Your guide for a good nights’ sleep

You’ve heard it all before, get eight hours of sleep and don’t drink caffeine close to bedtime. However, your lifestyle habits or wandering mind might not be the source of your sleepless nights… The main culprit could be your bedroom.

Now, aside from the obvious fact that your mattress could be to blame, there are other elements of your bedroom that you may be overlooking. We thought we’d share some of the best tips for a good nights’ sleep with you, so you can rest easy and enjoy your dreams.

1. Pets and mobile phones don’t belong in the bed because of their distractive nature. Make sure your pet sleeps somewhere else, even if it is on the floor beside your bed and keep your mobile phone somewhere else in the room. A handy hint: Put your mobile phone charging at the opposite end of your bedroom to your bed so you are forced to get out of bed to turn the alarm off for a surefire way to stop sleeping in! 

2. Use good pillows. No matter how you sleep (back, side or stomach) keep your spine in a neutral position so find a pillow that suits your body shape and make sure you replace it every 12-18 months.

3. Keep paper and a pen on your bedside table. If you have thoughts keeping you awake in the middle of the night? Write them down. It could help you fall back to sleep.

4. Make sure your have a disruptive noise free environment. Don’t keep laptops that may beep in your bedroom and turn your phone on silent. An alternative option to consider is having a device that masks noise as it could provide consistency and mask disruptive noises

5. Regulate lighting. Keep dark curtains or firm blinds in your room and shut them before going to sleep. This will avoid things like sunlight or streetlights from waking you up.

6. Choose the right sheets and blankets. Make sure they are comfy and not too hot or cold. Cotton sheets are great for summer while a flannelette blend are great for winter.

7. Choose the right sleep wear. Pyjamas should be relaxed and not made from constraining fabrics, like spandex. Make sure you have some for colder months and some for warmer months.

8. Make sure your bedroom is a good temperature. The ideal temperature for sleeping is between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius. You are more likely to have a good sleep in a cooler room.

So armed with these fantastic tips, you can make sure you’re doing a little more to give yourself a great nights’ sleep.

What helps you to sleep? Have you got a room ideal for sleeping or do you find yourself distracted at night? Tell us in the comments below…