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Healthy LivingLifestyleTop tips for improving your sleep
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Top tips for improving your sleep

live well be healthy Get a good night's sleep with this advice from Dr. John Marsden and Alison Dillon, authors of Live Well...Be Healthy, (BBC Books, £12.99)

  • Ventilate your bedroom and keep it cool. Your body temperature needs to drop for you to fall asleep.

  • Have an evening hot bath or shower. But make sure it's only up to an hour before bedtime.

  • Try out a lighter, seasonal duvet. It's a good idea to stop yourself getting too hot during the night.

  • Keep your bedroom dark. Light inhibits the production of your sleep hormone, melatonin. Try investing in a thick curtain lining.

  • Take plenty of time getting ready for bed. This will enable your mind and body to have a good chance to unwind before you try to go to sleep.

  • Monitor your daily caffeine intake. Avoid any coffee and tea after 9 p.m. Bear in mind that unless herbal tea specifically states it's caffeine-free, it may not be. Carbonated soft drinks, flu remedies and chocolate also contain caffeine, so avoid these just before bedtime.

  • Reduce your weekly alcohol and cigarette intake. Nicotine is a stimulant, so a cigarette just before bed won't help matters.

  • Don't eat within one or two hours of bedtime. Eating stimulates your digestive system and metabolism, which means your body will wake up.

  • Do take exercise, but not too near bedtime.

  • Consider trying out a new mattress and pillow.

  • Try ear-plugs if your environment is excessively noisy.

  • Try a relaxation technique. If you take more than 30 minutes to get off to sleep, try some deep breathing.

  • Don't just lie there. If you still can't sleep after 30 minutes, get up, do something else and then try again. Lying in bed unable to sleep for ages will induce anxiety.

  • Take a short nap. If you're so tired during the day that you need to take a nap, limit it to 20 minutes - any longer and you could affect your chances of sleeping that night.

  • Bring your baby to bed. If you're a new parent and your baby is keeping you awake, you could try bringing your baby into the bed with you during the night. However, make sure the baby sleeps on its back and be cautious about the risk of accidental smothering if you're extremely tired. Studies have also shown that if parents smoke or drink heavily, babies who sleep with them are at increased risk of SIDS (cot death), so bear this in mind.

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