The Heat Is On: How to Sleep Better in Summer
In winter, we have no trouble getting to sleep. The temperatures are low and we take no time in getting all snug and just dropping off. Summer, however, is a different beast. The weather is much warmer, the days are longer and we can spend the nights tossing and turning, waking up at different intervals and, generally, not getting the sleep we need.
The heat is all too much, but just why do we have so much trouble sleeping when the warmer weather arrives? What’s going on?
There are two levels of temperature
According to Philip Gehrman, a member of the Penn Sleep Center and an associate professor of psychology, there are two levels of temperature. He tells us there’s the surface level, which is all about comfort. The greater the discrepancy between our body temperature and the room temperature, the more uncomfortable we find it and the harder it becomes to fall asleep. It doesn’t matter whether that discrepancy is one of being too hot or too cold, we’re going to have trouble.
The second level is much deeper. It’s about the relationship between our core body temperature and sleep regulation. Body temperature changes in the course of the day and this is connected to how sleepy we feel (or don’t feel) at any point during the day.
Introducing the circadian rhythm
What they might not have taught you at school is that the human body has a regular daily rate, our circadian rhythm, and that regulates our body temperature. Two or three hours or so before we wake up naturally, body temperature will be at its lowest and increases gradually as the day progresses. Consistent as ever, you might say, it peaks two or three hours before we start to feel sleepy in the evening and starts to cool.
It’s this cooling-off that causes us to feel sleepy. Why do we feel sleepy after a bath? It’s because of the rapid cooling-off that the body initiates, but we attribute the sleepiness to the bath making us more relaxed (which is partly true). The hot water raises our body temperature, but then we climb out of the bath and the temperature starts to fall quickly. Although a hot shower can raise body temperature, too, it fails to achieve the same level of impact because we’ve not immersed our body in the water.
Why we feel hotter at night
Some people feel warmer at night when, really, they’d expect to be feeling cooler. What’s going on there? It comes back to these two levels of temperature we’ve been talking about. Our organs produce heat in the core and, being the clever piece of machinery that it is, the body distributes this heat, spreading it to the surface so that it dissipates into the air. That’s the plan. The thing is, we feel that heat at the surface level in our skin. The feet may be one of the best places to dissipate the heat, which we can assist by taking our socks or sticking them out of the bed, but it’s speculation.
What can we do about all this?
Just because the hotter weather is here and it can be more difficult to get to sleep, it doesn’t mean we have to wave our shut-eye cheerio. You don’t have to be a genius to work out that you should open your windows and close your curtains or maybe use a fan. There’s a lot more we can do to stop sleep evading us, however, so here are a few tips that you might not have considered:
Take a lukewarm shower
Some people say you should take a cold shower to cold down. It’ll do that momentarily, but it will also close your pores so you sweat less, sweat being the body’s natural cooling mechanism. You could also feel too cold, which would be counterproductive. If you’re going to slip into the shower, make it lukewarm, not cold.
Stay away from alcohol
When the warm weather comes, it’s perfectly normal, not to mention tempting, to sit in a beer garden, your own garden or elsewhere and enjoy a crisp glass of wine or a cold beer. Be mindful of the fact, however, that alcohol interrupts sleep. You’ll have no trouble dropping off after a swift few pints, but once the body starts clearing your body of all the alcohol, you’re in for a poor night’s sleep.
Buy wooden bedroom furniture
Do you have wooden furniture in your bedroom or are you all about the metal? Remember that wood is a poor conductor of heat, whereas metal can soak all the heat up and transfer it. If you’re looking for a new bed, you may wish to consider a wooden bed frame instead of a metal one.
Switch to cotton
As a plant-based fibre, cotton is natural and is a better option than synthetic fibres when you wish to stay cool. This goes as much for bedding as for clothing, so choose cotton over nylon for your summer bedding. Cotton lets the skin breathe and will absorb sweat. Opt for light clothing and light bedding.
Get handy with a water spray
A superb way to cool down is to get a water spray and give your bedding a very light misting. You don’t want to soak it, though, otherwise you could make it too cold, not to mention end up catching a cold. Not very nice in summertime!
The misting doesn’t have to stop at the bedsheets. Why not attach some bedsheets to an open window and then mist them lightly with your spray? Then you don’t have to put up with the noise of a fan while you’re sleeping. The breeze will blow some cool air in your direction.
Ice a sock with rice
Yes, you did read this correctly: ice a sock with rice. Instead of a hot water bottle, create your own cold water one. Fill up a sock with rice; then freeze it. Just like an ice pack, you can press it against pulse points such as your wrists and temples, which will bring your temperature down a little.
You don’t have to wrestle with the heat this summer. Take a few simple steps like the ones above and you won’t have to wake up in any kind of sweat, hot or cold. You can wind down and, just like on any other day, wake up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day. Let’s rock!
