For most, the warm spring and summer days are long gone —the winter season is now upon us. As colder weather greets us, this time of year can wreak havoc on our sleep patterns and quality.
Whether you’re traveling for the holidays, staying in, or patiently waiting for summer to arrive, it’s important to understand how this time of year can affect your snooze. Proper sleep depends on aligning your sleep habits with the changing seasons.
The Science of Winter Sleep
Winter sleep patterns are influenced by the body’s natural response to the changing seasons. Our circadian clock adjusts accordingly as the days get shorter and the nights get longer. Research indicates that humans experience longer REM sleep in the winter compared to the summer, with an average increase of about 30 minutes.
This is largely due to the increased production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep, during winter. Understanding these changes can help you adjust your sleep habits to better align with your body’s seasonal sleep needs.
Related Blog: Learn how to naturally increase REM sleep duration and improve your overall sleep quality.
Embrace Winter Sleep: Conquer Cold Nights and Wake Refreshed
Experience deeper sleep with our Chilipad Dock Pro. It allows you to create the perfect sleep temperature and wake up refreshed, even on the coldest winter nights.
Why Am I So Tired in the Winter?
During winter, our natural circadian rhythms are disrupted by changing light conditions, leading to increased melatonin production and a greater need for restorative sleep. This means individuals might require more sleep to compensate for poorer quality rest during this season.
Below are some ways that a cold and long cooler season can affect your sleep and make you tired.
Lack of Exercise
Do you go into hibernation during the winter season? We tend to have low energy levels and encounter winter fatigue, making us feel sluggish during winter, and making it more difficult to want to exercise.
Regardless, it’s important to make that extra effort to get to the gym a few times a week or go for evening walks. This will, in turn, help you fall asleep at the right time and sleep better at night. Lack of exercise can also lead to sleep difficulties.
Change in Eating Habits
With colder days and the holidays, it’s easy to get caught up in the season’s excitement. From visiting with loved ones near and far to enjoying delicious food, the holidays are something most look forward to year-round.
Foods associated with the holidays are often full of sugar, dense carbohydrates, and fattening ingredients. These foods can affect one's appetite and metabolism and interfere with the balance of a hormone called leptin, which is known to influence one's sleep cycle.
Adding insult to injury, a disrupted sleep cycle can also influence your appetite, causing you to eat more “holiday-dense” foods or food in general. This can make you sleep more in the winter. Maintaining a balanced diet can contribute to a good night's sleep.
Lack of Sunlight and Seasonal Affective Disorder
Between daylight savings time and the time surrounding the winter solstice, the days are shorter, and the nights are longer for those in the Northern Hemisphere, resulting in you sleeping more in the winter.
With the sun setting around 5 PM in the winter months (in comparison to an average of 7 PM or later in the summer months), we’re spending more time in the dark during this time of year.
This can have various repercussions, including depression and a disrupted sleep cycle. It may also affect your appetite and desire to exercise and even cause excessive napping or oversleeping on the weekends. Adjusting sleep habits and sleeping earlier is important when there is less sunlight.
Cold & Flu Season
Colder weather often weakens the immune system, making people more susceptible to illnesses like the flu or the common cold. While many viruses can cause the common cold, the rhinovirus, the bug most often blamed for it thrives in cold weather.
You don't feel well when you're sick, and your sleep patterns are severely disrupted. This can cause you to sleep at times you normally wouldn’t or take long naps.
Additionally, when you’re sleeping with the cold or flu virus, not only is your quality of sleep poor, but you also feel poor - yet another thing that can affect how you sleep. Sleep medicine plays a crucial role in managing these sleep disruptions caused by illnesses.
The Impact of Winter on REM Sleep
REM sleep, or Rapid Eye Movement sleep, is a crucial stage of sleep that plays a significant role in physical and mental restoration. The brain is highly active during this stage, and most dreaming occurs.
The winter months can profoundly impact REM sleep. Studies show that people tend to experience longer REM sleep during this time, thanks to the increased production of melatonin. Plus, colder temperatures and shorter days make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep, enhancing REM sleep quality.
This seasonal sleep adjustment can contribute to a more restorative and rejuvenating sleep experience.
Seasonal Affective Disorder and Sleep
What is Seasonal Affective Disorder? Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that typically occurs during the winter months when there is less sunlight. One of the hallmark symptoms of SAD is disrupted sleep patterns, which can include both insomnia and excessive sleepiness.
Research has shown that individuals with SAD often experience less deep sleep and more REM sleep during the winter months. This imbalance can lead to fatigue, decreased productivity, and a host of other symptoms.
It’s important to adjust your sleep habits to combat these sleep-related difficulties. Going to bed earlier and ensuring you get more morning sunlight can help alleviate some of the symptoms of SAD and lead to a better night’s sleep.
By understanding the science behind winter sleep patterns and the impact of Seasonal Affective Disorder, you can take proactive steps to improve your sleep quality during the colder months.
Whether it’s adjusting your sleep schedule, seeking more sunlight, or making dietary changes, these strategies can help you navigate the challenges of winter sleep and ensure you get the rest you need.
How to Improve Your Seasonal Sleep Needs
We understand that it can affect our sleep and sleep patterns. So, how can we improve our sleep and get more energy this winter? For some people, sleeping better can consist of some of the following tips. Try some and see if they work well for you and your winter situation.
Consider trying to sleep naturally without alarms. This will allow your body to wake up on its own, which can improve the quality of your REM sleep.
Tip: Our Chilipad Dock Pro offers a warm awake mode. This also helps with replacing the jarring alarm clock sounds with gentle warming that triggers your body’s natural wake response.
Get More Sunlight
Winter means less sunlight. As mentioned above, the day gets darker around 4 pm during this time of year. Make an effort to get more sunlight; when this occurs, your body receives more melatonin.
Avoid “blue light” leading up to bedtime. This can help keep your melatonin levels on schedule.
Eat Lighter Meals
Because it’s cold outside, you don’t get to eat larger meals and have snacks before bedtime. Eating a big meal or getting full-on snacks isn’t a great way to improve your sleep.
This can lead to altering your circadian rhythm. Make sure to eat light and healthy meals and limit the snacking before you go to bed. This can result in a good night's sleep.
Adjust Your Sleep Habits to Stay Cool at Night
We often think that cranking up your heat will result in better sleep. You want to sleep cold, but not too cold. While most sleep better at a temperature range of 60 - 67 degrees Fahrenheit, there is such a thing as being “too cold.”
When it's cold outside, people have a tendency to warm their homes to the point that it's “too warm” to get a great night's sleep. We offer cooling bed systems, including the Chilipad Dock Pro and Cube. You can directly control your sleep temperature from 55 - 110 degrees Fahrenheit, letting you get your best night's rest all year despite your room temperature.
Final Thought
We’re always focused on helping you find your best rest and sleep temperature. In the past, we’ve discussed the various health benefits of sleeping at cooler temperatures.
During the winter months, it’s important to understand how this time of year affects sleep so that you can be more prepared and remain well-rested.
Whether you try to watch what you eat, head to the gym, support your immune system or regulate your sleep temperature, as long as you understand how to combat the obstacles presented by the winter months, you should be able to rest easier.
These benefits are particularly observed in a healthy population, highlighting the importance of maintaining good sleep habits for overall public health. If you’re concerned about your sleeping challenges, please contact and talk to your doctor.