Is it time you stopped sleeping with your partner?

It’s not a sign there are problems with your relationship. It’s not a sign your sex life is over either.

Couples who sleep in separate beds can be simply looking for a good night’s sleep.

It is a topic raised by Nova breakfast host Wippa on air this morning, when he said he and his wife sleep apart.

“You get your best sleep, so when I’m with the family and we’re together she gets the best of me.”

It makes a lot of sense when you don’t have the same sleeping habits.

If one of you is a night owl and the other is an early riser, it can play havoc with your sleeping rhythm.

What if one of you snores or is a restless sleeper while the other is a light sleeper and is kept awake half the night?

Don’t forget issues like hogging the blankets, cold feet and added odours.

Shift workers might still share the same bed, but not at the same time of the day.

It is quite common for married Japanese couples to sleep separately, because of their tradition of mothers sleeping alongside an infant.

Ryan O’Neal wrote about his different bedroom habits with Farrah Fawcett in his memoir, and Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter were open about living in separate adjoining houses before their split last year.

Sleep plays such an important part in our lives. We need it not only for our dose of beauty-sleep but for energy after our body is refreshed and restored overnight.

But there are also health and emotional benefits to the close physical contact co-sleeping creates.

It reduces stress levels, increases immune functioning and makes you feel secure.

However if sleeping with your partner is instead increasing stress levels, maybe it is time to approach the topic of separate beds?

You can still make sure you get the close physical contact you need, at other times instead.

Who knows, it might even bring back some romance to your life as you make new plans for special time together.

Do you still share the same bed with your loved one? What co-sleeping issues have you had to deal with over the years?