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Basking in sunshine and soaking up the heat as the days stretch out in summer is great. But when it comes to sleeping, the warmer months can quickly turn into a nightmare if you aren't prepared.
Crowd-sourcing advice from Reddit can throw up an array of information that isn't always helpful, but when one user queried 'What hacks do you use to sleep during hot weather?' on /askreddit, they received a plethora of useful response from others who had tried and tested methods to sleep cool when temperatures are high.
So, we've picked the best hacks and explained why they work (and, in one case, why not every aspect of the advice is spot on). And, while our top tip to avoid overheating at night is to choose one of the best cooling mattresses, we've also provided a few more choice pieces of Tom's Guide wisdom for keeping cool during the summer months.
5 ways Reddit users beat the heat while trying to sleep
1. Choose naturally cooling fabrics for your bedding
"Pay attention to fabric content of your sheets. Ditch polyester in favor of cotton or linen sheets. Natural fibers are much more breathable," u/ThrowRAINBOWS
If you're finding yourself waking up tangled in sweaty bedding during the summer heat, consider Reddit user ThrowRAINBOW's advice and review what your bedding is made from.
This is important, because heat is more likely to be trapped by synthetic materials, so the best cooling bedding is often made from natural fabrics.
Materials like cotton, linen, wool and bamboo are great options for sheets (and bedding in general) as they are all naturally breathable, moisture-wicking (which means they will absorb and dissipate heat) and are likely to be cool-to-touch. Consider checking out this year's best organic mattresses for a natural bed, too.
2. Shower before you sleep
"Take a shower right before bed. Start at your regular shower temp, then gradually lessen the hot water until you're just showering in cold water. Stand in that cold rain for 2 minutes," u/JerseyGirl4ever.
We're including this hack because Reddit user JerseyGirl4ever is half right. A shower before bed can be a great way to cool down and help you sleep , but a warm shower is generally considered the best bet, because your core body temperature will drop afterwards.
Medical director at sleep apnea treatment company Complete Sleep, Dr. David Rosen, previously explained more about this.
"A warm shower taken one to two hours before bedtime triggers vasodilation (blood vessel expansion) in your extremities, which helps dissipate core body heat more efficiently afterward," he said.
Our body temperature naturally drops at night when melatonin (the sleepy hormone) is released as part of our body's circadian rhythm, so mimicking this temperature drop via the above warm showering method can help signal it's time for your body and brain to rest.
In fact, a review of studies into the effects of a warm shower or bath before bed found that water heat of 40 and 42.5 °C in a shower (just like Dr. Rosen said) helped improve sleep quality and sleep efficiency.
Plus taking it 1-2 hours before bedtime can decrease the amount of time it takes to get to sleep.
3. Freeze a water bottle
"Grab a water bottle. Stick it in the freezer," u/Pyrhan.
This simple hack is great if you don't have air-conditioning in your home and are looking for DIY ways to stay cool with items you can find easily.
Reddit user Pyrhan adds that, "when it's fully frozen, wrap it in a t-shirt, and hug that against your body as you fall asleep. It's particularly effective at cooling you down if you apply it against your inner thighs (lots of blood flow in that area with the femoral artery)."
They're correct that placing your frozen water bottle on the inner thigh, where you have a major artery, is a good spot. Other places you can pop that ice-cold bottle include your wrists and neck.
This is because putting something cool on body parts that have plenty of blood vessels near the surface of the skin will help cool your body down more quickly.
4. Switch a heavy comforter for a weighted blanket
"I like sleeping with a heavy comforter which is next to impossible in the summer, so instead I use a weighted blanket like this one as it simulates the same weight without being warm," u/notquincy.
Switching from a heavy duvet to a light summer one, or even just a flat top sheet is definitely going to help keep you cooler, but if you need some kind of pressure on you to sleep, a weighted blanket, as suggested by Reddit user notquincy, may be the solution.
The handwoven natural cotton Silk and Snow option they suggest is going to give you the pressure relief a weighted blanket is designed to provide, but the naturally breathable material will help avoid overheating.
Another option is the YNM Original Cotton Weighted Blanket, which we rate as one of the best weighted blankets out there. Our reviewer noted that it, "never once felt stifling and we didn’t feel overheated," and reported that, " the crisp cotton cover remains cool."
5. Close windows and curtains in daytime
"Keep your room sealed up and shaded during the day," u/hawksnest_prez.
This tip from Reddit user hawksnest_prez is one that's going to go against your natural instinct to let the fresh air in and enjoy having sunshine streaming through your home.
However, shutting the windows and drawing the curtains or blinds in your bedroom, also known as the 'caveman method,' can be an effective way of cooling your home in a heatwave. And it's all about recreating the ambience of a cave!
"A cave is cool in heatwaves because it is dark and doesn't have direct sunlight or a direct entrance for the heat. You want to probably mimic that," CEO of Green Doors, Joseph Holman, previously told us.
My top tips for sleeping in the heat
1. Create DIY aircon
Airconditioning is an excellent way to keep your home cool, but it's also expensive and therefore, not an option for many of us.
My favourite method for mimicking aircon involves a fan, several water bottles and a freezer.
Simply fill a couple of soda or large water bottles with water and salt, freeze them and then place around 6 inches in front of your fan for cool air akin to a/c.
You can check out the method in more detail here, including how much salt to add to the water to aid cooling.
2. Create a cross-breeze
If you can't bear keeping your home shuttered up during a summer's day, the 'wind tunnel method' might be for you instead.
Again, it's a cheap and easy way to cool down your home, keeping those temperatures nice and low for when you want to sleep. And all you need is windows and/or doors at two sides of your home.
“Open windows or doors at opposite ends of your home to encourage airflow — it acts like a natural wind tunnel that pushes warm air out and pulls cooler air in," showroom stylist at Express Bi-Folding Doors, Jade Oliver, explained to us.
You could even try the 'caveman method' during the day, and the ‘wind tunnel method’ at night (assuming it's safe where you live to keep multiple windows and doors open while you sleep).
3. Consider a cooling upgrade for your bed
This was actually a hack suggested by several Reddit users as well, but it's definitely a more expensive option.
Investing in cooling tech in the form of a cooling mattress pad or topper like the Chilipad Dock Pro or the Eight Sleep Pod 4 gives you the option to control the temperature of your bed without replacing your mattress altogether.
Both feature a cover (Eight Sleep Pod 4) or pad (Chilipad Dock Pro), a control hub and an app, and use water to cool and heat your bed (the Eight Sleep Pod 4 uses tubing and the Chilipad Dock Pro is a tubeless design).
Both offer dual temperature control (for the Chilipad Dock Pro this is only available on the 'We' sizes made for two people), which means each side of the bed can be set to a different temperature.
The Eight Sleep Pod 4 will automatically adjust the climate of your bed during the night to avoid you overheating (or getting too cold), while you can set the temperature and schedule changes throughout the night with the Chilipad Dock Pro, or upgrade to the AI-powered sleep tracker that can adjust the temperature during the course of the night.
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