Creating The Ideal Sleep Environment

Poor sleep affects millions of adults in the United States. About 14 percent of adults say they have trouble falling asleep most days, and 12 percent have chronic insomnia. Many factors contribute to sleep, from health and stress levels to genetics. However, one major contributing factor that is within an individual’s control is their sleep environment.

Why Is Sleep Important?

If you’ve ever stayed up for more hours than you intended, you can instantly feel how sleep can negatively impact your body. When you’re tired, your motor skills are slower, it’s harder to concentrate, your mood feels off, and you lack energy.

But beyond the negative effects of feeling tired, sleep actually has a significant impact on your overall health and well-being. Every single function of your body is affected by your sleep. Your immunity, cognitive functions, and metabolism–they’re all impacted by sleep. It even plays a part in reducing or increasing your risk of chronic diseases!

Tips To Improve Your Sleep Environment

It’s crucial to sleep in an environment that promotes peace and relaxation if you want to reap the benefits of a good night’s sleep in the long term. Making small changes to your sleep environment is a quick way to ensure a better night’s sleep.

• Stick to the same bedtime as often as possible. Help your body fall into a routine by going to bed around the same time every day, even on weekends.
• Remove distractions from your bedroom. When you enter your bedroom, you want your body and mind to know it’s time to fall asleep, which means removing distractions like televisions, phones, and tablets. Your bedroom should be your sleeping sanctuary, not your hangout spot. Leave that for the living room and keep your bedroom just for rest.
• Keep your room at a relaxing temperature. If you’re too hot or cold, it can be difficult for your body to relax and sleep. Keep your room at a comfortable temperature, which may mean using fans or extra blankets to get your temperature just right.
• Invest in a quality mattress. Your mattress can make all the difference in not only how you sleep but how you feel when you’re awake. If you’re waking in the middle of the night, feeling pain while you sleep, or discomfort during the day, it may be a sign that you don’t have the right mattress. You don’t need to spend thousands on a fancy bed, but go to a mattress store and try out a few mattresses to find one that works for you.
• Limit caffeine and alcohol before bed. Caffeine and alcohol don’t cater to quality sleep whatsoever. Try to cut alcohol from your routine entirely, if possible, and stop consuming caffeine by midafternoon so it’s not keeping you up at night. And limit the amount of caffeine you intake. According to professional health experts, like the Mayo Clinic, 400 mg is the max safe amount of caffeine you want to have in one day. Individual tolerance varies, though, and for some people, this may still be too much.

Improving Your Sleep Environment With Visiting Angels

Our goal at Visiting Angels is to help clients live the highest-quality lives while aging at home. If you or a senior loved one are struggling with sleep, it can feel overwhelming and incredibly stressful. Don’t put off getting the best sleep possible–your health depends on it!

Our caregivers are the local experts at assisting clients to feel comfortable and safe, and that includes helping them create their ideal sleep environment and establish consistent and effective bedtime routines.

Contact our office to learn more about our at-home care services for seniors throughout Cullman and the surrounding communities.