Struggling to sleep on holiday?
We often look to holidays to recharge our batteries, soak up the sun, relax and catch up on all of that sleep we often feel we’re lacking. Which makes it even more frustrating when actually a new environment has the opposite effect. Not only can a new environment affect your sleep, but often sharing a room with no escape can create it’s own issues!
Can't sleep on holiday? Here’s our sleep specialist Nick Witton with his top tips on getting a good night's sleep in a new environment
- Maintain your body’s natural rhythm
- What's a photon shower?
- Make your hotel room the perfect sleep sanctuary
- Alcohol and sleep
- Dealing with snoring
Maintain your body’s natural rhythm
Your body-clock (Chronotype) is your personal disposition to the time of day when you are most active and the time when you need to rest and sleep, and means that throughout the day, your ability to perform certain tasks and skills changes, as different hormones and alertness levels are present in the body. This means that we have our own ideal times of when they should eat, sleep, work and exercise.
When on holiday, try and live to your natural body clock. Rebalancing your hormones every morning and evening is key to reducing stress levels and improving sleep. Typically every evening, our ACTH, adrenaline and cortisol levels should subside and our melatonin, ghrelin, growth hormone and insulin levels should rise as part of the body’s natural preparation for sleep. So, don’t suddenly become a night owl on holiday if you’re naturally an early bird.
Take advantage of ‘photon showers'
A good morning routine is just as important as a good night team routine, so make sure you get as much daylight as possible in the morning. We call this having a ‘photon shower’- you can do this by simply having breakfast by a window or on a sunny balcony, or taking a walk by the sea (please be sure to wear sunscreen and take precautions in the heat)Can't sleep in hotel rooms? Make your hotel room the perfect sleep sanctuary
- Optimal bedroom temperature is between 16 and 19C, so use air conditioning if allergies allow to cool your room but try and get natural airflow where possible
- Tidy your bedroom - In a survey by the National Sleep Foundation, it was identified that those who make up their bed in the morning were 19% more likely to report regularly getting a good night’s sleep.
- Make sure the room is as dark as possible, use black out curtains and turn off all electronics with LED standby lights. Try using a sleep mask for a total black out experience
- Take advantage of clean sheets. If you have the option for a bedding refresh, take it. In a survey by the National Sleep Foundation, 75% said they get a better night’s rest when their sheets are freshly cleaned because they feel more comfortable.”
- And, Hydrate! Keep your water intake consistent throughout the day to help naturally regulate your body temperature
Don’t have air con? Here's some DIY ways to cool down
- Create your own air conditioning by placing a bowl of ice underneath your fan at night
- Pop some socks in the fridge; cooling your feet lowers the overall temperature of your skin and body
- Try using a hot water bottle full of cold water to cool down the bed
Alcohol
If you drink alcohol you might find that you consume more on holiday. No judgement… but here’s the sleep facts.
- Alcohol is a sedative and a stimulant which disturbs the body’s REM sleep stage
- Alcohol is a diuretic – which causes night-time trips to the bathroom
- It takes one hour to process one unit of alcohol
- It’s advisable to wait 2 hours to go to bed once you’ve processed alcohol in your system
So, your mid-afternoon Gin and Tonic will have less impact on your sleep than a glass of wine does in the evening.
Snoring
Snoring is frustrating in day to day life but can become more troublesome on holiday. Firstly we view holidays as the place to get proper R&R but we’re also usually confined to a hotel room with no option to take to the spare room!
How will Philips Sleep Headphones help with a snoring partner?
- Playing audio blocks external sound while simultaneously relaxing the mind
- AdaptiveAudioTM our groundbreaking feature detects when you fall asleep, drifts out your audio and replaces with white noise to stop disturbances in the night
- Our ergonomic sleeve design fits snuggly in your ears creating a seal to further reduce disturbances
- We’re the world’s thinnest headphones, designed for ultimate sleep comfort even for side sleepers. Our tech is housed in the control panel which sits at the nape of your neck so you’ll barely know you’re wearing them
You can shop Philips Sleep Headphones here - happy holidays!
