Ah, sleep . . . you elusive, fickle anomaly.   For most women, sleep struggles are one of the most common uninvited guests to the party of perimenopause and menopause.  Some struggle with falling asleep.  Most struggle with staying asleep.  Our plight is compounded by the endless reminders of the importance of sleep for our physical and mental well-being.  Sleep is one of my favorite topics to research, so in the coming weeks I’ll be sharing many articles on what I’ve learned.  Today I’m kicking things off with how to create a Sleep Environment to Elevate the quantity and quality of our sleep.

Temperature of our Bedroom       

I’ve heard for some time that the ideal temperature for sleeping is 65 degrees.  Some experts even say between 60-65 degrees.  That sounds great to me, since I run hot . . . and “glowy” . . . okay I’ll just say it – I’m a sweaty gal.  Now that we live way up in the mountains at 9300 feet, getting that cool sleeping temperature with no AC is super easy.  We just open the windows in the summer and keep the heat dialed low in the winter.  When we lived in Texas, it was a different sweaty story.  We had an AC zone dedicated to our bedroom, but setting it to 65 at night got expensive, and those Texas summers are LONG and HOT!  It was rough.

Of course, we can’t discuss the importance of a cool sleep environment without addressing the big ole elephant in the room . . . Night Sweats.  Night sweats are a form of hot flashes, aka – vasomotor symptoms, associated with fluctuations in estrogen levels.  Decreased estrogen levels can affect the hypothalamus (the portion of the brain that controls thermoregulation – aka – the body’s thermostat).  These estrogen dips are believed to cause the hypothalamus to become hyper-sensitive to slight fluctuations in body temperature.  As a result, the hypothalamus reads these fluctuations and thinks our bodies are too hot, causing it to trigger the body’s cooling mechanism sweat . . . lots of sweat.  Think about when you have a fever, and the fever finally breaks; you sweat. 

Okay, Sweaty Girls Unite!  I’ve got you! Read on.

If you sleep with a partner, keeping the bedroom temperature cool may require some negotiation.  I run hot, and my husband runs cold.  He gets as many extra blankets as he wants.  Don’t worry – he’s FINE!  He has a nice life! This sweaty gal needs her cool (okay, cold) sleep environment.

Interestingly enough, there is a biological reason (beyond avoiding sweat) for why we sleep better at cooler temperatures. (My inner science geek is rejoicing at this!)  We’re all familiar with Melatonin. Let’s be clear.  It’s not just a supplement to support sleep! Melatonin is a hormone that is produced in my favorite part of the brain called the Pineal Gland, which is a cute, tiny gland that serves one purpose – making our favorite sleep hormone.  How could we not love this little guy?!?  It turns out that the release of melatonin triggers our hypothalamus (that thermostat I talked about above) to lower our core body temperature by as much as 2 degrees at night.  This cooler core temperature allows our bodies to reach slow-wave sleep, which is that deep restorative sleep we’re all chasing.  A cooler sleep environment supports that cooler core temperature.  If our room is too warm, we can’t maintain that lower core temperature, and we’re more likely to remain in the lighter stages of sleep –  or worse – repeatedly wake up.

Aside from lowering the heat in the winter and blasting that AC in the summer, we can do a few more things to help keep our core body temperature lower.  Pointing a fan directly at us can help boost the effect of AC.  Choosing the right PJ’s helps a lot.  I sleep in super light t-shirts and sleep shorts even in the dead of winter.  I also think the right bedding has made a huge difference for me. 

Bedding to Help Us Keep our Cool

I know some of us have very strong opinions on sheets. I was devoted to cotton sateen for a long time, but a couple of years ago, after talking to a few friends, I decided to try the Cozy Earth Bamboo sheets.  You may have heard of these because Oprah raves about them.  I was very hesitant.  I had tried other bamboo sheets in the past and wasn’t a fan.  I felt they locked in heat, and they eventually pilled.  No bueno!  My friends assured me that the Cozy Earth bamboo sheets were different and far superior.  So, I made the investment, and OH MY – they’re amazing!  Extremely soft and light and kind of silky and buttery, but not too silky.  They breathe incredibly well.  They wash perfectly.  Ours get washed weekly and put right back on the bed and they are holding up beautifully.  One friend who recommended the Cozy Earth sheets has had the same washing/using pattern for 9 plus years, and they’re still in perfect shape.

Click Here for a link to Cozy Earth Sheets and get Black Friday Pricing!

Additionally, we have a cooling mattress cover.  The one in our bedroom came with our mattress, but I bought this one for both of our guest beds and have had great reviews from my girlfriends who’ve slept there.  Their partners have liked them, too, but let’s face it – for ladies prone to night sweats, those are the opinions that matter!

Click Here for Link to Cooling Mattress Pad

When I bought my Cozy Earth Sheets, I also bought this bamboo quilt/blanket.  It’s light enough that we use it all summer, but it’s also a nice weight for winter.

Click Here for link to Cooling Bamboo Blanket

Most importantly, the cooling bamboo blanket works well paired with my very favorite solution for night sweats . . . Drumroll Please!

The Single Biggest Game Changer to Improving my Sleep Environment:  My Bed Jet. 

My friends and family will tell you I am OBESESSED with my Bed Jet.  I stumbled upon this miracle about 10 years ago when one too many miserable, sweaty nights led me to search on Amazon for “bed cooling device” – lol. I’ve had it for 10 years, and to say I’m in love with it is an understatement.  I’m seriously considering buying a second one to have on hand should my TEN-year-old Bed Jet cross over the rainbow bridge. (Insert my panic-stricken face here).

Click here for a link to my Bed Jet

I’m going to tell you how it works, and I’ve included a video a little further below so you can see it in action.

The bed jet is a unit that lives under the bed with a hose that connects to a special double-layer sheet, called the Cloud Sheet.  It blows air into the inside of the sheet, so the air is not blowing directly on you; it is circulating inside this double-layer sheet.  You’ll see in the video that this sheet actually blows up with several inches of circulating air. 

It has a remote-control (or it can connect to your phone) to allow you to set timers for how long you want it to run in the Cool or Warm setting.  One thing to point out is that the Bed Jet is not an actual air conditioning unit.  (ACs need to have a way to drain condensation and that could be a big, high-maintenance mess.) In cooling mode, the Bed Jet can only go as cool as the ambient air temperature in the room, but I have found that even if the room temperature is warmer than the ideal 65 degrees, the bed jet feels nice and cool because of that circulating air.  In heating mode, it can go as high as 109 degrees! 

No need to worry that the Bed Jet will be too noisy! It has a very soft fan sound that is barely detectable.

Here’s a little video of how the Bed Jet works:

Here’s a photo of the Bed Jet unit that lives under the bed and plugs into a regular wall outlet:

And a few photos to show that the Bed Jet doesn’t have a big impact on the appearance of your bedroom:

Even in heating mode, the air circulation keeps me dry and comfy. Think about it – circulating air inside your sheets keeps your sheets DRY!! I find that in the winter, I’ll turn it on high heat for just about 10 minutes to take the chill out, but then I lower it down to between 76 and 78 for sleeping.  The warmer bed-jet sheet combined with a very cool room temperature is just the right winter sleeping combination for me.

You just read about how much I love my Cozy Earth sheets.  Even though the Cloud Sheet that comes with the bed jet is quite soft, I like having my Cozy Earth sheets as the layer up against my skin.  So here’s how I layer:

• Below me, I have my Cozy Earth fitted sheet on top of my cooling mattress pad.  
• On top of me, I have my Cozy Earth flat sheet, then the Bed Jet Cloud Sheet, then my quilted bamboo blanket.  This works like a charm!

You can even get the Cloud Sheet with a seam down the middle if your sleeping partner “doesn’t want all that air on their side”.  I bought that sheet.  Still use it.  But guess who wishes he had the air on his side, too?  Yep. (Again – don’t worry about him – he’s FINE and has a nice life!)

Does my Bed Jet make me an extremely high-maintenance sleeper?  Umm, Yes.  Yes, it does. Has it ruined all other beds for me?  Pretty much.  I am not a paid spokesperson for this little miracle bed cooling device, but if the Bed Jet people are reading this, I’m ya girl!

Happy Cool Sleeping, Friends!  And if you have any other tips to help us sweaty gals keep our cool, please share them in the comments!

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