40 Tips to Help You Sleep Through Hot Summer Nights

by Elizabeth / Wednesday, 18 July 2018 / Published in Sleeping Tips

In summer, we may lose out some valuable sleep. Sleep professionals share with us some tips on how to get valued sleep during summer.

In the summertime, both heat and light will disrupt your sleep. You need to manage the room temperature and your body temperature on hot days.
Take a tepid bath or shower before bed.
Wear light nightwear made from natural fibres.
Put a hot water bottle filled with icy water in your bed.
Keep windows closed and curtains drawn during the day to keep the room cool.
Open windows and doors before going to bed to create a draught.
Sleep with the bedroom door open if possible.
Open them at night to allow the hot air to rise out of the house, if you have a loft room or attic with windows.
Put mattress lower down on the floor where it will be a little cooler if there is room.
Cool socks in the freezer and then put them on to lower your temperature before bed. Before your feet heat up again, you should take them off.
Mist your face and neck in the night if you wake up hot.
Put pillow cases and bed sheets in the fridge or freezer before bed, and put them over to the cooler side which hasn’t absorbed your body heat if you wake up hot in the night.
Avoid the late evening or early morning sunlight creeping into your bedroom when you sleep.
Install black out blinds or thick curtains to maintain darkness when you sleep.
Have a digital curfew. In fact, this is actually helpful all year round. Staring at a phone, TV or computer screen 90 minutes before bed will disrupt your sleep. Your melatonin secretion will be suppressed but your body will produce more daytime hormones like cortisol if you look at artificial blue light emitted by electronic screens. Melatonin helps you get deep, anabolic sleep. After using your electronics, you may be able to fall asleep. However, it disorients your body’s natural preparation for sleep. Thus, you will wake up tired. It is recommended to switch off all electronics two hours before sleep. You can wear blue light blocking glasses to block the artificial blue if you find it hard to impose a digital curfew.
Blackout room. In a dark environment, humans sleep more deeply. Your body is sense any light sources in your bedroom and send message to your brain that interferes with your sleep. You can use dark, heavy curtains to completely block out outside light. Or, maybe, you can try sleep mask.
Keep bedroom cool. In summer, it is very important to keep bedroom cool. You will fall asleep easier if you adjust it temperature between 60 and 67 degrees (or 15 to 16 degrees Celsius). Your brain prefers the cold when you’re trying to get to sleep. Your body will have a hard time adjusting your inner body “thermostat” if your bedroom is too hot, or even too cold. Thus, you cannot reach the deep sleep state. A cool room will trigger a “go to bed” signal in your body. Besides, sleeping in cold can lessen your risk of developing metabolic diseases, and helping you to look younger.
Get some morning sunlight. Get early morning sunlight helps you sleep better at night. Your body has its“circadian rhythm” and this naturally biological clock wants to know when it’s daytime and nighttime. Your body “wakes up” triggering natural daytime hormones if you expose your body to sunlight. You can go for a walk for at least 30 minutes after waking up. You should go outside after lunch for a 15-minute walk and expose your body to sunlight if you’re stuck in an office away from natural light. All of this sunlight will tell your circadian rhythm that it’s daytime. Your body will know that it’s nighttime and ready itself for sleep when you’ve switched off the lights in your blackened out room.
Exercise regularly. Exercise will dramatically improve quality of sleep and relieve insomnia. People who do aerobic exercise four times per week have better quality sleep and they are less tired during the day according to the study conducted at Northwestern University.
Right temperature and shutting off your mind are two super effective ways to get a great night’s sleep in the summer.
When you get ready to fall asleep, your body lowers in temperature, and it is actually about one or two degrees cooler than it would be if you were awake. Thus, it is difficult to fall asleep if you are too hot while you are trying to fall asleep. In this case, you can take a quick and warm shower. The evaporation of the water will actually cool you down and prepare you for sleep after finishing the shower and drying off. That makes your body into sleep mode.
Shutting off your mind can help you have a great night’s sleep in the summer. You can use white noise machine, a guided meditation, gentle music, or a hypnosis recording designed for sleep to shut off your mind. You should focus on relaxing rather than worrying about mistakes you’ve made in the past or what you need to do tomorrow. To make your body to become relaxed, and allow you to fall asleep, you are able to calm your mind down.
Use large fans blades to move more volume of air at lower fan speeds, cooling the room down and circulating any stale air.
Sleep with bedroom doors open during the summer.
In the Med, close the window and open during the day because sunlight will heat up the house.
Temperature is a vital component of sleep regulation.
Make your room be around the mid-60s Fahrenheit for an optimum night’s sleep.
Decrease your core body temperature in the evening in order for you to fall asleep and stay asleep comfortably.
Exercise in the morning or at lunchtime instead of in the evening, and do it outside!
Use a fan or A/C to drop the room temperature to the optimal 18C or 65F and block out other noises.
Switch off any electronic devices 2-3 hours before bedtime.
Close the curtains 2-3 hours before bedtime.
Use dimmable lights or orange light bulbs in the evening.
Sleepiness is driven by a drop in body temperature. During hot summer nights, you can try the following tips to get your quality shut-eye.
To keep you cool, you can invest in a decent fan for the bedroom. Or, you can reduce the room temperature by placing a shallow bowl of ice in front of the fan.
Close curtains and windows during the day to keep the hot air out. Keep windows open at night if possible.
During the day and before bedtime, you should keep well hydrated with water. Avoid alcohol for it will disturb your sleep.
To lull you to sleep try something like the sounds of ocean waves or rain, you can use white noise.
Take a tepid shower before going to bed.
Put face cloths in plastic bags in the freezer, and then put them on head, face, neck or shoulders.
To keep you cooler, you can wear lighter, thinner night wear or sleep in the buff.
Use a spare duvet cover or top sheet instead of a duvet if it is going to be a humid night.