Why we should all have bigger beds
The Sleep Council recommends that a bed should be 6-8in longer than the sleeper.
A standard double bed (135cm/4ft 6in) gives each person just 2ft 3in of space, less than a baby in a cot.
The average adult grows in the night by as much as two centimetres. During the day the spine is compressed; at night it is given the chance to straighten and recover.
Ergonomic studies show that couples sleep better in a bigger bed. Before trials only 15% said they would buy a larger than standard bed. After the trial 50% said they would.
By the time we are 50 we’ll each have spent some 16 years in bed. 16 other countries have bigger average bed sizes than Britain. Top of the league are Belgium, Greece, Holland, Iceland, Finland and Switzerland where most people sleep in a roomy 160cm by 200cm bed. By contrast we Brits still have to put up with an average bed size of 135cm by 190cm.
The average person tosses and turns some 60 to 70 times a night so you want to put as much space between you and your partner as possible to reduce the disturbance factor.