks less sleek when made, unless a throw or bedspread is placed over it, as Blomdahl does herself.
Which duvet do you choose for whom?
Two duvets only make sense if they are actually different. The filling then determines how the duvet feels. This difference can be a full warmth rating apart. Those who take the step to two duvets don’t need to buy a four-season duvet: two separate duvets, a summer duvet and a winter duvet per sleeper, do the same thing without the extra weight of two layers buttoned together. And a duvet doesn’t need to be washed often; good airing does more for hygiene than a wash.
What else you might consider when choosing a good duvet, from allergies to ecological footprint, can be found in our article “What is a good duvet?”.
You share the bed, not the climate
Two duvets are not a sign of distance. You share the bed, not the climate. Those who share a duvet with another person mainly out of habit might ask themselves for whom that one large duvet actually has the right warmth rating. And those who continue to sleep poorly even with two duvets would do better to look at the sleep pattern itself rather than the bedding.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it better to have two separate duvets or one large duvet?
That depends on what wakes you up. Two separate duvets help with temperature differences or duvet hogging; they don’t help with snoring or movements through the mattress. If nothing bothers you, one duvet is just as good.
What is the Scandinavian sleep method?
Two single duvets on one double bed, each in the warmth rating of that sleeper. In Scandinavia and Germany, this is the custom; the name originated on TikTok in 2022.
How many couples sleep under two separate duvets?
This has never been measured, although retail research from brands suggests it concerns 1/3 of people. However, 41 percent of Dutch people sometimes sleep worse with their partner next to them (Beter Bed, 2022) and 41 percent of Americans say they prefer to sleep under their own blanket (U.S. News, 2023).
What size duvets do you use with two duvets?
Two single duvets of 140 x 200 or 140 x 220 cm on a bed 160 or 180 cm wide. They overlap on a 140 cm bed.
Do the two duvets have to have the same warmth rating?
No, that’s exactly the point. Two identical duvets only solve the hogging. Only with different warmth ratings does each sleeper get their own climate.
Do you sleep better with two duvets?
This has not been directly researched. The mechanisms behind it, temperature and disruption by the partner, are well-supported. Don’t expect a miracle, but do expect fewer interruptions if heat or hogging is the problem.
Resources
- Harding, Franks & Wisden, The temperature dependence of sleep, Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2019
- Okamoto-Mizuno & Mizuno, Effects of thermal environment on sleep and circadian rhythm, Journal of Physiological Anthropology, 2012
- Kingma & Van Marken Lichtenbelt, Energy consumption in buildings and female thermal demand, Nature Climate Change, 2015
- Kräuchi, Cajochen, Werth & Wirz-Justice, Warm feet promote the rapid onset of sleep, Nature, 1999
- Pankhurst & Horne, The influence of bed partners on movement during sleep, Sleep, 1994
- Andre, Lovallo & Spencer, The effects of bed sharing on sleep: from partners to pets, Sleep Health, 2021
- Drews et al., Bed-sharing in couples is associated with increased and stabilized REM sleep, Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2020
- Walters et al., Sleep and wake are shared and transmitted between individuals with insomnia and their bed-sharing partners, Sleep, 2020
- Beter Bed / MWM2, A sleep-divorce: the sleep aid during heat, 2022
- Smulderstextiel.nl / Panel Inzicht, research on sleeping apart, 2025
- FreshBed, Duvet hogging biggest irritation, 2013
- U.S. News & World Report, sleep survey, 2023
- Dreams UK, Do couples sleep better with separate bedding, 2026
- Sleepopolis, TikTok hack: Scandinavian sleep method, 2022
- BNNVARA/Joop, The hidden division: one or two duvets?, 2021
- Mind The Bed, What is a good duvet?
