What to Do When You’re Too Hot to Sleep

In my younger days, all I needed for sleep was something approximating a pillow. (Ah, youth!) These days, I need a full suite of ideal sleeping conditions and an arsenal of specialized products to help me fall asleep and stay asleep through the night. That can make summer a particularly challenging time to manage a good night’s rest, when days are long, hot, and humid, leading to suboptimal sleeping environments.

Last summer was especially rough: I traveled with my family to southern Italy and France in the absolute peak season, and we stayed in Airbnbs with all the wrong qualities for sleeping in the heat: limited air conditioning, scratchy sheets, street noise, high humidity, and a stubborn lack of airflow. Beading with sweat and tossing and turning each night, I didn’t find it much of a vacation in the sense of rest.

I promised myself that when I got home — completely exhausted instead of refreshed — I would set myself up for a much more comfortable sleep situation in my own home, for when the weather got hot again. I’m happy to say that I’ve figured out what works. My bedroom now exhibits the ideal conditions to banish summer insomnia. 

Even if you’re not as sensitive a sleeper as I am, long days and sleep can make for a tough combination in the summer, when light is abundant and heat lingers into the night, even indoors. The good news is you can take several concrete steps to prevent heat from keeping you from sleeping. 

Read on for my hard-earned tips for how to sleep in summer, plus the science behind sleep tips for summer from Sleep Doctor Dr. Michael Breus.

Why It’s Hard to Sleep in Summer

It’s not just me (or you): It’s science! An array of summertime conditions can lead to poor sleep. Dr. Breus helps break down the challenges and the science behind each:

Temperature

The first and most obvious potential obstacle to sleep in the summer is the temperature in the room, which may be too hot. The ideal sleep temperature is about 65-68 degrees. (But this varies with factors including age. “As we get older, our subcutaneous insulation gets thinner,” Dr. Breus notes.)

Dr. Breus explains that sleep follows the core body temperature cycle, which rises and peaks at about 10 p.m., and then drops as a signal to the brain to release melatonin. If you’re in an environment that’s too hot, your body temperature doesn’t drop, which means your brain doesn’t get that signal. 

“Melatonin is kind of like the key that starts the engine for sleep, and it follows core body temperature,” he says. “So it’s best to sleep in a cool room because it’s the direction we want your body temperature to go.”

If the body is too hot, Dr. Breus’ recommends this cheap, easy method for cooling down for sleep: Freeze two bottles of water, put each in a tube sock, place one on one hip and one on the other hip. “It’s an old-school hack and it’s like having your own personal air conditioning unit,” he says.

Light

Along with the summer season come longer days, and these late stretches of daylight can be another potential obstacle to sleep. “Melatonin is called the darkness hormone, or the vampire hormone, and it can’t be produced in the presence of light,” Dr. Breus explains. So whenever there’s light in the room, it sends a message that the body interprets as a signal to hold off on releasing melatonin.

There are myriad options for blocking light at night that don’t place all the burden on your eyelids or involve migrating to the Southern Hemisphere in the summer. I’ll touch on those in a sec. 

Humidity

Humidity can spike in summer, and indoor humidity that’s too high can be another barrier to quality sleep. High humidity can cause sweating at night. And it can also invite allergens like mold and dust mites, which thrive in humid environments — and these can trigger increased symptoms of allergies or asthma.

Research suggests that the best relative humidity for sleeping is between 40 and 60 percent, and the Environmental Protection Agency recommends protecting air quality by keeping indoor humidity between 30 and 50 percent.

Air Quality

Hands down, the bedroom is “the room where the air quality should be the best, because it’s the room you spend the most time in, passively breathing,” Dr. Breus says. To that end, he recommends that all his patients get a room-size HEPA filter and run it constantly during summer months. 

He further advises opening windows occasionally to get some new air into the space, then closing them to use air conditioning and air filters.” He also notes that the beginning of summer is a great time for a reminder to change those air filters for the best air quality in the bedroom to help promote sleep.

Noise

Noise can make it hard to fall asleep and hard to stay asleep. It can be a particular challenge in the summer amid neighborhood parties — and even fireworks. To help combat sleep loss from noise, Dr. Breus recommends sound machines or other devices that specifically generate frequencies like white, pink, brown, and green noise. (“White noise isn’t going to fix your insomnia, but it might help if your bulldog snores and is sitting at the end of your bed,” he says.)

Psychology

Stress and a generally active mind can be a barrier to sleep, and summer — with its change in routines, travel disruptions, and other stressors — can come with its own set of psychological blocks to good sleep. 

One thing that won’t help — contrary to many people’s best intentions — is drinking alcohol with the intended goal of relaxing the mind to promote sleep. “During the summer, alcohol is probably the worst idea you could have for trying to help you sleep, because it raises your core body temperature,” Dr. Breus says. “And if you’re already in a hot environment, that just isn’t going to go well.”

Exercise

On the flipside, he says, “Exercise is the single best way to improve sleep quality — and the data on that is super solid.” 

There are multiple reasons at play here: First, physical exertion is good for the body. It leads to recovery, and sleep is part of that recovery process. It’s also good for mental health, and reducing stress is helpful to promote sleep.

Plus, the doctor says, “exercise is a circadian pacemaker, just like light.” So consistent daily exercise can help make it easier to fall asleep. 

So even if you’re inclined to move your body less with heat and humidity soaring outside, exercise (safe and indoors, if necessary) is an important daily goal that can help promote sleep. Try to do it on the early side, before the sun gets too brutal, or in the evening when it’s cooler. Dr. Breus says to try to stop exercising roughly four hours before sleep, though, so you don’t risk artificially increasing your body temperature before sleep. 

Hydration

Hot conditions can lead to dehydration, and that’s another obstacle to summertime sleep. Although researchers don’t exactly understand why hydration is important for sleep, some research has found that people who sleep less are also likely to be less hydrated. 

“I tell people all the time that the best thing that you could do for sleep is hydrate, hydrate, hydrate,” Dr. Breus says. “If your urine isn’t clear, you are not well hydrated. And during the summer, hydration is probably the best sleep-related goal you could have.”

He recommends trying to drink 80 ounces of water before noon (so you don’t have to wake up to use the bathroom), and following the 3-2-1 rule after that: Stop alcohol three hours before lights out, food two hours before, and all fluids one hour before.

Tips for Hot Sleepers

The good news is that each issue in this constellation of potential summertime sleep obstacles has a practical solution. Here’s what to do about the roadblocks to sleeping in the heat, based on my own experience and Dr. Breus’s top tips. (Most of these are easily doable, quick fixes, available under $200.)

If there’s too much light in the room …

Block it with a sleep mask. And I don’t mean a silky dainty pastel-colored thing, but rather a sleep mask made for performance with the capability to create the full blackout conditions necessary for long days and sleep. I swear by my Manta Sleep Mask. (The Sleep Doctor, too, says he’s a “big fan.”)

It does an impressive job of blacking out all the light in my bedroom, including blinking light from appliances, the glare of news from my husband’s screen, and security lights bleeding in from outdoors. It has fully adjustable eye cups so you can personalize the fit precisely to your face, doesn’t put any pressure on your eyes, and comes in multiple varieties. (Silk! Cooling! Bluetooth! Kids!)

If your brain is too active …

I’m an overthinker by nature, and those intrusive looping thoughts are sometimes at their loudest and loopiest when I’m trying to sleep. (Rude.) To help channel my thoughts away from my stresses and to-do lists, I swear by the Calm app. Specifically, at night I listen to the sleep stories. Some of my favorites are sleepy takes on The Great Gatsby and Walden. 

If your bedding is too warm …

Swap those sheets for a supremely breathable version in a fabric such as cotton, linen, or rayon. Luxome’s luxurious cooling sheets are made from viscose from bamboo, so they’re soft, silky, moisture wicking, and perfect for hot sleepers. (Deep, 17-inch pockets keep them snugly in place, too.)

If your pets sleep with you …

Pet bodies generate extra heat in the bed. Keep things cooler by encouraging them to sleep elsewhere, like in an enticing pet bed. This Saatva dog bed has responsive coils and a plush pillowtop that’s sure to tempt them into their very own bed and out of yours. (Full disclosure: I won’t kick my cat out of my bed for anything — my precious baby! — but I acknowledge the objective wisdom here. Do what works best for you.) 

If the air is stagnant …

Get a fan. My bedroom has a ceiling fan, similar to this Better Homes & Gardens ceiling fan, and it helps me sleep not just by circulating the air and cooling the room, but also by creating a soothing white noise. If a ceiling fan doesn’t make sense in your space, an oscillating fan like this highly rated Dreo pedestal fan does the trick just the same.

If your PJs make you sweat …

As someone who works from home, I consider my pajamas my work clothes as well as my sleep clothes, and I’m willing to invest in a great pair that keeps me cool and comfy in hot sleep conditions. Cozy Earth’s short-sleeve cooling pajama set is made from stretch-knit bamboo viscose to prevent night sweats, and has a drapey silhouette that resists bunching. (Plus, it has pockets!)

If it’s too noisy to sleep…

If summertime parties, fireworks, or other noisy disruptions pose a challenge, try a sound machine. Hatch’s Restore 2 has many features beyond soothing sleep sounds, including a gentle sunrise alarm (for when you’re actually ready to let light back in).

If you’re a hot sleeper ready to make a bigger investment for the sake of your sleep, you might want to take it a step further in an investment-worthy price category:

• A cooling mattress, like the Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe Cooling Mattress, is made to circulate maximum airflow and has a cover and foam that specifically promotes cooling.
• A room-sized air filter, such as the AirDog X3, eliminates 99.9 percent of particles and has a compact and streamlined silhouette.
• A dehumidifier, such as this Humsure dehumidifier, removes humidity from the air in spaces up to 1,500 square feet. This one even has a dedicated “sleep mode.”
• A bed-cooling system like BedJet. This device circulates cold air underneath you, and “can actually help lower your core body temperature, which can help with sleep,” Dr. Breus explains. “Menopausal women love this product because they find it helps them avoid hot flashes.”

Yes, summertime does pose many sleep challenges. But you can say goodbye to the swamp cooler and still set yourself up for a season of successful rest with the right sleep conditions and a few helpful tools.