It’s that time of year again, the weather gets hotter, the mornings get lighter, the birds get noisier and it's the silly season when it comes to sleep advice. You might have people advising you to put your duvet, pillow and bedding in the freezer. The idea is that it will make them nice and cold when you get into bed.
Read on to find out whether that's a cracking good idea or not...
So, should we?
Nope. You will be cold, and that cold will be a shock, so your body will try and heat up, which is exactly what we don’t want to happen, as a drop in core temperature is a fundamental part of the process of falling asleep and staying asleep. The other issue is you will end up with a moist, soggy bed. A duvet, some bedding or a pillow that has been in the freezer, will actually melt and as that frozen moisture turns into liquid, well, it could be embarrassing in the morning explaining why your bed is so wet!
So, how can we sleep better in the heat?
Here are our top tips that will actually help you sleep better when the weather is hot, hot, hot:
1. During the day open windows on either side of the house. Get a nice airflow through and when direct sunlight is on a room ensure the blinds or curtains are closed.
2. Have a warm bath or shower in the hour before bed, as this will slightly raise your core temperature and as you get out of the bath or shower your temperature will drop, which helps you feel sleepy.
3. Another great tip with a similar theme is to fill a hot water bottle with lukewarm water and place your bare feet on it. As above it will raise your core temperature slightly and then it drops, helping your body prepare for sleep.
4. Your mattress could be adding to the struggle to sleep in the heat. A mattress made of a solid block of foam or latex is going to make you warmer, and for many people even a foam topper can make them too hot for sleep. We find springs to be the best option for temperature regulation, and on some occasions filling made of natural materials like wool or silk can help.
5. A tip that is a real winner when it comes to helping us sleep cooler is to have a separate duvet or sheets from your partner. Sharing a duvet with someone else means that as well as your body heat you are also getting theirs, which can make you hotter. We also often have different temperature needs to the person we share a bed with, with maybe us being a hot sleeper and them wanting to be nice and cosy. In this case, the cool sleeper can have a duvet while the hot sleeper could make do with a sheet, maybe made of bamboo.
6. Think about the materials your bedding and duvet is made from. We often think that high thread count cotton bedding is luxurious and cool, but actually, the higher the thread count, the less airflow cotton bedding gives, meaning something like Egyptian cotton is not the best material in the summer. Try something like bamboo, or a man-made fibre like SteadyBody to help your body breathe. To sleep cooler chose duvets made from wool, silk and alpaca fleece.
7. We find the biggest issue many people face when it comes to sleeping in hot weather is their mindset. We convince ourselves that it's just too hot and that we won't sleep tonight. This then leads onto how awful it will be tomorrow if we don’t sleep tonight and before you know it your heart rate rises and you have talked yourself into sleeping poorly. Our advice is not to worry too much about it. We live in the UK, at some point the weather will break and it will cool down again. Until then just try and get the best sleep you can.
So there you have it: We hope these tips will help us all sleep a little bit better in the sweltering heat. And as we always say - a bad night's sleep tonight means a good night's sleep tomorrow, so don't sweat it. Sleep well.