How do I sleep during a heatwave?

Whilst warm, sunny days are lovely, hot sticky nights can often cause sleep to suffer. As temperatures start to soar in the UK, I’ve been asked a lot this week about how to protect sleep during a heatwave. Scroll down to find my top tips.

1.Get practical

My first tip is to get practical. During the day try to keep blinds/curtains and windows shut, to ward away the sun and the hot air. Open your windows just before bed, maybe take a cool shower, and have a fan in your sleeping space (or try a hot water bottle that is filled with ice water). One tip I read about this week was to chill your socks by putting them in the fridge… Let me know how you get on if you try this one! 

2. Get realistic.

The reality is, it’s is really hard to sleep when temperatures are high. Holding this in mind can help us to limit the levels of frustration that might arise when we can’t sleep and accept that we may be in for a bad night or two of sleep. If it’s hot in your area and you can’t sleep, you won’t be alone! Remember that a few bad night’s of sleep won’t mean your body forgets how to sleep. Trust that good sleep will return when the weather cools down again (remember we never get heatwaves for long in the UK, so you won’t have to wait long!).

3. Keep you regular sleep routines in place

It may be tempting to lie in if you’ve had a restless night and poor sleep, but sleeping beyond your normal rise time may confuse your body clock, which in turn can store up sleep problems for the next night. As best you can, get up at your usual time and go about your day as planned (the chances are you’ll sleep much better the following night if you do!).

And while you’re waiting for the nights to cool down again, distract yourself from any daytime tiredness by slowing down, being kind to yourself and embracing the sunny days. For me that means sunnies ON, ice lollies on tap and a good book… What do sunny days look like for you?

Don’t forget, if you feel you’ve lost your control over sleep and need some expert advice and support, just book a free 15 minute consultation to find out how we can help. We’ll get you back on the path to healthy sleep.