As soon as the temperature outside decides to skyrocket, your dreams of falling blissfully asleep at peak grandma hour are pretty much a no-go.
Unless you’re willing and able to fork over a small fortune to cover your air conditioning bill or a superhero who can brave the one leg out of the comforter (you know, the leg that’s then grabbed by whatever monster is definitely under your bed), how are you supposed to get any shut-eye?
First, let’s start with why your sleep schedule is straight-up torn apart as soon as Memorial Day passes with this intel from The Sleep Solution: “We are programmed to sleep better in temps around 65 degrees,” says author Chris Winter, MD. “Because of the temperature fluctuations we go through during the night and our body’s own temperature curve (which is usually pretty high when we hop into bed), cooling has a sleep promoting effect.”
In addition to the weather changing, the sunny months are actually a time of high-stress situations. “Summertime can be associated with a number of stressors, including vacation envy and body image self consciousness,” says Joshua Tal, PhD, sleep psychologist. “Summer is also associated with higher sunlight exposure, leading to a shift in circadian rhythm and increased agitation.”
To help you clock in those eight hours without your electric bill matching the degrees outside, we teamed up with MidNite—a drug-free sleep aid that activates your natural sleep cycle—and asked Dr. Tal and Dr. Winter to pass along some snooze-worthy wisdom.
Keep scrolling for 3 ways to get better sleep during the warm summer months.
1. Keep it dark
You know those Saturday mornings you bank on getting in the most hours of sleep possible, but then it seems like all the sunlight outside is only spilling into your room, and you’re stuck staring at the ceiling once again?
Dr. Tal recommends investing in black-out curtains to block out any of the early morning light that streams in through your windows. If this doesn’t do the trick, try a dark sleep mask that mimics the feeling of having your eyes closed.
2. Cool off in different ways
“Temperature is an essential part of the circadian rhythm,” Dr. Tal says. “Cold environments signal the body to begin the sleep cycle.” And anyone who knows the flip-the-pillow-until-it’s-cold routine, you know how far you’ll go to find a hint of cool during the dead of summer.
If you’re not all in for turning down your thermostat to 65 or below (totally get it), Dr. Winter has a solution. He suggests throwing your pillowcases in the freezer for a while before you head to bed—that way you can begin cooling off the second you get cozy, starting from your head and neck all the way to the rest of your body.
3. Opt for supplement support
At the end of the day, when the alternatives haven’t worked, you just need to sleep. However, one of the things that might push you away from taking a sleep aid is the worry of feeling groggy the next day if you take it too late at night.
Enter MidNite, which was designed specifically for people to fall asleep late and wake up feeling refreshed when they experience occasional sleeplessness—not like a coffee-guzzling zombie—as long as they allow for three hours of sleep. That’s thanks to the low dose of melatonin and herbal ingredients, which are formulated to help lull you into a (non-habit-forming) sleep. And since it comes in a chewable tablet form, you don’t have to walk to the kitchen for a glass of water, you can just chew, swallow, and starting gaining those zzz’s.
In partnership with MidNite®
Top photo: Getty Images/Sofie Delauw
