How to sleep in hot weather

I don't know about you but when I go to sleep I need a cool pillow. If my head feels warm then I know I will find it hard to drop off. I constantly keep turning over my pillow to get to the cool side of the pillow.

So what is the science behind all this...

Our core body temperature affects our sleeping patterns. Body temperature decreases during the night-time sleep phase and rises during the wake phase and sleep is most likely to occur when core temperature decreases, and much less likely to occur during the rises.

So if we can cool ourselves down then we are more likely to go to sleep and if we warm up then we are more likely to wake up. That makes sense as during the night the tendency is for the night to cool down and as dawn breaks then the temperature increases and we wake up.

So how we can we help ourselves to achieve the ideal sleep situation.

There are three areas to tackle. First ensure the room temperature is right, second the bed environment and third your own body.

Set your Room Temperature

1. In the UK, we don't tend to have AirCon in our bedrooms but we can help by opening windows and getting a through flow of air.

2. We can purchase fans to help the air circulate

3. We can purchase cheap air humidifiers which spray a fine mist into the room.  As the mist evaporates heat energy is drawn out of the room to evaporate the water.

4. During the winter, set your bedroom temperature at about 16C and certainly cooler than your lounge. Use your radiator thermostat to achieve the reduced temperature.

Set your bed Environment

5. Use clean fresh bedding and change regularly.

6. Ideally use bedding that is lightweight, breathes and wicks away moisture. Silk is the perfect material.

7. Silk sheets and silk duvets might not be affordable but a silk pillowcase will be a great help to setting the right environment.

Set your body temerature

8. Have a cool bath or shower before you go to bed.

9. Have a glass of water by your bed at night

10. Eat water melon for breakfast which is known as a great way of reducing core body temperature. Do not eat watermelon after lunch as it is known to be acidic and has high fibres which are difficult to digest and would worsen your nights sleep.