THERE'S A REASON THE CLEAVERS WERE HAPPY:

Separate Beds Lead to Longer-Lasting Love: He snores, she suffers. But many couples insist on sleeping together because they worry that having separate beds will lead to emotional distance. Still, scientists say, they are ignoring findings that say that being well-rested -- rather than cuddling -- might be a whole lot more important for a healthy marriage. (Bettina Musall, 11/25/09, Der Spiegel)

[T]he delicate balance of harmony in the matrimonial bed is about far more mundane things than sex. She wants to read, he wants to watch the game on TV. He prefers to sleep with the window open, even when there are icicles outside; she shivers under a goose-down quilt. One blanket or two? Should the mattress be latex, foam or feather? Whether it's shacking up, having children or getting old together, lifelong companionship is beset with hurdles that can adversely affect the traditional bed-sharing ritual.

Different sleeping habits aside, numerous studies have also concluded that one reason why sharing a bed can be so nerve-wracking is because there are genetic differences in the way men and women sleep. For example, women need more rest than men, go to bed earlier, feel cold there more often and are more inclined in the morning to want to sleep in, though they also tend to be the early risers.

Men, on the other hand, are better at keeping a constant body temperature, which is one reason why the experts in Vienna say men are so well-suited to warming their partner up. Men are typically night owls, snore more often and are better at sleeping through disturbances. Most men are blissfully unaware that their wives wake up a lot and have sleepless hours -- and continue to slumber unperturbed at their sides. Differing hormonal activity in men and women also translates into asynchronous periods of light and deep sleep, which happens to be something women have more trouble coming to terms with.

Under these circumstances, it's hardly surprising that men claim to sleep more soundly when their partner is in bed than when she isn't. By contrast, women say they are woken up more often by their partner, either because the noise emanating from the other side of the bed has become intolerably loud or because the unequal weight distribution on the mattress bounces them around as if they were on a trampoline whenever their male bedfellow rolls over (which he does, by the way, up to 30 times a night).

Researchers also say that the fact that women have a harder time relaxing at night has something to do with the still typical division of household responsibilities within our society. Mothers, who predominantly play the role family caregiver -- that is, satisfying children's needs, caring for the elderly and worrying about teenagers that don't come home on time at night -- pursue their familial "air traffic control" duties at night as a way of preventing conflict and accidents. And it's not like they can just flip a switch and relax.

With age, these gender-specific sleep patterns only get more pronounced. Women suffer from restless leg syndrome, while men gradually lose the ability to sleep deeply. Those who like to take naps during the day find that they can't fall or stay asleep at night. And, despite the fact that most men are amazingly impervious to their own bodily odors, women aren't. Not even a couple sprays of Chanel No. 5 -- whose dream-evoking qualities even Marilyn Monroe cherished -- are going to be able to smother the smell emitted from wearing flannel pajamas and wool socks.

Likewise, scientists have identified almost a hundred different sleep disturbances. So, is it any wonder that couples cannot rest easy when they then pool their problems?