Cover up, open the window, run to the tap: sleeping in the heat is really difficult. These tips will help prevent rolling around on hot summer nights.
1. Close the bulkheads
Keep your bedroom as cool as possible by keeping the windows, curtains or blinds closed during the day – this also applies when the sun is not shining directly into the room. A light protection on the outside of the window keeps the heat out and the room is significantly cooler than curtains or a lamellar roller blind. Only in the evening you should open all the windows and ventilate the room with a draft in order to lower the temperature again.
2. Use fresh air at night
Unless you currently live on a main street, keep your bedroom windows open (not just tilted) overnight. Fresh air and a light breeze can work wonders against heat. If you also leave the door open, the air can circulate. A fan can also be pleasant – at least if you don’t mind the whirring of the device. If so, use ear plugs. Make sure that neither the window nor the fan cause drafts, otherwise you may catch symptoms of a summer cold or a stiff neck.
3. Choose light fabrics
In summer, cover the duvet and pillow with jersey, percale, Renforcé or seersucker bed linen – these materials are light, breathable and have a climate-regulating effect. Linen or natural silk also have a cooling effect – and thus enable you to sleep in the heat. Alternatively, you can do without the duvet entirely and just cover yourself with the duvet cover. A light blanket is recommended as it will protect you from drafts.
4. Get rid of the moisture
Some people swear by putting their pajamas in the refrigerator during the day for better sleep in the heat. However, the pleasant effect when putting on does not last long, the fabric quickly becomes clammy and uncomfortable on the skin. Better: Use functional underwear, it wicks moisture and heat away from the body.
5. Warm showers desired
Showers before going to bed – but not cold, as the blood vessels then contract and the heat cannot be transported out of the body. The most effective is an alternating shower against heat: First cool, then warm. Do not dry yourself off completely afterwards, but leave a pleasantly cooling, light film of moisture on the skin. Also good: a cooling body lotion, for example with citrus or mint oil.
6. Repurpose the hot water bottle
Quickly turns the hot water bottle into a cooling bottle: Put them in the fridge filled with water during the day (not in the freezer!) and take them to bed with you in the evening. Cools comfortably in the neck, between the feet or wherever you need to cool down most.
7. Sleep in the heat: train smart
Exercising (preferably endurance sports) is healthier in the evening hours than in the heat at noon, but you shouldn’t train too late. There should be about three hours between exercise and bedtime, so that the body has enough time to calm down.
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8. Stay sober
Remember to drink enough during the day – preferably water or unsweetened tea. If, on the other hand, you empty a large glass of water right before going to bed, you will probably soon wake up again from the bladder pressure. You should avoid alcohol in the heat if possible, because this also increases the urge to urinate and ensures a shallow sleep.
9. Avoid nicotine
Smoke your last cigarette an hour or two before bed. Nicotine stimulates and constricts the blood vesselswhich makes it harder for the body to release heat.
10. Eat lightly
The heat stresses the body anyway – so do not expect your intestines to eat late, heavy meals if possible, but rather eat easily digestible foods in the evening. Bananas, sweet snacks such as waffles or honey milk and green leaf salads contain substances that have a calming effect on the nervous system. Take in enough magnesium the mineral relaxes muscles and nerves. The daily requirement is 300 to 400 mg. Sour cherry juice contains the hormone melatonin and studies have shown that it can help you sleep better. Almonds and cinnamon also promote the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Incidentally, the opposite has the effect of sour things such as pickles or citrus fruits. Avoid this as well as salty food, because it not only makes you thirsty at night, but the increased sodium content in the blood also makes it difficult to sleep in the heat.
11. Exclude the sun
Depending on how sensitive you are to light it can make sense to darken the bedroom overnight, so that the first rays of light do not tear you out of your sleep.
12. Get up instead of rolling around forever
Already half an hour in bed and still awake? Stop staring at the ceiling, get up and do something else that doesn’t strain you – listen to soft music or leaf through a magazine. Only go back to bed when tiredness has set in again.
13. Keep calm
Don’t get upset if you don’t get to sleep in the heat right away. In the summer we need around an hour less sleep than in winter, because our body somewhat inhibits the production of the sleep hormone melatonin due to the long and light-intensive days. Much more important than the length of sleep is the quality of sleep.
14. Stay away from sleeping pills
Sleeping pills often disrupt the normal phases of sleep and can be addictive because the body gets used to them quickly. Only take them in exceptional situations and even then only temporarily.
15. Gentle sleep aids
If you can’t go to sleep despite a light dinner in the heat, try an herbal tea. Soothing extracts are lemon balm, valerian, hops, lavender or passion flower. Bach flower drops can also help. Many people have been relying on the essences from the flowers of wild plants and trees to compensate for mental imbalances for decades.
Reading tips: Do you want more tips to help you sleep better? Here we reveal natural sleeping pills and explain whether 4 hours of sleep per night is enough. We also clarify whether sleeping naked is healthy and what is behind the sleep restriction.
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