Before giving up on a good night’s sleep, consider your “sleep hygiene.” You spend one-third of your life sleeping. It is worth the investment to make sure that one-third of your life is the best it can be.
Sleep hygiene focuses on your habits in preparation for sleep. These habits are not substitutions for treatment of sleep disorders; however, sleep hygiene can help in the management of sleep disorders.
The first step is determining how many hours of sleep you need per night. On a day you have caught up on sleep, go to sleep at your normal time, and wake up the next morning on your own – without an alarm clock or children or the dog waking you.
The result is probably how many hours of sleep you need per night. This is your number, and no one else’s. Don’t compare yourself to others and think that you are not getting enough sleep or sleeping too much. Everyone has her or his own number.
The University of Alabama’s Dr. Norma G. Cuellar offers sleep hygiene tips for improving your sleep.
- Wake up and go to bed at the same time. This includes days you are off work.
- Your bed is for two things only: sleep and sex. Do not read, watch TV, eat or work from your bed.
- Avoid napping during the day.
- Don’t sleep with pets – they may interrupt your sleep, and you don’t even realize it.
- Don’t eat or drink caffeine after 4 p.m.
- Don’t eat anything heavy before bed.
- Don’t drink fluids two hours before you go to bed
- Go to the bathroom before you go to bed.
- Make your sleep environment your “heaven” – a sleep inducing environment that’s comfortable to sleep in. Adjust odor, lighting, temperature, etc.
- Consider your sleeping equipment: You may need a new mattress, pillow or blanket.
- Exercise can improve sleep. Exercise early in the day if you have trouble sleeping.
- Avoid using cigarettes, alcohol or caffeine before sleep – these cause sleep disruption throughout the night.
Although improving your sleep hygiene is not a cure-all, it may improve your sleep and overall well-being. If these things do not help your sleep and you continue to have sleep problems, you should see your health care provider, specifically a sleep specialist.
Cuellar is a professor in UA’s Capstone College of Nursing.
