How to Sleep Cooler
Summer comes with a lot of great things: pool parties, road trips, and barbecues. But it also comes with one thing that many people don’t love. It’s hot. And if it’s too hot when you’re trying to sleep, you may end up not sleeping much at all. And that's not good for anyone. So, check out our tips on how to sleep cool.
Why is Sleeping Cool Important?
Your body temperature naturally drops as you fall asleep, essentially cooling down and going into maintenance mode. If the ambient temperature is too hot, it can disrupt your natural sleep cycle, making it difficult to fall and stay asleep, which is exactly why staying cool is so important. When you don’t get enough sleep, it can interrupt cognitive function and overall health. The ideal room temperature for sleep is somewhere between 60 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit, which helps keep your body cool so you can rest.
Cool the Room as Much as You Can
The first step to sleeping cool is doing everything you can to get your room in that mid 60 degree range. There are a few simple additions you can make to your home to keep things from getting too toasty, even during the summer.
Curtains
Sunlight pouring through your windows can quickly heat up your room. Keep your space cool by insulating it from the sunshine. The easiest way to do this is with blackout curtains, especially those with thermal properties that block both light and heat so the temperatures in your room don’t rise too much during the day.
Air Conditioning
The obvious solution to the “keep your room cool” problem is air conditioning. But for one reason or another, that may not be an option. For instance, maybe your house or apartment doesn’t have central AC. Portable air conditioners or window units meant to cool a single room can be a good option. Air conditioners can be expensive to run, but if you need to cool only one room, these smaller AC units can make a great solution.
Evaporative Cooler
Another option for cooling the air is an evaporative cooler. These coolers, also known as swamp coolers, pass the hot, dry air of your home over wet pads, cooling your room through evaporation. These coolers are more energy efficient than most air conditioners. However, they only work in hot and dry climates. If you’re living in a humid area like Hawaii or the South, a swamp cooler won’t do you much good.
Fans
In this case, your best bet will probably be a fan. Even with air conditioner or a swamp cooler, a fan is a good idea. Fans help cool you down in two ways.
First by blowing away the air directly around you that has been heated up by your body, and second by evaporating any sweat on your skin, helping you feel cooler. Pairing a fan with a breeze from an open window (or even with a second fan) creates a cross breeze, which helps remove stale air and bring fresher, cooler air into your space. Even if you can’t install a ceiling fan, portable fans still get the job done.
Create a Cooling Sleep Routine
The way you prep for bed can actually affect how cool you sleep. Avoid foods and activities that will raise your body temperature. Don't drink alcohol or caffein before bed as they dilate blood vessels, increasing blood flow and making you feel warm. Eating a heavy meal shortly before bed also fires up your metabolism, meaning your body is expending extra energy and increasing your body temperature. And if you love spicey foods, you may want to indulge long before bedtime. Spicy foods can trick your body into thinking it’s overheating, causing you to feel warm. They can also lead to indigestion, which makes your body work harder and consequently feel warmer.
Instead, focus on staying hydrated. Drink plenty of water. This will help regular your body temperature and allow you to produce sweat which, though gross, helps to keep you cool.
You can also externally cool your body before bed by swapping hot showers and baths for cool ones. When getting dressed for bed, stay away from form-fitting clothing and opt for loose pajamas made out of light, breathable fabrics that won’t trap heat. These simple preparations will set you up in a good position to stay cool.
Make Your Bedding Cool
Bedding can make a huge difference when trying to sleep cool. Some materials trap and insulate heat such flannel sheets and traditional memory foam. These materials can also reduce air flow, leading to a hot and swampy sleeping experience. Replace your bedding and mattress with materials designed to keep you cool.
Cooling Bedding
Cooling sheets and blankets tend to be made from materials like cotton percale or Egyptian cotton, linen, silk, lyocell, rayon from bamboo, or other fabrics that are breathable, moisture wicking, and quick drying.
Unlike air conditioning, cooling bedding doesn’t have a specific mechanism to make you cooler. Instead, it takes advantage of the natural properties of materials to pull heat away from your body, promote cooling air flow, and dry any accumulated moisture to provide natural cooling.
Cooling Pillows
Cooling pillows come in three different types. The first type of cooling pillow functions much like cooling bedding. These pillows are made of breathable materials that promote airflow to keep you cool. Gel cooling pillows are infused with a gel that is designed to draw heat away from your body and dissipate it, so you don’t get too hot. The final type of pillow features phase change materials (PCM) that shift between a solid and liquid state to constantly absorb and disperse the heat from your body, keeping you more comfortable throughout the night.
Cooling Mattresses
Create a cooler foundation with a cooling mattress. Many mattress materials like latex or memory foam can trap heat and, because they are so dense, air doesn’t move easily through or around them.This means that all of that heat gets absorbed. Like the pillows, cooling mattresses often use materials like PCMs and gel to pull heat away. They also often combine more traditional mattress designs, like lighter materials and pocket coil springs that allow for greater breathability so you stay cooler. If a cooling mattress seems like too big of an investment, a cooling mattress topper may be the best option.