Dreamland Makeover: Crafting Your Perfect Sleep Sanctuary

Commentary by Dr. Donald Greig

Are you struggling to catch those much-needed Z's? You're not alone—many people find themselves tossing and turning at night. A poor night's sleep not only affects your mood but can also lead to serious health issues, including metabolic changes and an increased risk of heart disease. Instead of letting frustration take over, consider making these five adjustments to your bedroom for a more restful environment.

1. Keep It Cool

The ideal temperature for sleep is around 18°C. If your bedroom is too warm, your heart rate may increase as your body tries to cool down, leaving you restless. While fans and air conditioning can help, they might also dry out the air. Consider using a humidifier to maintain comfort without sacrificing humidity.

2. Dress for Success

Opt for breathable fabrics like linen and cotton for your bedding. If you still feel warm, wearing socks can help regulate your body temperature by promoting blood flow to your skin's surface. Regularly wash your sheets to keep allergens at bay, and choose a thread count between 200 and 450 for optimal comfort. For duvets, a lower tog rating (4.5 or less) is ideal for summer, while a tog of 10.5 works well year-round.

3. Dim the Lights

Melatonin production is crucial for sleep, and it thrives in darkness. Dimming lights in the evening prepares your body for rest. Consider using sleep masks or blackout curtains to block out light. For those affected by seasonal changes, SAD lamps can mimic sunset and help regulate your circadian rhythm.

4. Embrace Sound

If snoring or other noises disrupt your sleep, white noise might be the answer. This constant sound can help mask disturbances and promote quicker sleep onset. Explore sleep playlists featuring white or brown noise on platforms like YouTube and Spotify to find what soothes you best.

5. Find Harmony with Your Partner

If you and your partner have different sleep preferences, consider using separate duvets instead of separate beds. This arrangement can promote intimacy while accommodating individual needs, helping both of you enjoy a better night's sleep.

By making these thoughtful changes, you can create a bedroom environment that supports restful sleep. Sweet dreams await!

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Article By Yasmin Choudhury

Why can't I sleep? Make these five changes to your bedroom

Are you getting enough sleep? Is anyone? It’s a problem: a bad night’s rest can cause changes in your metabolism and increases your risk of heart disease. But for those of us who regularly spend nights staring at the ceiling — or plotting the murder of a snoring partner — the dream of achieving the perfect eight hours is difficult to realise. Instead of getting frustrated, focus on what you can control. This is how to turn your bedroom into the ideal sleep environment.

Don’t feel the heat

The optimal room temperature for dozing off is cooler than you think: about 18C. If it gets too hot your heart rate increases to keep your core temperature down, leaving you restless.

Fans (or air conditioning) may be helpful in a heatwave, but they can also trigger sore throats and stuffy noses, as they remove the humidity from the air. A humidifier can counteract this. But even if you don’t have a fan operating on the bedside table, a humidifier on its own will make the room feel cooler and less stuffy.

Dress the part

“Linen and cotton are ideal fabrics for sleeping, as they’re woven from natural fibres that breathe well,” says Dr Roshane Mohidin, an NHS GP and head of health improvement at Vitality Insurance.

Still feeling clammy? Add socks. “Socks warm the feet and trigger vasodilation — where blood vessels widen, increasing blood flow to the skin’s surface,” says Lisa Artis, deputy CEO of the Sleep Charity. “This releases excess body heat.” Just make sure they’re made of natural fibres.

You should also be washing your sheets regularly, especially if you are prone to allergies, says Dr Hana Patel, a GP and sleep expert at the Time4Sleep bed company. “Sheets that are covered in dust and dead skin cells will irritate your nasal pathways,” she says. Hot sleepers should consider a lower thread count for their sheets: between 200 and 450 is the ideal range.

With duvets, the higher the tog the warmer you’ll be (a 4.5 tog or less is best for summer). If you don’t run particularly hot or cold, luxury hotels opt for a tog of 10.5, which is a good year-round option.

See the light

The hormone melatonin is what makes us drowsy. “In darkness, the pineal gland in the brain initiates the production of melatonin, whereas light exposure slows or stops it from being made,” Patel explains.

Dimming the lights in the evening helps to prepare the body for sleep. Once you’re in bed, a sleep mask will shut out light and stop disturbances to your circadian rhythm. If you’re very sensitive to light, consider blackout curtains.

The darker days of autumn and winter can scramble our circadian rhythms. SAD lamps — so called because they are used to treat seasonal affective disorder — can help you wind down at night by mimicking the sunset and rouse you gently in the morning. Check out Lumie’s range (lumie.com).

The sound of silence

According to the British Snoring & Sleep Apnea Association, almost 42 per cent of adults in the UK snore. Amazingly, more noise may be the solution if you’re kept up by someone else’s honking. “White noise, a static sound that balances out audible frequencies, helps both adults and infants fall asleep faster,” Patel says. “The constant hum associated with the sound may give us something to focus on.”

Brown noise — which has a lower and deeper frequency — can also help you drift off. When we listen to it we hear every frequency that the ear is able to detect simultaneously, which creates an experience some people find soothing.

Keen to plug in and drift off? There are sleep playlists on YouTube and Spotify that feature white and brown noise, as well as other soothing sounds such as waves crashing.

Love in the time of insomnia

You and your partner may have different preferences about your sleep environment, but don’t file for a “sleep divorce” with separate beds. Instead, try separate duvets. “Co-sleeping can lower levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, and boost the immune system,” Artis says. All the more reason not to smother them with a pillow.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for any medical concerns.