5 ways to sleep better in winter
During winter it can feel like we’re spending a lot more time in bed, warmly tucked up from the cold outside. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean we are getting good quality sleep when there are shorter days and longer nights.
Winter nights can play havoc with our sleep patterns. Of course it depends on where you live in Australia, however there are ways to improve our sleep when the mercury plummets.
Eat lighter dinners
Cooler weather means your body temperature drops so that in turn urges you to eat more. Research suggests it’s our primitive impulses prompting us to build calories for winter.
But eating heavy meals before bedtime is never a good thing. Our bodies slow down their functions at night to prepare us for sleep and that includes digestion. So a lighter meal is better to help you sleep.
Stay cool but not too cool
We generally sleep better in cooler weather but you don’t want to be so cold that your body is working hard to redistribute blood to the torso and protecting and maintaining warmth to your vital organs. This keeps you awake.
As a rule, our SleepMaker product design team recommends you sleep in a room temperature between 18-21℃ for optimal sleep. You may also find that Kulkote technology – which comes in selected SleepMaker models could help for heat regulation. It uniquely senses how you sleep – hot or cold.
Keep moving
Don’t stop exercising in winter in favour of binge-watching Netflix. Research continuously shows that people who regularly exercise, sleep better and sometimes fall asleep sooner with a quality sleep.
Try a fitness tracker to motivate you to get off the couch or if you’re finding it too hard to get outdoors in the weather then there are plenty of virtual workouts to try.
Mattress love
No one wants to sleep on a cold damp mattress – it’s unhealthy. Make sure your bed is away from exterior walls and off the ground to restrict the growth of mold and mildew which makes for an uncomfortable sleep and will ruin your mattress. Add a mattress protector to your bed to keep it dry and protected from damp.
Winter warmth
An electric blanket on your bed will warm up your mattress and dry it out before bedtime. Just remember to turn it off before you sleep. And who doesn’t love the surprise of pulling down your bed sheets to find someone has lovingly slipped a hot water bottle in there to warm up the mattress?
They’re great for little ones but don’t use boiling water to prevent burning. Having a warm shower or bath before you hit the hay is scientifically considered to help you sleep.
In his popular book, Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker says you increase your deep sleep by 10-15% if you have a hot shower or bath before bed. The warm water initially gives you that flushed warm glow as the blood rushes around to the body’s extremities. Actually, this reduces your core body temperature and consequently you fall asleep quicker because your core is colder.
