How Seasonal Changes & Weather Affect Sleep

As the seasons change, they can bring along a great number of things that can make it difficult to get great sleep. For spring, you get warm comfortable breezy days with allergies galore. While winters can be cold and dark which can make it difficult to wake up in the morning. We love the changing of the seasons, but it is good to know what to expect from each season in order to get your best sleep possible. Keep reading to discover How Seasonal Changes & Weather Affect Sleep along with a few tips on how can continue to get great sleep all year round.

Weather Changes & Sleep

Sleeping in The Heat of Summer:

Summer, for those who live in colder climates, it can be a warm and welcome relief from the winter chill. However, it can also be blistering and relentlessly hot.

Heat waves can lead to long sweaty nights. We tend to sleep better at night when it is a bit chillier than we like to be during the day. Which means a long hot summer day and night can make it feel impossible to sleep deeply.

While AC helps tremendously, we understand it is not always available. Especially if the power goes out.

We recommend lightweight bedding, breathable pajamas, and staying hydrated. A nice cool shower can help cool you down as well.

Looking for tips on how stay cool during the summer? Check out our post: Best Cooling Sleep Products For Hot Sleepers

How to Sleep Better During the Summer

• Blackout Curtains
• Stay Hydrated
• Breathable Bedding
• Cool Sleeping Mattress
• Cold Showers

Learn more about getting your bedroom ready for summer in our post: Summer Sleep Tips & Get A Summer Ready Bedroom

Sleeping in The Cold of Winter:

When winter takes hold, it can really affect every part of your life including sleep. Getting good sleep can sometimes feel a bit too easy in winter. That is if you are able to create a cozy warm sleeping environment. However, cold dark days can bring their own sleep complications.

Heaters can dry out your skin and airways. Making you uncomfortable and more susceptible to getting sick.

Using humidifiers, cuddling under warm blankets, and pajamas can all be great ways to make sure you stay nice and warm throughout the night.

Looking for ways to get your bedroom ready for the winter? Check out our post:11 Winter Sleep Tips & Get A Winter Ready Bedroom

How to Sleep Better During the Winter

• Light Alarm Clocks
• Humidifier
• Workout Regularly
• Layers of Bedding
• Heavy Winter Duvet

Seasonal Changes & Sleep

Summer Dehydration:

When the seasons change and summer starts to heat up, it can really dry you out. Long days in the sun can make you sweat and become quickly dehydrated. While we don’t often think about hydration and sleep, being dehydrated can cause a lot of issues that can make it difficult to sleep. Staying properly hydrated during those hot summer days is very important for your overall health and wellbeing.

Not only do you need to replenish water, but vitamins and minerals as well. We sweat out a lot of minerals and electrolytes that our bodies need in order to properly function. This includes telling our brains it is time to feel tired and get some sleep. Be sure to replenish your body and stay properly hydrated during the summer in order to keep getting great sleep.

Learn more about why hydration is so important for your sleep in our post: Sleep & Hydration

Seasonal Allergies

With all this talk about weather and staying warm or keeping cool in order to get great sleep. It could be easy to forget that even beautiful weather can bring with it its own version of sleep disruptions. Seasonal allergies can make it incredibly difficult to get the sleep you need.

Sneezing, wheezing, coughing, itching and many other symptoms can make it uncomfortable and very hard to sleep comfortably.

Finding ways to limit the amount of allergens that are entering your home and bedroom can be a great first step. Then of course talking to your doctor for the best way to treat seasonal allergies can also help keep you comfortable and avoid any severe reactions.

If you struggle to sleep well due to allergies, then you may enjoy reading our post: Allergies and Your Mattress

Flu & Cold Season

It comes around every year, flu and cold season. There is something about the cold weather that seems to bring with it illnesses. Whether you are dealing with the common cold, the flu, or even covid. It can be very difficult to get the sleep you need. Stuffy noses, scratchy throats, and even nausea can end up keeping you awake at night even when your body needs more rest than ever.

Sleep and health go hand in hand. In order to get great sleep, it is important to stay healthy. While good sleep is also a key ingredient to staying healthy. Click the link below to learn more about how sleep can impact your immune system.

Learn more about why you need sleep in order to stay healthy in our post: Sleep and Your Immune System

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and Sleep

If you have never heard of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) it is essentially seasonal depression that often comes around during the colder darker months. While we often focus a lot on what is going on in the body when it comes to how seasonal changes can affect your sleep, mental health can also play a big part in the overall picture.

The lack of sunshine and warm weather can really bring on a bought of depression for a lot of people. Depression and anxiety can make managing a healthy sleep schedule incredibly difficult. For many there is a battle to stay awake and alert, when all you want to do is lay in bed and rest. While for others it brings on intense insomnia. For some it can be a mixture of both.

Whether you are experiencing depression caused or increased by Seasonal Affective Disorder, or you are struggling with your mental health for other reasons. It is vital that you seek professional help. It is the best way to stay healthy. Remember, mental health is health. Be sure to take care of your body and mind.

Learn more about sleep and depression in our post: How to Sleep Better with Depression

A Change in Sunrise & Sunset

As the seasons change, so does the amount of daylight you get. This will obviously vary drastically depending on where you live on the planet. However, it can begin to make it difficult to go to sleep and wake up at the appropriate time in order to stay on track with your circadian rhythm.

Our circadian rhythm is naturally in tune with the sun and if you allow natural light into your bedroom in the mornings, your body will naturally want to rise with the sun. This makes waking up much easier and more natural in the summertime. Although, life does not halt in the winter any longer.

It used to be that in the winter you would hunker down when it was dark and cold outside. Unfortunately, modern lives with office jobs must continue even when it is cold and miserable out. Which means we must find other ways to wake up in the mornings even when the sun has not risen yet.

Learn more about how you can wake up in the winter with our post: The Best Winter Sleep Tips

Daylight Savings Time

Now you might think that this would be beneficial to your sleep, and it can be. However, daylight savings time can often throw off your circadian rhythm. Even something as small as a one hour shift in your schedule can really make a big difference in how you feel and sleep.

During the fall, it is much easier of an adjustment as you are adding an hour of rest to your night if you are going to bed at the same time you usually do. However, spring forward means you are getting one hour of less during the night or having to adjust to going to bed earlier than you are accustomed to. This can take some time for your body to adjust to.

While it may take a few weeks to get back on schedule, typically daylight savings does help you to get most of the daylight within typical hours in which you are awake. This will in general be beneficial to your sleep.

Click the link to learn how to Adjust Your Sleep During Daylight Savings

Severe Weather

Storms and severe weather can bring along with it difficulty to stay safe and get great sleep. Heatwaves and winter storms can both cause power outages. Not only can this make it difficult to stay comfortable, it can also be quite dangerous. Staying safe comes first, and then comes staying comfortable throughout the night.

Even heavy rain has the potential to disrupt your sleep. Thunder and lightening can startle you awake and give you a big jolt of adrenaline. Making it difficult to get back to sleep. For these nights we highly recommend using blackout curtains, sleep eye masks, and ear plugs or white noise machine. This will help to block out unwanted noise and light.

How Seasonal Changes & Weather Affect Sleep – Final Thoughts:

Spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter, we believe you deserve to get truly great sleep all year round. We hope that this information along with our tips and tricks help you to get your best sleep ever. (No matter how the seasons are changing) If you need help with product recommendations, tips on which duvet inserts to buy, or mattress reviews. Then be sure to check out our other articles to find me. Or contact us directly if you have any specific requests or questions.

If you have any questions or want to share your tricks on getting great sleep during weather changes feel free to Contact Us! We would love to hear from you and help you out in any way we can.