Tips for Overcoming Winter Sleeping Issues

Winter, the most eagerly anticipated season of the year, is favoured by people over summer and monsoon. And why not, with lower temperatures, clear sky, and welcoming sunlight give you better days than scorching summer and wet and flooded monsoons.

Long nights, warm comforters, comfortable mattresses, and someone to cuddle in make sleeping most desirable for people during the winter. But sometimes, these conditions may become unfavourable and wreak mayhem in some people’s lives, causing them restless nights. If you also find it difficult to sleep during the winter for some reason, here we have some helpful tips for you. But before that, let’s look at common winter sleeping problems people face.

Why can’t you sleep during winter?

Out of many reasons, here are some common and regular reasons that can cause sleepless nights despite beautiful weather conditions.

Too much cold

Sleeping on winter nights can be problematic if the house or the mattress is not warm enough. During sleep, your body’s core temperature drops by a few degrees. And, lowered outer temperature makes it hard to sleep by making you feel too cold. Sometimes, buying a new mattress online also doesn’t help if it’s not comfortable and layered enough with heat-retaining material.

Lack of daylight

Winter means shorter days and longer nights. Your circadian rhythm gets affected during winter. The lack of daylight confuses your brain, which fails to send proper signals to the body to create melatonin hormone, resulting in irregular sleeping throughout the day.

Allergies and viral infections

People often complain about getting several allergies and viral infections during winter. The dry and cold weather turns out to be a great condition for viruses and bacteria to grow and spread across. Despite your strong immune system, there are chances that you might get infected by one or two of them, and with coughing, high fever or skin allergies, it becomes tough to sleep at night, further weakening your strength.

Overeating

Colder climatic conditions often increase your hunger. To maintain warmth in the body internally and increase the capacity to fight cold, you might eat more fatty, hot and spicy food, specifically at night, due to falling in the cold. This overeating at night leads to acidic reflux as our body has no time to digest the food before hitting the mattress. Many avoid taking pillows while sleeping, returning all acid out of the stomach and sending a burning sensation, further disrupting sleep.

Nasal congestion

Nasal congestions are common during winter due to common colds, sneezing or coughing. Dry air causes a runny nose to get blocked at night, and you find difficulties in breathing. Constant breathing issues, snoring, and the common cold keep you from finding the right position to sleep so that your nose gets cleared, ultimately leaving you sleepless.

Tips to get better sleep during winter

Buying a comforter or the best mattress online may give you the required warmth to sleep through wintery nights. But to improve sleep quality and get maximum sleep every night, we bring useful tips.

Drink enough water

Keeping yourself hydrated with an intake of enough water every day solves many of your problems. People forget to drink water during winter owing to less perspiration and cool weather, which increases problems like dry skin, itchy throat, nasal congestion and heavy chest with dried cough. Contrary to seasonal conditions, drinking enough water every day helps you get rid of these issues and have a peaceful sleep at night.

Precautions against Allergies and viral infections

You can prevent seasonal allergies and viral infections by taking measures as winter begins. Some things you can add to your daily habits during winter which can help you stay away from allergies and viral infections such as:

• Maintain hygiene in the house, mattress and bedroom Use disinfectants and cleaners Wash hands properly before eating Drink warm water, herbal tea, etc. Avoid eating junk food, spicy and oily food Wear warm clothes Take medicines, and get vaccinated Visit the doctor on the first sign of getting infected by a virus or bacteria

Intake of sunlight

In the morning, though a warm, cozy bed seems inviting and going out in the cold looks horrible, it doesn’t do any good to remain covered in those layers of blankets on a soft mattress all the time. A good time spent in sunlight (45 to 60 minutes) every day, especially in the morning, helps your immune system get a good dose of vitamin D, improves circadian rhythm, and regularizes melatonin-cortisol release and strength to fight colds internally.

Exercise

Winters generally demotivate you to move out of bed, even to complete the daily chores, let alone exercise. But as you know, exercise and sleep are co-related, and regular exercise is important to improve sleep quality. Therefore, at least 30 minutes of regular exercise during the day helps you spend energy during the day and sleep calmly at night.

Avoid overeating

Excessive eating always causes trouble for us, whether sleeping peacefully at night or going to work. Especially at night, avoid eating heavy meals to avoid acid reflux and sleepless nights. Do not sleep immediately after having a meal, and avoid food items that are too spicy or oily at night. Rather than eating in one go, divide food into portions and eat at least 2 hours before bed to let the food digest.

If you feel hungry at night, drink warm milk or hot chocolate to keep you fed and sleep calmly.

Use humidifier

During winter, humidity in the air remains low. It results in dry skin, itchy throats and a congested nose. Using a humidifier in the house helps you maintain humidity and avoid any issues. However, ensure to keep the humidifier clean to avoid the build-up of bacterias and mildews in the reservoir.

Another thing that can help you is the usage of an aromatherapy diffuser along with a humidifier to create a pleasant atmosphere and kill any air-borne bacteria in the house by dispersing essential oils like peppermint, lavender, etc. Another benefit of using an aromatherapy diffuser is that an aroma is effective in helping people sleep by calming their nerves and relieving stress.

Get Bedroom Winter-Ready

Preparing your bedroom before winter gives you an added benefit to a better sleeping environment and improved sleep quality. Things that you can do to make your bedroom more inviting throughout the winter. Such as,

• Clean and disinfect all the corners and nooks of the bedroom.
• Change used bed sheets, curtains and other things.
• Bring all the comforters and blankets and wash them, show them sunlight and keep them handy. You can buy an all-weather comforter from the Sleep Company if your old ones are damaged or fail to protect you from the outer cold.

Dust out the mattress, change mattress covers and protectors, check the mattress for any damage and get it repaired if required. 

• You can buy mattress online or from trustworthy shops to avoid sleeping on a cold floor or bed frame.
• Let the sunlight get in the bedroom during the day to avoid breeding unwanted bacteria. If your bedroom falls on the wrong side of sunlight, turn on the lights and use aroma diffusers to keep the air clean and bacteria-free.
• Prepare heaters by cleaning and repairing them before winter begins, or buy a new one if required.

Bottom Line

Winters are the easiest, most pleasant and most lively time of the year. You may face sleepless nights through some glitches, but with the proper precautions and tips mentioned above, you can find them as cheery, happy and festive as they are.

Happy Winters!