Ever found yourself staring at the ceiling at 3am, tossing
and turning several hours before your alarm is set to go off and you cannot get
back to sleep?
Here is what you should do (and should not do) for the
dreaded early morning waking.
Don’t force yourself back to sleep
No one sleeps for a solid 8 hours. We sleep in roughly 90
minute cycles and around 3am we are in lightly stages of sleep when it is
easier to wake up. Often we wake for a trip to the bathroom, but rest assured
that most people are waking around this time. The difference is whether we can
easily fall back to sleep. Most of us do not have a sleep problem, instead we
have a problem quietening our minds so we can fall back to sleep.
The biggest mistake is to look at your phone. As soon as you
see it is 3am, you will have negative thoughts associated with inadequate sleep
“I’m going to be so tired in the morning” … “I need to get back to sleep” …
“how am I going to cope at work” … “It is easy to catastrophise about anything
and everything and soon we are wide awake and in no state to sleep. Don’t try
to fall asleep. Lying very still with your eyes tightly shut will not induce
sleep.
Instead get out of bed, go to another room and do something
relaxing until you feel sleepy again. Keep the lights low or off, listen to a
podcast or sleep story, try some mediation or deep breathing or do some gentle
yoga. Avoid the lure of your phone.
Why can’t you fall back to sleep?
The next step is to understand why you are having trouble
falling back to sleep.
Alcohol – drinking alcohol causes disruption to the normal
sleep pattern particularly in the second half of the night. As you get older
you are more susceptible to the effect of alcohol causing overnight waking. The
festive season especially can play havoc on our sleep.
Caffeine – 1 or 2 cups of coffee before midday should not
interfere with sleep but there is genetic variation in our ability to tolerate
caffeine. You may need to adjust your intake and see what impact this has.
Resist an after-dinner coffee.
Menopause – sleep problems are very common for women in
their 40s as the level of oestrogen in the body drops. This may cause night
sweats or disrupted sleep and mood changes. If you have noticed changes to your
menstrual cycle and poor sleep, talk to your GP about oestrogen therapy.
Pain – chronic pain and other medical conditions can make
sleep difficult. Ensure you talk to your GP or specialist about this.
Bedroom environment – the ideal environment for sleep is a
bedroom that is dark, cool and quiet. You may need to lower the temperature in
your bedroom, buy a lighter doona or window coverings that block out all light.
If noise is a problem, try ear plugs or use background noise such as a fan or
try an app to provide a soothing sound of rain.