Stay Cool While Sleeping – The temperature in your bedroom is one of the factors that determine if you’re going to have a good night sleep or not. A slightly cool room is the best sleeping condition if you want to have a good night’s rest. However, during the summer or a heat wave, it can be difficult to achieve these temperatures. It’s common to get very high temperatures at night that makes you very uncomfortable and can lead to insomnia. Most people use an air conditioner (AC), but using it can have adverse effects on your health like respiratory problems, allergic reactions, and dry skin.
Fortunately, there are other more practical ways of lowering your body temperatures even on hot summer nights. Here are some tips on how to stay cool and avoid those hot, sweaty, sleepless nights.
Get the right pillow
Your brain is very active at night working so it generates a lot of heat. Laying your head on conventional pillows traps the heat around your head, but a smaller, firmer pillow, although it can be less comfy, will help the air to circulate more freely. You can also use a buckwheat or foam pillow that are good options to use during the hot summer months for better air circulation and proper neck support. Memory foam pillows infused with cooling gel or made with ventilated foam will increase airflow and provide superior contouring for your head.
Make your own homemade AC
Installing an air conditioning unit can be very expensive, but if you don’t have the money you can make your own AC that can be just as efficient. You can use a large mixing bowl, ice cubes, and an electric fan, simple household items that are available in your house. Put the ice cubes in the bowl in front of an electric fan so that as the ice melts, the fan can blow a cool breeze around the room. If you don’t have ice you can use frozen bottled water or any other frozen item. This is a cheap and environment-friendly way of bringing down your room temperatures.
Invest in a cooling mattress
The mattress you sleep on is also a contributing factor to the heat in your sleeping environment, especially if you sleep on a mattress that traps in heat. Memory foam mattresses are known to trap heat, but innerspring, some hybrid, and organic latex mattresses are ideal for helping you stay cool at night. For example, the Tempurpedic mattress with pocketed coils is a hybrid memory foam mattress that has several cooling levels that will keep you cool throughout the night. Stay Cool While Sleeping. If you can’t afford a cooling mattress, you can opt for a cooling mattress topper or pad that is designed for extra cushioning while regulating the surface temperatures on your mattress.
Close your windows and blinds
The sun emits a lot of heat and light and during the summer, the sun’s rays are extremely powerful. During this time, keep your windows and blinds shut during the day to prevent the sun from heating up your house. This will dramatically reduce the temperatures in your home. You can go a step further and get the blackout curtains to protect you against the sun’s rays, keep the light out during the day or night, keep your home cool, and help you sleep better at night.
Use the Egyptian method of sleeping
The Egyptian method is where you use a damp bed sheet or large towel. Soak the large towel or sheet in water, wring it or put it in the washing machine to spin cycle till it stops dripping water. When it’s time to go to bed, use this damp sheet to cover yourself or sleep on it, but for this to work you need air to circulate. Stay Cool While Sleeping. You can open a window or use a ceiling or floor fan. Alternatively, you can hang a damp sheet in front of an open window or wear damp clothes to bed.
Open the windows in the evening
Open your windows when the sun goes down or when the temperatures drop to allow cool air to circulate into your home. You can sleep with the windows open, but make sure to close them in the morning before the sun hits your house.
Take a cool bath or shower
During the summer it’s necessary to take showers during the day to lower your body temperatures. A cool shower or bathe will help you do that. If you’re not a fan of cold showers, you can take a warm bath and as the water evaporates from your skin, your body will continue to cool down.
Sleep on the floor
We all know that when hot air rises, cold air is left at the bottom. If you can’t reduce the hot and humid air in your bedroom, you can try shifting your bed to the floor. Most mattresses are designed to be placed on solid surfaces like the floor. Stay Cool While Sleeping. However, before you place your mattress on the floor make sure you read the mattress warranty to know the specific.
Stay hydrated
To thermoregulate your body temperatures it’s vital that you stay well hydrated throughout the day even at night. Drinking a glass of cold water before bed, but not too much to avoid waking up frequently in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom will help you sleep better. If you don’t like drinking water, you can use crushed ice or a not too fruity popsicle.
Get cotton or linen beddings
High-quality cotton or linen beddings are expensive but a great investment during the hot summer days. Besides being a great investment, they last longer and are environment-friendly. So, instead of covering yourself with thick blankets or duvets, sleep with only a cotton sheet. The material helps air to circulate keeping you cool throughout the night.
Final thoughts
Remember, if you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of water and electrolytes from your body which is detrimental to your health. So, stay hydrated and avoid exposing yourself to too much heat. Try the above tricks to stay cool at night and to help you sleep better.