When considering the size of your bed, take the following into account:

People don’t just lie in one position all night, but instead are almost continuously on the move. Research has shown that during a night’s sleep, most people toss and turn as many as 60 or 70 times – and your bed has to be large enough to allow for these movements without you ending up partly out of it.

On the average, we are now both taller and heavier than we were, the UK population having grown upwards and outwards in the past 30 years. Women have gained an extra 1.05kg (more than two pounds) in weight and 1.75cm (more than half an inch) in height. Men have put on an extra 3cms (more than an inch) in height. As we have changed, so have our bed requirements. While these increases seem minimal, they are nevertheless large enough to spell the difference between a bed that’s barely big enough and one that’s just too small for comfort.

The NBPA offers this advice: “A standard 4′6″ double bed only gives each person 2′3″ of space to sleep in – no more than a baby has in a cot! If you do suffer from a back problem, a squeezed and cramped night’s sleep on a bed that rates amongst the smallest standard size in Europe will not help.”

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