The sleep edit: 12 tips to improve sleep

I’ve slept like a log my whole life, until I reached menopause. Now I can’t sleep a whole night through; I wake at least twice a night. I’ve heard that insomnia during and after menopause is an evolutionary tool – because the grandmothers were expected to guard the cave entrance all night so that the parents could sleep.

So I’m guarding the cave entrance from wild animals – which sounds a lot more glamorous than tossing and turning all night.

Sleep is good for you

There was a time when not sleeping was seen as cool. Margaret Thatcher famously only slept five hours a night. Madonna would say ‘you can sleep when you are dead’. But Thatcher ended up with dementia and other health problems, possibly caused by years of not enough sleep (and the sheer relentless stress of being prime minister for a decade). Madonna doesn’t exactly look healthy either which leads one to believe that being driven and ambitious may not be good for your health.

On the other hand sleeping too much can also be a sign of poor health and depression. Although teenagers do need an awful lot of sleep. I remember being able to sleep till two in the afternoon no problem when I was that age. I wasn’t lazy. I needed it.

What is sleep?

Here is an interesting article on deep sleep. Sleep is divided into stages, non-REM and REM. This stands for Rapid Eye Movement. REM sleep is when you dream. I rarely remember my dreams, but when I do dream, I find I’ve slept better. Strangely, I’ve never had a nightmare.

How to sleep better:

1. Buy a good mattress. This is essential. I was recently sent a Simba mattress. It’s firm yet soft at the same time. It comes in a box, vacuum-packed for portability. Once you put it on the bed, it takes a few hours to properly expand to the eventual springiness, but you can sleep on it within two hours.
2. Have cotton or linen sheets and covers. Changing that bed linen regularly, at least once a week, is important. I always sleep better the first night in clean sheets.
3. A good pillow. I have an anti-snore pillow. I used to have lots of feather pillows but have found I sleep better with just one firm foam pillow like this one from Simba. It turns out I have allergies. I have just replaced my feather duvet with a three season duvet which is two clipped together, a spring and an autumn. I’ll report back. I like a duvet to be slightly larger than the bed. When it hangs down either side it has a more luxe look.
4. Sleep hygiene – I can’t do this. I live alone and I need my phone and my laptop near me. Recent reports suggest that the sleep hygiene thing isn’t real anyway.
5. A pillow spray – this does help. Some lavender oil sprayed on your pillow for instance.
6. Supplements: during my pregnancy, I realised I had a lack of magnesium. This also affects sleep so I’m going to try taking more magnesium.
7. A bath in the evening relaxes your muscles. Especially if you’ve been physically active during the day. One of the modern problems of sleep is we aren’t moving enough. We are tired but not properly physically tired. But, that said, you know you have a problem when you’ve been active all day and still cannot sleep.
8. Darkness. I recently installed cheap black-out blinds. Not having a dark room can affect your fertility. It’s why we feel less sleepy in summer. Once I was in the Shetland Islands during the ‘simmer dim’ , midsummer. It only got dark for a couple of hours. I felt jittery.
9. Stop caffeine. I don’t think caffeine affects me too much but from about 6pm I switch to rooibos and herbal tea. No coffee.
10. Cotton nightclothes. Once you go through menopause, what nobody tells you is that you won’t wear a polo neck for a decade. Thin cotton nightdresses or pyjamas are the thing. I got my dad these pyjamas at Desmond and Dempsey. If it’s really hot, wear ‘Australian pyjamas’- which is nightwear rinsed in cold water. This will keep you cool for several hours.
11. A cold bedroom is essential for me. In winter I’d rather a cold room and a decent duvet. If the heating is on during the night, I get a blocked nose. I think ventilation is an important aspect of good housing, one of the reasons I avoid double glazing, even though it’s the new eco green thing to do. In summer I use a fan. Buy them at Christmas, when nobody is thinking about fans. (Ditto for buying coats in summer). I bought my metal retro fans in the sale in the New Year sales.  Eventually I will invest in ceiling fans, to get that ‘Raffles’ Singapore look.
12. Mattress protector and electric blanket: for winter, I’ve taken to using an electric blanket and a cosy mattress protector, especially now I rarely put on the heating due to the energy crisis.

What tips do you find work? My menopausal readers, did you find sleep got worse?

(This piece has affiliated links. The products I recommend I have not been paid to promote and have tried personally.)