Sweet Dreams are Made of This

It sometimes seems pointless that I even have a bedroom because I swear to God I sure as hell don’t do any sleeping in it! I do a lot of work in there and a lot of dreaming about sleep but at the moment very little of the actual sleep thing. This is primarily thanks to my little one but luckily this is slowly (like glacial pace slow) restoring itself back to what is humanely acceptable. The rest of the time I think perhaps I am not comfy or calm enough and perhaps still a bit too wired and turned on from work to fully relax and let myself drift off into the sweet sweet land of nod. So I thought I’d come up with some Top Tips for Getting A Good Night’s sleep to perhaps help me on my way…

If you browse the internet or ask Dr. Google, there are apparently plenty of things we should and shouldn’t do in order to get a good night’s sleep. I’m not sure how many of them work and some of them definitely didn’t appeal to me (Bovril and Horlicks – yuck!!!) but I weeded out the weird and wacky and came up with a nice list to get me going:

• NO BLUE SCREEN – Okay so apparently something that really prevents people falling off to sleep is if they have been using an electronic blue screen e.g. Mobile Phone or Laptop just before trying to sleep. I don’t know about you but I can’t just close my laptop and go to sleep, I need a winding down method first which is a great excuse to get back into reading as I still use those old school things called Books rather than a Kindle.
• COMFY SOFT BEDDING – You know that feeling, when you’ve changed and remade your bed that day and you’re ready to climb in and lift that top cover and slip between the crisp, fresh smelling sheets and it’s the best nights sleep ever?! What also helps is having some really gorgeous and somewhat luxurious bedding such as that available from Julian Charles which all looks to die for – I’l take one of each!
• DON’T STUFF YA FACE – It’s good it have a full stomach but not too full so don’t got snacking loads before bed or even in bed as the crumbs will just ruin your lovely bed sheets! Lot’s of sugar and heavy carbs are going to make you feel bloated before bed. What I really enjoy is a warm drink like a Chamomile tea or perhaps some warm milk – nothing with caffeine in obviously!
• A LUXURIOUS SOAK – So you know how kids need a bedtime routine to help them sleep? Well, us adults aren’t actually that different. You don’t have to keep it the same every night (cos who the hell has time for a 3 hour bath every night?!) but a few times a week it is good to completely unwind. I love  having a steaming hot bath with a scented Bath Bomb in it and choose the smell depending on what I want to do – be it relax and unwind, relax or become sleepy. I find this really helps prepare me for dream land.
• COMFY JAMMIES – Of course the most important part of a good night’s sleep is that you feel comfortable. I cannot stand nightwear that is too tight but equally I am not a huge fan of nighties either. I like comfy cotton stretch trousers or shorts and a tank style top. I find I can easily go between hot and cold so this style of pyjamas suits my needs. They have lots of lovely ones on Simply Be at the moment for all us curvalicious ladies!

So there you have it folks – my Top 5 Tips to Encourage a Good Nights Sleep. I think it is about time I put these into practice. Of course the other option is that I lock myself in a box where my toddler can’t find me and that way get to sleep completely through the night! Choices choices!

*This is a collaborative post – all opinions are my own