Katherine Ryan’s had a sleep divorce. What do we know about it?

The phrase “sleep divorce” sounds more dramatic than it really is. In practice, it usually means a couple chooses to sleep in separate beds or separate rooms in order to get better rest. Sleep experts describe it as a practical arrangement rather than a relationship crisis, and recent survey data suggest it is far from unusual.

Katherine Ryan has helped bring the term back into public conversation by speaking openly about her own sleeping setup with husband Bobby Kootstra. Her comments suggest that the arrangement is tied less to relationship trouble than to parenting demands, snoring, and the basic reality that uninterrupted sleep can be hard to come by in a house with young children.