The winter months can be hard on your health and your psyche! Days are shorter and many of us are in our pj’s at sunset. But one of the great things about winter is we get to spend more time sleeping.
A recent survey by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (aasm) reports that 34% of U.S. adults sleep more in the winter. According to the AASM, winter is a natural time for sleeping, which can improve physical and mental health. There are three pillars of a healthy lifestyle: nutrition, exercise, and sleep. Healthy sleep improves your health and quality of life in a variety of ways according to the website sleepeducation.org.
Where to start?
2020 brought a year of change to households everywhere. It turned bedrooms into offices, classrooms, and gyms. Finding the bed was difficult with everything crammed around it.
Start 2021 with a renewed sense of purpose to recapture your bedroom to comfort for a relaxing night’s sleep.
How does your bed make you feel? Are you constantly rolling towards the middle, can’t get comfortable and feel all the lumps and bumps of an old mattress set? Have your kids been spending their downtime using their beds as trampolines?
It might be time to invest in a new mattress set from Garner Appliance and Mattress. If you need us, we’re here to help get your ZZZ’s back on track with amazing lines of bedding products for the kings and queens in your life.
In the meantime, we’ve got some helpful tips for a better dreamland.
How to improve winter sleep?
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has some great tips for winter sleep including:
- Set a bedtime that allows enough sleep. You can use an AASM bedtime calculator that determines a customized bedtime based on age and wake time needed. According to the AASM, individual sleep needs vary, it should be a priority to get enough sleep to wake-up feeling refreshed and alert.
- Avoid the dreaded binge-watching on TV before bed, especially anything involving screens or electronics. Too much exposure to light can disrupt your sleep timing cycle.
- Avoid caffeine after lunch and alcohol before bedtime, both of which can cause sleep disruptions.
- Practice things that will help you relax before bed: taking a warm bath, journaling or meditating.
- Create a soothing bedroom environment. Make your bedroom, quiet, dark and a little bit cool — it should remind you of a cave.
How to get healthy sleep for kids?
In 2020, good sleep was scarce for everyone, but especially kids. Many changes in their daily lives disrupted their normal routines. From families at home 24/7 to virtual school and no outside sports activities, 2020 upended the lives of kids of all ages. Bedrooms became a second home for most as virtual learning, homework and electronics took over their world.
Parents and kids are coming to terms with “new normal,” but we can help kids improve their sleep and well-being by sticking to a plan.
The Stanford Children’s Sleep Center offers some suggestions:
- Continue to set up your child/children’s bedtime ritual — time for pj’s, brushing teeth, reading books, cuddles, lights out. This way everyone knows what to expect.
- Take the time together — some kids become unsettled at bedtime as they are wanting more time with family. Talk to them about their day, share the positive.
- Power down the electronics: Time to put down the gadgets to wind down for a healthy night’s sleep.
Take the time this winter to improve sleep quality for your family: it does the body and mind good!