The temperatures in London have been soaring, leaving many to struggle sleeping in the heat.
We wait all year for summer, but when it comes, we’re not quite prepared for the sweltering nights.
In the UK, houses were designed to retain heat – low ceilings, carpets and small windows – although fat good it did to save us money in the winter months with high energy bills.
Getting a good night’s sleep is crucial to appreciate the scorching nights as much as the warm, sunny days.
Why is it so hard to sleep when it’s hot?
First, it’s a comfort issue. Sleeping in the heat is harder when tossing, turning and feeling irritable from being too hot.
The other more scientific reason is our level of temperature and sleep regulation. Throughout the day, our body temperature changes, contributing to how sleepy we feel. When our core body temperature peaks and then drops, that cooling effect makes us feel sleepy.
The hormone melatonin helps regulate our sleep cycle by dropping our body temperature. However, that process is interrupted when our body temperature is too high. Our body can’t produce the melatonin needed, and our core body temperature can’t drop to the necessary level. It then becomes hard to cool our bodies, making it difficult to fall asleep.
So, how can I sleep better in hot weather?
Here are some practical ways for staying cool and comfortable to manage sleeping in the heat.
1. Sleep naked
It’s usually advised to sleep in lighter weight and looser-fitted clothing like cotton that allows your skin to breathe and absorbs moisture to cool you down. But we say skip that and go naked. Sleeping naked helps regulate your body temperature, preventing you from waking up throughout the night. Plus, going commando reduces the risk of warm, moist areas that can contribute to bacterial growth and yeast infections.
2. Keep the breeze in
Living in a busy city often means keeping your windows closed at night to avoid break-ins, especially if you sleep on the ground floor. You can invest in shutters which are more common in mainland European countries like France. However, if you sleep on an elevated floor, keeping your windows open at night helps circulate air (and hopefully a breeze) in a hot bedroom.
3. Go for alternatives to AC
How to sleep in hot weather without AC? AC is a luxury very few of us have in the UK. Go for the next best options and budget alternatives of fans, coolers, ice packs or a wet flannel to keep you cool.
4. Change your bedsheets regularly
Clean, freshly washed sheets feel cooler and more inviting to sleep in. Smelly and sweaty sheets from the night before will have the reverse effect. The Sleep Foundation recommends washing our sheets once a week – and arguably more in the summer.
But research from YouGov found that only 28% of Britons are changing their bed sheets that regularly. If it’s a choice between an inconvenient household chore and getting a good night’s sleep, we know which option we’d pick.
5. Sleep with a bottle of water nearby
We hear it a thousand times to stay hydrated in warm weather but it’s easily forgotten or not put in practice. A bottle of water by your bedside keeps you drinking throughout the night to stay cool. It may mean waking up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet, but dehydration can lead to headaches and chronic insomnia so it’s important to prioritise hydration.
6. Limit alcohol and caffeine
Drinking plenty of fluids helps prevent dehydration and promote better sleep, but that doesn’t apply to all fluids. Fizzy drinks contain caffeine which stimulates your central nervous system and keeps you awake. Meanwhile, alcohol disrupts sleep patterns and leads to poorer quality of sleep.
7. Avoid late night eating
Eating late at night can impact the release of melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate sleep. It’s easy to let the long summer nights trick you into eating later. The recommended time to eat is 3-4 hours before bedtime to allow enough time for digestion. Having meals too close to bedtime affects your sleep quality and adds to your heat discomfort of tossing in bed on a full stomach.
8. Keep electronics out of the bedroom
We all love a good Netflix binge on a summer night. However, devices like TV, smartphones, iPads and laptops give off heat which is the last thing you need in an already hot and stuffy room. Flick through your devices in the living room to not generate extra heat in your bedroom before you sleep.
9. Create a dark sleep environment
Keeping your room dark helps with the physical process of preparing your body to fall asleep. In response to darkness, the pineal gland in your brain begins to produce melatonin that helps you sleep. Invest in room-darkening shades over flimsy curtains. Blocking out as much light as possible hours before your bedtime will keep your room cool.
10. Use visualisation to sleep
Visualisation is a powerful technique that distracts us from feeling hot in bed. Focus on cooling images like being in a pool or cold bath. An Oxford University study that split insomniacs found that the group that was asked to visualise tranquil scenes like waterfalls while trying to fall asleep got to sleep 20 minutes faster than the other groups.
Sleeping in the heat can be challenging, and everyone’s tolerance to hot weather is different. Testing out various methods can hopefully help you find the ones that work for you.
Nice summary and very useful tips as the weather gets warmer! Thank you
Thank you KK and hope you manage to stay cool!