Need some help with getting a good night of sleep? Read our top ten sleep tips...
We talk a lot about how babies disrupt your sleep in the early days (and years) of motherhood. But what if your children are finally sleeping through and you're still staring at the ceiling for hours in bed, unable to nod off?
Sleep is so precious when you're a parent, and there's nothing more frustrating than not being able to sleep when you're tired. There are many factors that may affect your night-time, from your environment to stress and food.
So what can you do to help you happily drift off? From The Sleep Coach Max Kirsten, here's top 10 tips for achieving a great night's sleep.
1. Make Sure You Develop A Good Sleep Routine
Ideally try and go to bed at the same time every night when you can (obviously there will be times when you break your routine, such as a late night, or travel). It's useful to begin to wind down from life-admin like work and family-related emails many hours before bed. Have a hot bath or hot shower before bed as this has been shown to improve the speed at which you relax.
2. Reduce Caffeine
We all know that caffeine can keep you awake and it stays in your body much longer than you would think. I recommend reducing your caffeine about eight hours before bedtime as this will help you fall asleep easier. You will find caffeine not only in coffee and tea, green tea and many carbonated soft drinks. Also be careful of eating too much chocolate which contains cacao (which acts very similarly caffeine as it's in the same family). If you've already had too much caffeine, try eating carbohydrates like bread or biscuits to help reduce the effect.
3. Drink Alcohol...Only In Moderation
Although alcohol may help you to fall asleep, it can also cause symptoms like dehydration, nightmares, headaches and sweats. If you must drink alcohol before bed, I recommend that you also drink water, but be careful not to drink too much water because that alone will have you waking in the night. Alcohol can interfere with your sleep architecture.
4. Drink Less Water In The Evening
A big glass of water right before bed may cause you to wake in the night disrupting deep sleep. Only sip water minimally as needed in bed.
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