The key to getting a good night’s sleep could boil down to something as simple as the temperature in your bedroom.

To get a good night’s sleep your body has to cool down to the right temperature.
This will allow the release of your sleepy hormones known as melatonin. The release of melatonin will help induce sleep.

You can help optimize the situation by sleeping in a cooler room. But if the room or you become uncomfortably hot you are more likely to not be able to get off to sleep or even wake up feeling hot.

The comfort level of your bedroom temperature also especially affects the quality of your deep restorative REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the stage in which you dream.

Ideal temperature

Recommending a specific range is difficult although we tend to say that somewhere between 16-18 degrees centigrade( 60.8 –64.4 Fahrenheit) tends to work well.
There are many other ways to create an ideal sleeping environment, if you get too hot, such as:

  • Have a warm shower or bath before bedtime as when you get out your body will automatically start to cool which will help induce your sleepy hormones
  • Make sure you set time aside for a bedtime routine
  • Think of a bedroom as a cave cool, quiet, and dark.
  • Be wary of memory foam pillow as they may make you too hot
  • Keep the radiator off in the bedroom
  • Put bed socks on your feet, as cold feet, in particular, can be very disruptive to sleep.
  • Ensure that your bed linen keeps you cool
  • Wear nothing or cool bedclothes
  • Reduce the tog rating of your duvet
  • Use wool duvet which can be heat regulating
  • Use a silk pillowcase to keep your head cool and prevent ‘bedhead’ as well as skin creases
  • Keep a glass of cold water by your bedside
  • Keep a bedroom thermometer
  • Keep a flannel by you bedside and use as if you have a temperature

Case study

Dianne (48) had been waking up repeatedly over the past few months feeling hot and bothered. She was also feeling sweaty and had great difficulty in getting back to sleep. She was recommended a wool duvet which kept her cool when she was overheating and warm when she was too cold. It has changed her life and she now is able to sleep through with only the occasional waking.

Relevant items:
  • Silk pillow case
  • Wool duvet
  • Variable tog duvet 9 plus 4.5
  • Gel pillow
  • Bedroom thermometer
  • Cool sheets
  • Bed socks

Relevant recent press

https://www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/news/how-to-sleep-in-the-heat-19072013