With the sun shining brighter and the sky becoming clearer, the summer season brings a relaxed and excited feeling for everyone. This season also implies longer days, scorching heat, cute sandals, and numerous beach vacations. It also brings a number of enjoyable experiences and relaxed schedules. For instance, your kids get to set off to the pool every day on their bikes. You may even schedule a week of summer fun for your family including going for long walks while jumping over all the cracks. However, while you may enjoy basking in the sun by the poolside every day, you may experience changes that are not so enjoyable during the night when you’re sleeping. This season comes with longer days and hot temperatures during both day and night, which are likely to impact on the overall quality of your life. The following are common ways that the hot and humid weather can affect your sleep.
Humidity and Allergies
During the summer, the sweltering sun heats up the ground and evaporation occurs excessively, which makes the levels of humidity rise by a significant percentage. Such dampness creates a conducive breeding ground for dust mites and mold, which can potentially trigger allergic reactions. These allergies can adversely affect your sleep, and the ultimate solution would be to reduce the humidity levels using dehumidifiers in a bid to eliminate the allergens from your home. Also, during this season, flowers and other plants bloom and inject pollen grains into the air. These can lead to mild allergic reactions such as sneezing, coughing, itchy eyes and sniffling. All these can interfere with your sleep, which is where air purifiers come in handy; to reduce the number of pollens lingering in the air.
Longer Days, More Light
The extra hours of sunlight during the summer might be favorable for people who prefer spending time outdoors, but it can really mess your sleep. Depending on your sleeping schedule, there could still be light out there when you go to bed. Excessive light delays the release of melatonin, which could encourage your body to stay awake even when it’s way past your sleeping time. To combat this issue, you should block out the light from your bedroom with heavy curtains and blinds. Also, remember to set the alarm to remind you to head to bed at your regular sleeping time.
Warm Temperatures and Troubled Sleep
The quality of your sleep is drastically depleted when you keep tossing and turning throughout the night or when you stay too long before drifting into slumber. This mostly happens when the temperatures are too high. It can also be quite hard to fall back asleep when your body is overheated. The optimum sleeping temperatures are between 65 and 69 degrees. However, it can be quite difficult to maintain a conducive environment in your bedroom especially when the overall temperature outside is steaming hot. To rectify the issue, you can use lightweight blankets or run a fan to facilitate the circulation of air in your bedroom. You can also take a shower just before sleeping to bring down the temperature of your body by a significant percentage.
Summer and Vacation
While summer offers an excellent excuse to break from work and go for vacation, it can throw a wrench into your normal sleeping routine. The difference between the time zones in your home and the vacation destination coupled with the jet lag can temporarily disrupt your sleep for a couple of days or weeks. Besides, sleeping in a less comfortable mattress and in a place to which you’re unaccustomed are not the most nap encouraging conditions. You will, therefore, want to bring along your favorite pillow and stay as close as possible to your sleeping schedule during and after vacation.
Eating Late and Body Temperature
Summer times can wreak havoc on your entire schedule, and if you happen to eat late, you might end up having a hard time sleeping. Your body converts the food you eat into energy, which increases your metabolic rate. When this happens, you should expect your body temperature to rise drastically, making it difficult for you to drift into a slumber. Ideally, you should refrain from taking meals at least a few hours before you going to bed.
Noisy Neighbors
The warm temperature and the extended natural lighting make people want to enjoy more time outdoors. The downside manifests when your neighbors extend their joyfulness into the night at the time when you are busy trying to catch some sleep. While your heavy curtains might help to muffle the sounds, the noise might get louder and render your efforts to sleep futile. At this point, you should use earplugs or utilize white noise to filter out their merry. Also, avoid watching the television or staring at your phone’s screen lest you disrupt the quality of your sleep.
The summer season is a time to which most people look forward because it’s warm and largely facilitates your efforts to have a good time. The hot temperatures and sunshine can, however, impact on the quality of your sleep in different ways. Making simple alterations such as keeping your room cooler, decreasing the humidity levels and buying products that are specifically designed for this season like lighter blankets can protect you from summer fatigue, and more importantly, keep your sleeping schedule intact.