Are you ready for the summer season to begin? You don’t have to wait too long! The summertime officially gets underway on Thursday, June 20th. This time of year is generally a very exciting one for most Canadians. By now, we’re more than ready for a good stretch of warmth and sunshine. Older adults enjoy the summer just like everyone else. However, at night, it can make sleeping a little difficult.
As Senior Helpers points out, “the summer season, with its warm weather and extended daylight hours, can disrupt anyone’s sleep patterns. It’s especially challenging for seniors.” So what can be done to ensure good rest is achieved all summer long?
Here are four tips for seniors to get sound sleeps during the summer:
1. Keep the bedroom cool and dark.
If the heat is getting to you, it’s obviously wise to keep the room in which you’re sleeping nice and cool during the night. Use a fan or utilize your home’s air conditioning system to ensure you don’t overheat when under your sheets. It’s also a good idea to keep your bedroom dark as the sunlight goes well into the evening during the summer. It also gets pretty light outside early in the morning.
“Keeping the bedroom cool makes a real difference to how well we sleep,” notes the UK’s Mumby’s Live-in Care, “Close bedroom windows and blinds during the day to keep out the glare of the sun and prevent the room from heating up too much. Blackout blinds or curtains can help keep the room cool as well as reducing early waking due to the bright mornings.”
2. Develop a sleep schedule.
During the summer, it’s understandable to want to participate in a variety of fun activities. This can make it so that your days are longer and your bedtimes are later. It’s important, however, to try and stick to a regular sleeping routine. Doing so will promote more consistent sleep patterns.
“Too much deviation from a routine sleep-wake cycle can throw off their body clock and lead to sleep problems,” points out Senior Helpers, “Avoid heavy meals, caffeine, and naps close to bedtime, as these can also interfere with sleep.”
3. Get in some daily exercise.
There’s nothing like getting in some good exercise to make you sleepy at night. Of course, there are numerous health benefits to staying active. Among them is maintaining a healthy body weight and promoting better blood circulation. While seniors can benefit from these outcomes, daily exercise also helps to regulate the body’s clock. If you get too much rest during the day, you may not feel so tired at night.
“Some elderly people may struggle to sleep because their body clocks have become disrupted or because they spend a lot of time sitting down or resting during the day,” notes Mumby’s Live-In Care, “Getting out and about in daylight can help you sleep better at night because it re-sets your body clock. Activity can also help you to be more tired at night, helping sleep come more easily. If you have mobility issues, you could try chair exercises.”
4. Invest in a home hospital bed.
Home hospital beds allow individuals to increase their sleeping comfort by adjusting bed positioning with proper therapeutic mattress surfaces. To learn all about them, please don’t hesitate to call LifeCare Mobility Solutions at 416-267-9800 or email us at info@lifecaremobility.ca. You may also contact us by filling out the form on our Contact page!
