Can't Sleep?

Recently I have been having trouble getting good quality sleep at night. Either I can’t fall asleep, or I find myself waking up a couple times during the night. I did a search on the Mayo Clinic’s website and found some better sleep tips, and I decided to share them with you.

- Go to bed and get up at the same times everyday, even on weekends. Sticking to a schedule will help program your body to know when to sleep and when to be awake.
- Don’t eat or drink large amounts before bedtime. This will help you avoid things like heartburn or trips to the bathroom interrupting your sleep.
- Avoid nicotine, caffeine and alcohol in the evening. These are all stimulants that can keep you awake. With caffeine it may be necessary to avoid it 8 hours prior to your bedtime in order to give your body time to eliminate the stimulant and its effects.
- Exercise regularly. Just don’t exercise right before bed, give yourself about 3 hours between your workout and bedtime.
- Make your bedroom cool, dark, quiet and comfortable. You shouldn’t have to battle your surroundings to fall asleep, setup the environment you need to be able to fall asleep.
- Limit naps. Daytime napping can cut into your nighttime sleep, so if you nap keep it to a half an hour.
- Choose a comfortable mattress and pillow. Make sure they are what is right for you.
- Start a relaxing bedtime routine and make it something you do every night as you prepare for bed. This may be things like a warm shower or bath, some reading, listen to some calm and soothing music, etc.
- Go to bed when you’re tired. If you don’t fall asleep in 15-20 minutes get up and do something. If you lay there agonizing about not falling asleep it will only make things worse. Occupy yourself and go back to bed when you feel tired.

If you are having sleep problems 3 nights a week or more you should see your doctor. You may have sleep disorder that your doctor can help you with. I hope these are some helpful tips, this is one blog posting that I actually hope will put you to sleep!