Celebrate National Bed Month with these five hacks

This month we’re participating in a blog swap with The Sleep Charity for National Bed Month. Lisa Artis, Deputy CEO of The Sleep Charity, shares her five top tips to help you get ready for bed.

It’s time to get ready, set… snooze as National Bed Month gets underway today, March 1st.

The National Bed Federation’s annual awareness campaign takes place every March and the month is dedicated to improving a good night’s sleep with a comfortable, supportive bed.

Here’s five things you should consider when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep.

Take a Bed MOT
As a good night’s sleep can’t always be guaranteed, it is up to you to regularly assess sleep quality and comfort levels. It may, or may not, seem obvious but as we spend a third of our lives in bed the best place to start when working towards a better night’s sleep is your mattress.
While you could be doing all the right things when it comes to sleep – eating the right foods, exercising regularly, switching off gadgets before bedtime, winding down properly and sleeping in a cool, quiet and dark bedroom – if you’re sleeping on an old, unsupportive and unhealthy bed you STILL won’t get a refreshing night’s sleep. Bed Advice UK has lots of useful information around choosing a new bed.

Create a sleep friendly environment
It doesn’t take a genius to know that you will sleep much better if you’re in the right environment. Take the time this month to check if your bedroom is sleep-friendly. Make sure it’s cool, dark, quiet and clutter free. The bedroom should be kept for sleep and sex only.

Change the way you wind down at bedtime
Experiment with new ways to relax like warm baths with calming scents, quiet soothing music, reading, gentle stretching and yoga. It’s important to pick and choose the things that will help YOU relax the most. To increase the need for sleep, turn off gadgets and dim the lights. If your mind is running on overdrive, write down worries – it really does help to unburden stressful or niggling thoughts.

Seek out ways to improve your lifestyle
Small changes can have a huge impact on your sleep quality and quantity. Overhaul your diet, caffeine and alcohol consumption and exercise regime. Too much alcohol, especially late at night, can play havoc with sleep patterns. Alcohol may help you fall asleep initially, but will interrupt your sleep later on in the night and it robs us of one of our most satisfying types of sleep, where dreams occur. Plus you will wake dehydrated and needing the loo!

Keep a sleep diary
If you find dropping off hard, it may be interesting to see what you’ve been doing, what you’ve eaten and where you’ve slept on the days you sleep and don’t sleep well. It could help in finding the answers to some of your questions. You can download one from the Sleep Charity website here Sleep Diary – The Sleep Charity