New Zealanders might still be living in the warm glow of summer memories, but – like it or not – the leaves have started to turn and autumn is well and truly on the way.
While we’re all desperately trying to enjoy the dwindling warm days, it pays to turn our attention to the rapidly cooling nights. And that means making sure out beds and our bedrooms are as warm as possible.
As the nights draw in and your sleep becomes all the more important to help get you through the long drawn-out winter, you’ll thank yourself you prepared well in advance.
Preparing your room
Of course, you can just push the thermostat up a little to make sure your bedroom is cosy for a good night’s sleep, but there are also a few tricks to ensure the extra heating costs aren’t being wasted.
If your bed is pushed up hard against a wall or if sits directly on the floor, you’ll find that as your house cools in autumn, so your bed will conduct that chill to you while your sleep.
What’s more, by cutting off the air circulation around your bedroom, your bed will also encourage mould, mildew and condensation – all of which makes a room feel much colder, more unappealing and less healthy.
Your first priority, of course, is to make sure your bedroom is properly insulated, but you should also make sure your bed is off the ground and not pushed hard against any external walls.
And when you’re thinking about blankets and throws, don’t just think about the bed – try to think about dressing your room for the colder months by placing warm rugs on either side of your bed. You’ll certainly thank yourself for it when you’re struggling to get out of bed on a cold July morning and you’ve got a warm, fluffy rug under your feet rather than cold, hard floorboards.
Preparing your bed
If you’ve been sleeping between a couple of sheets all summer, now’s the time to go and find the pile of blankets or the duvet from the back of the cupboard.
Just remember that when you’re dressing your bed you should keep the fluffier blankets and duvet closer to your body and put the thinner ones on the outside – this slows down heat loss from your body and helps keep the warmth in.
Some mattresses are better than others at keeping you warm so it might also be useful to talk to a Bedpost expert (you can even live chat with us on the website) about our range. But if you want to keep hold of your current mattress but think its leaching heat from you at night, simply add a wool or fleece mattress pad or blankets between your mattress and your bottom sheet.
Electric heated mattress pads and blankets aren’t for everyone but they can help warm a bed before you get in – but for those who don’t like the idea of overheating, you can choose wisely when it comes to the materials you use to dress your bed.
On the whole, animal fibres such as furs, wool and silk, absorb moisture (which also helps prevent losing heat through sweat) and preserve body warmth – and cotton has similar properties.
Fibres such as linen and rayon absorb moisture but don’t preserve heat and are best suited to summer.
Synthetic materials such as nylon and polyester don’t absorb moisture and don’t keep the heat in.
Preparing your pillows
So much about ensuring a good night’s sleep – even when it’s cold and stormy outside – is down to comfort. Put simply, if you’re tossing and turning, then you’ll throw your bedclothes off and wake in the middle of the night with cold feet or with the blanket on the floor.
Without having to resort to buying a whole new mattress and base, you can still change the way your sleep by finding the perfect pillow for your sleep style.
Just by visiting our pillow range on the website, you can see the varieties designed specifically for side, back and tummy sleepers, but if you live chat with one of our Bedpost experts or visit one of our stores to “sleep test” the different shapes and materials, you’ll be amazed at the difference it can make to your night’s sleep.
Preparing yourself
Once you’ve got yourself sorted in terms of how your bed and bedroom is arranged for the colder months, it’s time to make a few changes to your routine.
There are a few nice tricks – such as drinking warm milk, putting your pyjamas in the dryer for 15 minutes before you put them on, or having a warm shower or bath before bedtime – which will help take the chill away just when you need to get to sleep (just remember to dry your hair thoroughly before climbing into bed if you’ve got out of the shower).
And make sure you dress accordingly – try bedsocks or a beanie so make sure you don’t lose heat through your feet or head, and keep your slippers right next to the bed so when you get up you don’t have to pad around the cold floor.
Now’s also the time of the year when you can introduce a warm breakfast into your routine – heating rolled oats in the microwave takes next to no time and is both nutritious and a great way to warm yourself up first thing.
