Tips on How To Fall Asleep In The Heat:

As longtime readers know, I am obsessed with getting a good night’s sleep. As a result, I’ve hunted down every sleep hack I can over the years, both for myself and for my sleep-challenged offspring, all in the quest of a decent night’s sleep. But sometimes the circumstances that keep us from good sleep – like weather that’s too hot outside (or, for my fellow mamas in perimenopause, when it’s too hot INSIDE, if you catch my drift) – are beyond our control.

Add in little kids whose internal thermostats can’t self-regulate really well yet, and you’ve got a potential recipe for summertime disaster, in the form of cranky everyone who’s both hot AND sleep-deprived the next day. But there’s hope: Learning how to sleep when it’s hot outside requires a new level of sleep-hack skills, but there are things you can do to help your family sleep better tonight – even when it’s too hot outside.

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How To Fall Asleep When It’s Too Hot

Our bodies’ natural circadian rhythms – the 24-hour internal body clock that regulates everything from sleepiness and energy to hunger and digestion – have built-in temperature shifts to them. Our bodies tend to cool down as we approach bedtime, and then start to warm up again shortly before waking. When it’s too hot while you’re trying to sleep, your body will have a much harder time cooling down, which will keep you from getting the solid sleep you need.

Even when you can’t control the outside temperatures, there are plenty of things you CAN do to increase your chances of getting a decent night’s sleep in the heat of summer. As someone who grew up without air conditioning, and who still does plenty of family summer travel that involves sleeping in the heat, we can vouch firsthand for all of these tips.

1. Dress the part to fall asleep when it’s hot outside

First things first: super-hot weather requires a different approach to sleepwear, for all of us from infants to adults. Even my fleece-loving teens swap their cozy PJs for lightweight sleep shorts and camis or tanks for summertime sleep attire.

For infants and toddlers, whose bodies aren’t able to self-regulate temperature effectively, knowing what should babies sleep in when its hot (and toddlers too!) is especially important. Since babies should NOT have separate loose blankets in the crib with them (it’s a suffocation hazard), wearable blankets or sleep sacks are still the way to go. But rather than the fleecy or cotton knit ones you’d use at other times of the year, you want to look for a sleep sack with a much lower TOG (thermal overall grade) rating.

The higher the TOG value, the more warmth an item provides – so for hot summer nights, you need a baby sleep sack for summer. Specifically, look for a 0.5 tog sleep sack. Muslin 0.5 tog sleep bags are breathable and will keep your baby safe from the draft of fans’ air circulation, but provide just enough warmth to keep them cool and comfortable all night long. For kids too big for sleep sacks, consider muslin blankets or XL muslin swaddles as a quick extra layer, both at night and (for example) to block the sun’s window heat on summer car trips. (My kids still each have one in the back seat for exactly this purpose.)

For grownups (especially those mamas who are battling an internal thermostat that’s cranked too high, vs. the heat outdoors), thinking cool and breathable for summer sleeping is the way to go. I cannot say enough good things about breathable nightgowns for night sweats. The cool, wicking fabric is SO much more comfortable for sleeping than your standard cotton PJs, and it really makes a huge difference when you’re sweating at night. My husband, on the other hand, is a boxers-at-night kind of guy; in summertime, he swaps out his flannel and cotton options for cooling silk ones.

2. Dress your bed for how to sleep when it’s too hot outside

Once you’ve dressed yourself for hot sleeping, it’s time to dress your bed for the same. There are several things to consider:

Sheets: If your regular sheets are satin or polyester, you’ll sleep better in summer if you switch to either bamboo sheets or cotton percale sheets. Both sleep much cooler because of their breathability, but I personally think cotton percale is more comfortable (and stays cooler to the touch) than bamboo.
Top layers: If you’re regularly in a hot climate during summer without air conditioning, ditch your regular comforter, bedspread, and/or blankets for some more summer-friendly versions. We have a super-lightweight summer bedspread that we use. Besides summer-weight bedspreads and cooling comforters, there are even grownup-sized muslin “quilts” designed for cool summer sleeping.
Pillows, cases, and toppers: If it’s your head that still thinks your bed is too hot, check your pillow and consider different pillowcases. Although they didn’t work as well for me when I tested them, there are tons of cooling memory foam pillows on the market (as well as even cooling memory foam mattress toppers). I also recommend trying silk pillowcases if you haven’t before. I use silk pillowcases year-round for my curly hair (they’re super-friendly to both your skin AND your curls), but my silk pillowcases are also great for battling summertime heat.
What about camping? Forget about that heavy year-round sleeping bag. For comfortable summer camping, instead try a cooling silk or bamboo sleeping bag liner sheet and/or a lightweight fleece sleeping bag liner. Whether you choose one or both, just make sure you purchase liners that are up to multiple trips through the washing machine once you get home!

3. Think about air circulation when it’s too hot to sleep

If you can’t actually lower the temperature of the air where you sleep, and neither a heat pump with central air nor or a mini-split or window AC unit are options, getting the air moving is the next best thing. The air movement will encourage sweat evaporation to help cool you overnight.

As long as it’s cooler outside than it is inside (and ideally below 80 degrees F with humidity below 80% or so), strategic air movement can also help cool you by exchanging hot indoor air for cooler outside air. The easiest way to track this is with dual indoor-outdoor thermometers. My mama has one of these in her kitchen (first floor, east facing) and another in her bedroom (second floor, west facing) to help her track realtime conditions both inside and out.

Here are options to consider:

Window exhaust fans: While least effective in exchanging cool outer air for hot inner air (in my experience), window exhaust fans are better than nothing. If you only have one window per bedroom, look for dual intake/exhaust options that let you run one fan blowing cooling air inward while the other fan exhausts hot air to the outside. Classic box fans are noisier and require a larger window opening, but they can move more air faster and are also easier to move to elsewhere in the house during the daytime.
Pedestal fans are great for blowing air across you while you sleep, with or without an open window. If you’ve got two windows to open, positioning a pedestal fan in front of one will help with that cool-outside-to-hot-inside air exchange.
Ceiling-fan light fixtures require a little more investment upfront, but are so worth it. These were the first things we upgraded after we bought our current home, one bedroom per summer, taking advantage of Memorial Day sales and my husband’s basic electrical skills. In an afternoon, we had a new bedroom ceiling light plus fan that has kept each of our bedrooms cool ever since. These run much quieter than freestanding fans, and also effectively circulate air throughout the room even when windows are closed.
If you have a finished or partially-finished attic and outside temps usually dip below 80 degrees F at night, I can’t recommend a whole-house attic fan highly enough. This is definitely a call the pros job, but an attic fan is what still keeps my mama’s whole house cool and comfortable on hot summer nights. That hot-air-out, cool-air-in principle works on steroids with a whole house attic fan, which draws in cooler air from every open window and exhausts it through attic vents. As soon as outdoor temps drop below indoor temps on summer evenings, my mama throws open all the windows and turns on the fan, cooling her whole house in a matter of hours.

These rules also hold true when you’re camping:

Cabin or tent camping? The same principles apply. Ideally, you want to get hot air OUT and cooler air IN, so think multiple windows open, bedroom doors open for cross-ventilation between rooms, and/or flaps at both ends of the tent open to let air move through the screens.
When you’re stuck in a tent (or your kiddo is sweltering at sleepaway camp), there are also plenty of battery-operated fans you can set up next to where you’re sleeping, including clip-on varieties for kids in the upper bunk.

4. Prevention is key for how to sleep in the heat

Now that you’ve got the gear you need to cool your sleeping spaces when it’s too hot outside to fall asleep, it’s worth thinking what preventive steps you can take to help keep your body and room cooler to begin with.

There actually is a lot you can do to help keep your house cooler during the daytime. While upgrading to more energy efficient windows may not be in everyone’s budget, that’s a good place to start if yours are overdue for replacing (as ours were until we finally got the job done this past spring).

There is no substitute for keeping windows and doors closed throughout daytime hours in the summer. Every time you open a door, you let in heat; train your kids to get in and out as fast as possible, and be sure to close up every window in the house as soon as you get up in the morning. (If your kids are old enough, you can send them around the upstairs to do this job for you, as my brother and I used to do each summer morning growing up.)

But keeping doors and windows closed is just part of what you can do. We keep blinds and curtains closed in all our bedrooms throughout the summer. During the daytime, they help reflect the heat and insulate the indoors from absorbing too much heat during the hottest parts of the day. At night, we open them just enough to match open windows and/or fans in the windows. My mother has been known to keep insulating curtains all over her downstairs during summer, too. Her home is often so much cooler inside than outside that when friends stop by to visit, they often ask if she’s finally installed central air conditioning.

And while we’re on the topic of prevention, that goes for you and your family, too! Don’t forget that sunblock, and avoid being out in the sun as much as you can; nothing will keep your body hot all night like a fresh sunburn!

5. Quick sleep hacks when all else fails

So you’ve done all of the above and you STILL can’t get cool enough to sleep. Here’s what else you can try:

If you or your kiddos overdid it on the sun exposure, some OTC acetaminophen or ibuprofen can help take away some of the burn.
How has your hydration level been throughout the day? We sweat more when it’s hot out; and while sweating helps to cool the body, sweating without replacing these fluids will leave us dehydrated and less able to sweat. Have a glass of cool water or electrolyte drink.
Cool wet cloths on your skin – say, a facecloth across your forehead and eyes – can also help cool your face so you feel more comfortable.
Feeling hot and sticky before bed? Take a cool shower; you’ll feel so refreshed, and it will help to cool down your body.
Feel as if your whole body is overheated, or your kiddos complaining about being too hot? Try soaking in a lukewarm bath for awhile to lower your core body temperature. Or if you have access to a pool or lake, even a quick 5-10 minute dip can have the same effect.
In bed and STILL feeling too hot? Often when this is the case for me, I do a quick body scan and realize that it’s actually my feet that are too hot. When that happens, I go sit on the edge of the tub and run my feet under cold water for a few minutes, until my feet feel cooler. Once my feet are cool, it’s much easier for the rest of me to fall asleep.

Your turn:

What does YOUR family do to sleep better when it’s too hot outside? What hacks have you discovered that I missed? Let us know in the comments!

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