9 Steps for Better Sleep Over 40
Do you have trouble sleeping? You are not alone. Many women over the age of 40 notice increased sleep interruptions, trouble falling asleep, and difficulty staying asleep. This is related to both our fluctuating hormone levels and the amounts of stress in our lives. I will get right to the point. How can you improve your sleep–from easiest to hardest (or more complicated).
I will label these methods “easy” and “hard” because the first requires simple environment modifications, or trying a supplement–and the latter needs to have a bit more “buy-in” from you, dear reader. You will need to make a lifestyle change—and lifestyle changes are hard. You need support for this most likely–especially if you share a home, a bedroom, and/or a bed with other people.
So let us begin with the big easy. These will be creating a sleep routine, darkening and cooling off and possibly quieting your bedroom, removing or eliminating your phone and other devices from your bedroom, and possibly adding melatonin, magnesium or an evening drink like warm Golden Milk before bed.
The more difficult changes will be eliminating things like caffeine, alcohol, and any other stimulants, eating earlier in the day, not having evening snacks, exercising more or beginning to exercise, and reducing stress and anxiety.
Create A Sleep Routine
Create a Sleep-Promoting Environment
Banish Your Phone From The Bedroom
Try a Sleep Supplement
Eliminate Caffeine, Alcohol, And Any Other Stimulants
Be Sure You Are Eating Your Last Meal At Least 2-3 Hours Before Bedtime
No More Evening Snacks
Create an Exercise Routine, or Change your Exercise Routine
Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Allow me to break this down a bit more for you.
How To Create A Sleep Routine
Just like you would do for a small child–creating a sleep routine is a great way to pave the transition from daytime activities to nighttime ones. Decide when your bedtime will be, and try to stick to it for at least a week or two. You should aim for at least 8 hours of sleep every night–of course you may function well on more or less–so I offer that suggestion merely as an idea. But say you want to wake daily at 6am to get a child off to school or walk the dog, then aim to get to sleep by 10PM every evening. Try to begin your evening sleep routine or ritual about an hour before bed. Put your phone to sleep in another room, turn down the lights, perhaps you want to take a shower or a warm bath before bed. Try using essential oils like lavender if you find that relaxing. Prepare yourself even more for slumber by washing your face and putting on comfortable breathable pajamas. Perhaps reading a book or something relaxing before bed would also be worked into your evening routine. Other elements like a warm herbal tea, warm milk–or golden milk–recipe linked here–would be a nice element to add to your nighttime ritual. And then–once you have decided on your bedtime–stick to it!! Make sure you are between the covers with the lights out at that same time each evening while you create your routine.
Create a Sleep-Promoting Environment
This is what I mentioned above with the darkening, cooling off, and noise elimination. This requires some work–yes–but not as much as changing your entire diet. You will want to invest in room darkening shades or drapes if you do not have any yet. You will also want to consider what your room temperature is–especially if you wake with night sweats or have waking due to your overheated body temperature. Turn down the thermostat in your room to 66-68 degrees for sleeping–and if it's summer, make sure your AC is set to that temperature or lower. Many women love to sleep with a fan on them–not only for the cooler temperature–but also for the noise. White noise like a fan can help to mask other noises outside or inside of your home–like teenagers, or partners staying awake to watch TV late into the night, neighboring homes or apartments if you live in a city environment–cars, buses, or trains, or nighttime and early morning birds and critters if you live outside of the city. A white noise machine can be helpful–and earplugs are an essential for sleep if you have a snoring partner or are disturbed by any of the noises mentioned previously.
Banish Your Phone From The Bedroom
A phone is the most distracting thing–please try to remove it from your sleep sanctuary! Get an alarm clock and rely on that to wake you if using your phone is the excuse for needing it in the bedroom. If you have to have your phone close by in case of an emergency–turn it on high and set up your emergency contacts–setting your phone to go off at this very loud setting only for certain people in your life–and continue to keep your phone in another room. And sleep better without the disturbance of your dinging phone reminders.
Your walk in closet, your bathroom, or even a drawer in your kitchen or office is a great place for your phone–and you will start to sleep better without the interruption–I swear!!
Try a Sleep Supplement
Many women (and men even!) swear by a magnesium supplement before bed. I use a brand called Calm–which is very clean and is in a form that is put into warm water and drunk before bed. Another supplement many people use is melatonin. Though melatonin is not supposed to be habit forming–I would consider trying this as an occasional option when it seems to be really difficult to fall asleep. I have also heard that valerian is helpful for promoting sleep. Other drinks that can promote more sleep are camomile tea, golden milk, and yes, even plain warm milk if it doesn't bother your tummy.
And now onto the harder things…take these one step at a time, and know that you can do anything with proper support.
Eliminate Caffeine, Alcohol, And Any Other Stimulants
This is a tough one. You can possibly save this for last if you are very attached to your coffee and wine–but they may well be the culprits that are stealing precious hours of sleep from you each evening. You can try experimenting with eliminating coffee, alcohol and sugar from your diet for at least two weeks and see if you notice a difference in your sleep over this time period. You can then try to have a cup of coffee and see if it affects your sleep that evening–and if it does–you know you may need to break up for good. Same with wine. Alcohol may help make you sleepy and relaxed–but it is almost guaranteed to wake you all hours of the night and keep you up for hours–staring at the ceiling. Sugar is also a very addictive and stimulating food additive. Eliminating sugar –especially processed sugar will allow your organs to rest and restore and has a host of benefits–and one of them is better sleep.
Be Sure You Are Eating Your Last Meal At Least 2-3 Hours Before Bedtime
Digestion can be a challenge for your body. Don’t overtax your system by eating a large, rich meal right before bed. Eating rich, heavy foods, and desserts close to bedtime can challenge your blood sugar levels as well as your digestion–creating gas, bloating, and abdominal pain. This obviously will inhibit your sleep schedule. Try to eat your largest meal in the middle of the day–and eat something simpler as your final meal of the day–well before your sleeping hours.
No More Evening Snacks
For all the same reasons as eating your last meal 2-3 hours before bedtime as above–you will want to avoid eating late night snacks, particularly sugary desserts–which many of us crave. Snacking also leads to weight gain, and will slowly add pounds over time. Eating snacks may wake you or keep you up later than you would like.
Create an Exercise Routine, or Change your Exercise Routine
Lack of exercise or even too much stimulating exercise too late in the day can interfere with your sleep pattern. Sometimes we need more exercise to sleep better–as our serotonin production and endorphins will increase if we get some exercise–and this could help us to sleep. Alternatively–if you exercise too much or too hard–this could potentially cause more stress hormone–called cortisol–which yes, you guessed it, can make it harder for you to get a good night’s sleep.
Reduce Stress and Anxiety
This is a whopper–probably one of the items on this list that you will never completely stop working on. Stress and Anxiety are always going to keep us up at all hours of the night. The best things we can do are to work on the amounts of stress we feel or experience, and try to reduce the stress around things we can control–like unnecessary drama, work woes, and relationships that don’t serve us. Activities like yoga, meditation and breathing practices can help to reduce your stress levels.
These are the top 9 tips I have for improving your sleep. Employing all of these will surely help you sleep better .
Try one or two first to see if that helps–and if you decide to try all of them–it certainly won’t hurt you. In fact, sleep is one of the most important things you can do to improve your general health.
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