Hacking a Good Night's Sleep
A COMFORTABLE MATTRESS
The next thing we did was order a new bed. Not everyone can just click and buy a new bed, but if you are in the market for one I highly highly recommend The Casper Mattress (if you click this link, you will save $50 off your order!). We have been hearing about the mattress from friends, podcasts, and after we realized it was time to upgrade not only the quality, but the size, we went for a king. I am not exaggerating when I say it is the most comfortable, cool, bed I have ever been privileged to sleep on. Every time we travel, I feel a little sad to leave our bed! And after our most recent weekend trip, I could feel my husband toss and turn on the hotel beds, which I never feel at home with our Casper. There is so much more I could go on about this bed...!
ELIMINATE NOISE
Whenever there is noise beyond our control, we always reach for a white noise app we discovered when our daughter was born called Sound Sleeper App. It has sounds of rain, a fan, the ocean, even fire crackling. The free version will allow 30 minute intervals of white noise sounds at a time, while the paid version allows continuous play overnight. This has been especially helpful when we were in a hotel in Massachusetts and wanted to watch action movies while our little one was asleep in the same room, or most recently, when we stayed in a hotel that also had a (very loud) wedding band playing during bedtime.
LEARNING MORE
Sleep is how our our whole body-mind-soul restores every night, and insomnia is so common. I still struggle with it, especially after lots of travel or during a stressful moment. I hope some of these tips can help you and your family get more rest! We all know that when we sleep we are so much more patient, understanding, and joyful.
Some other resources you may want to check out is a book called The Power of When by Dr. Michael Breus, Arianna Huffington's Sleep Revolution, and either the Sleep Cycle app or if you have the iOs 10 update, the new alarm clock has a sleep cycle alarm you could try out. I also try to limit screen time by not checking my phone after my nighttime shower, drinking a warm cup of tea. According to Dr. Michael Breus, a hot shower cools the inner body temperature, making the body ready for sleep, so nighttime showers have coincidentally been very relaxing for me, and now I know why!