The best mattress protectors are the unsung heroes of the bedroom — coffee in bed becomes a much riskier prospect without one. So when it comes to keeping your mattress safe from spills and stains, is it better to save or splurge on a waterproof mattress protector?

First things first: a mattress protector is a non-negotiable. When liquids get into your mattress they can cause the materials to degrade, as well as potentially supporting mold growth. If you've bought the best mattress for your sleep needs, you need to keep it safe.

But before you splash the cash on a luxury mattress protector, we did some splashing of our own. I poured water, coffee, wine and other liquids on a $119 Purple Mattress Protector and a $21 Linenspa Mattress Encasement to see which kept our mattress sparkling clean. Here's the one I trust with my Sunday evening Syrah...

Meet the mattress protectors

How we tested our mattress protectors

We wanted to put our mattress protectors through the wringer: how would they cope if a very clumsy person had a feast in bed?

To do this, we wrapped each protector around a white mattress (to better show stains). We then tossed a variety of substances onto them both. Primarily liquids, we also tried some heavier, oiler substances as well — hand lotion and guacamole.

Each substance was left for five minutes, to give it time to soak in. We then blotted any excess and lifted the mattress protector to see what lay beneath. In other words, was there any seepage?

Finally, we washed the mattress protectors to see how easily each stain was lifted.

Test 1: Hand lotion

Greasy skincare can leave mattress stains, plus it's a nightmare to clean up. We rubbed a blob of hand lotion into our protectors to see what happens...

Test one, and Purple was off to a flying start. The waterproof mattress protector stopped any hint of lotion from reaching to bed. Plus, the shiny surface was easy to wipe excess from.

But the Linenspa wasn't going to get left behind. No hand cream made it to the mattress and we could wipe away the cream with ease.

Test 2: Guacamole

Chunky guacamole served as a counterpoint to our wetter tests. And, without being crass, has a remarkable resemblance to vomit. (I'm saying this as an avo-enthusiast.)

Easy to wipe up and zero seepage — a success for the Purple Mattress Protector.

Similarly, the Linenspa held its own against the guac test. So while we don't advice chips and dip in bed, it shouldn't end in disaster.

Test 3: Water

I keep a bottle of water by my bedside for the morning. If I take a sip before my hand-eye coordination has woken up, that can result in spillage.

You really don't want water seeping into your mattress. It can settle in the materials causing damp and, in some cases, mattress mold. If you've noticed yourself sneezing in bed, it's worth checking for signs of mold.

So how did our protectors do in the water test?

Purple kept the water spill contained and prevented it from going through to the bed. This is particularly good for families who might deal with bed wetting instances. Expect easy clean up and the mattress to stay fresh.

Again, the Linenspa prevented anything sinking into the mattress materials. However, the water spill quickly spread out and left a lot of the surface damp. If an accident occurs, everyone will know.

Test 4: Coffee

Who doesn't enjoy the occasional cup of coffee in bed? But if your lazy Sunday morning ends in disaster, here's what you can expect from these mattress protectors.

The coffee spill settled where we poured it on the Purple Mattress Protector, although blotting did cause some spread. But it all stayed on the surface, with nothing sinking into the bed below.

A splash of coffee turned into a swimming pool on the Linenspa Encasement but the good news is, it didn't sink into the mattress.

Test 5: Wine

Now for the big one — red wine.

No judgement if you enjoy a glass of wine in bed after a long day, but a wine spill is a big no-no for a mattress. Alcohol is not good for memory foam and red wine stains are difficult to remove.

We splashed a glass of bottom shelf Syrah onto each mattress protector and waited five minutes. Here's how it went:

One the Purple, the wine pooled immediately. And sat there. After five minutes we employed a barrage of paper towels to mop it up. But no wine made it to the mattress.

There was a similar result on the Linenspa, although the initial spread made blotting the wine trickier. No stain, though.

As a bonus, this video also shows just how long it takes one person to take a mattress encasement off a queen sized bed. I easily hit my step goal for the day after this.

Test 6: How well does each mattress protector clean up?

So you've spilled your wine and guacamole all over your bed. Thankfully, your mattress is fine. But, oh no, your mattress protector is covered in stains!

Fellow tester Frances Daniels took both protectors home and washed them that evening. This resulted in a few hours between the tests ending and the mattress protectors getting cleaned. (At home, you should aim to wash quicker.)

She placed the protectors in a cold wash using a non-bio detergent. Each mattress protector was left to air dry before being tumble dried.

The Purple Waterproof Mattress Protector showed more signs of staining than the Linenspa, even after cleaning.

We suspect this is because liquids spread further on the Linenspa, reducing the build-up in any single place.

On the Purple Protector, the liquids pooled. This made it easier to blot up but might have led to the darker stains you can see above.

Verdict: Which mattress protector should you buy?

We threw everything at these mattress protectors. Literally. There were no more liquids left in our Sleep Lab to test.

The result? Two sparkling clean mattresses:

Neither protector allowed any liquids to get through to the mattress beneath. Both beds were bone dry, meaning your errant spill is unlikely to sink into the materials. So being clumsy with a cup of coffee shouldn't lead to a moldy bed.

And while both protectors showed some signs of staining, for the most part they cleaned up well. If you clean quicker than we did (our Sleep Lab is equipped with a lot, but not a washing machine), expect less staining.

So it's conclusive, right? Save your money and go for something cheap?

If it's just waterproofing you want, the yes. The Linenspa formed a super effective barrier against all our liquids. If you want to protect against sweat, urine, or your Sunday morning breakfast in bed, it'll do the job.

But the Purple protector did better at containing liquids. A small splash of water spread far and wide on the Linenspa, making it harder to clean. (And potentially disturbing anyone else in the bed.)

The Purple Mattress Protector is also quieter and softer. And as someone who has wrested to get the Linenspa Encasement on a mattress, the Purple is much, much, much easier to use.

Our favorite sleep essentials

Sleeping on a hot, stuffy pillow in summer is a nightmare when I want to fall asleep fast. In fact, research shows that your body naturally cools as you go to sleep, so a heat-trapping pillow means you don't get the temperature drop you need to drift off.

The best pillows should avoid this problem, and we've found that luxury cooling pillows are top notch at regulating temperature. But is there a cheaper way to keep your head cool at night? Or is a fancy pillow packed with cooling tech the only way to keep you comfortable on a hot night?

To find out, I grabbed my $93 Helix Cooling Memory Foam Pillow, the $20 Beckham Hotel Collection Bed Pillow, and a trusty thermal cam. Here's how much heat each pillow absorbed and shed when our testers slept on these headrests in our lab...

Key takeaways: At a glance

• Hot temperatures make it difficult to sleep, as your body naturally cools before bed. Some pillow materials trap warm air rather than help it circulate. As a result, you get a hot head that can't cool down.
• Cooling pillows claim to use special materials that help wick away warmth, to keep you comfortable.
• However, our thermal cam tests showed for a neutral feel, a cotton cover might be enough.
• And flipping to the cool side won't always provide the relief you need — one of our pillows was actually warmer on the unused side.

How we tested a cheap vs a luxury cooling pillow

Temperature regulation testing is a key part of our rigorous mattress testing methodology. So when it came to analyzing our pillows, I turned to our tried and tested method.

In a comfortable environment, we ask a tester to lie on the pillow for 15 minutes. This is ample time for heat to transfer and cooling properties to kick in. The tester then gets up and we continue to measure the temperature of the pillow for the next 15 minutes. This allows heat to disperse (... or not).

For pillows, I also employed a flip test. After the above tests, I flipped the pillow to see how cool the other side was.

Meet the pillows:

I used two pillows for this test. One, a luxurious memory foam pillow packed with cooling tech. The other, an affordable pillow with 'down alternative' fill (that's probably fiber fill).

Test 1: How quickly does the pillow get warm?

For part one of the test, sleep writer Frances Daniels graciously agreed to lie on each pillow for 15 minutes. We used a side sleeping position as its the most common and a breathable but not cooling mattress (the DreamCloud Classic Mattress).

Click through the gallery to see what happened:

We marked the center of each pillow, which is where Frances rested her head. This is also where we took a temperature reading every minute.

Verdict

The Helix Cooling Memory Foam pillow is delightfully chill when you touch it. So when you first settle into that GlacioTex cover, it's going to feel great.

From there, the temperature gradually rose but never tipped over into uncomfortable. Frances noted (as did I during my testing period) that once the pillow had warmed to your body temperature, it hardly wavered.

The Beckham Hotel Collection pillow also impressed, and did so with the help of just a cotton cover. After a big initial jump in temperature (13.3°F), it slowly cooled and evened out. However, you won't get that initial 'aaah' of Helix's chilled cover.

Test 2: How quickly does the pillow cool down?

The work continues once our tester, the lovely Frances, has stepped away. For the next 15 minutes I monitored the temperature at the center of the pillow. This shows us how quickly the heat dissipates.

Click through the gallery to see what happened:

Verdict

A good cooling pillow should drop excess heat quickly. This means when you sit up in bed or step away for a few minutes, you can return to a blissfully chilled sleep surface.

You won't get that with either of these options.

The Helix Cooling Pillow took a long time to lose just 4°F of warmth. Even after 15 minutes, it wasn't back to the icy feel we started with. However, the edges and corners of the pillow kept cool. So if you're willing to move around, you don't have to sleep on the warm patch.

The Beckham Hotel Collection Pillow dropped to a cooler temperature quicker. After this initial heat shed, it remained roughly 2°F higher than when we started — that's a neutral feel.

These results back up our hands-on testing. If you get up to use the bathroom or grab a drink during the night, you won't return to a cool pillow. However, you should get back to something with an even, neutral finish.

Test 3: What about the 'cool side'?

There are few moments quite as satisfying as the brief relief of the cool side of the pillow. But in the spirit of investigation, I wanted to see just how cool this cool side is...

Having completed our tests, I flipped the pillows to reveal the so-called 'cool side'.

First up, the Helix Cooling Pillow. While the pillow wasn't as blissfully chilled on the other side as I expected, it did drop 1.4°F.

However, I was in for a shock with the Hotel Collection Pillow. A quick flip revealed the pillow was actually warmer on the other side. 1.8°F warmer, to be precise.

That's not a huge temperature jump. But it's not what you want when you're awake at 3 a.m.

Should you save or splurge on a cooling pillow?

So, should you spend or save on a cooling pillow? My test results show that cooling tech might not live up to its high promises. If it's a breathable feel you're after, cotton covers and airy fill can make a big difference.

However, I'd note I tested the Helix Cooling Memory Foam Pillow at home during some brutal weather. (It's been heatwave after heatwave in my city.) Throughout it all, my pillow stayed neutral, if not cool.

And we know from testing over 130 of the best mattresses online that cooling tech can make a serious difference to your sleep comfort. The best cooling mattresses we've tested feature either specialist materials or use natural fabrics to create a chilled feel.

And luxury pillows do have their benefits, including enhanced durability. After being tossed around our Sleep Lab, the Helix Pillow looked in better shape than the Hotel Collection alternative.

My advice? You don't need to splurge to sleep cool, but investing in sleep comfort pays off in the long term.

Our favorite cooling sleep products

Astronauts on the International Space Station experience sleep inertia (grogginess upon waking) because they work in shifts, are rolling a chronic sleep debt, and see 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours, among many other factors.

I experience sleep inertia because my pre-schooler doesn’t believe in sleeping through the night. And that build-up of broken sleep makes me feel punch-drunk some mornings.

I tried easing the grogginess with caffeine, but it didn’t work. And after speaking with Dr. Erin Flynn-Evans, Director of the Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center, I now know why…

“Caffeine takes time to take effect, so it’s not the best tool to use if you have to wake up and act quickly,” Dr. Flynn-Evans explains, whereas light activates retinal pathways immediately.

Well, my job doesn’t require me to perform complex tasks straight after waking. But my son is full bore from the moment he opens his eyes — sitting on the couch to watch him play while I'm still struggling to wake up fully is not an option.

Let there be (blue) light

While caffeine isn’t a fast-acting off-switch for post-sleep grogginess, the right type of blue light within 30 minutes of waking is.

Yes light therapy glasses and lamps can help to reduce sleep inertia, but devices cost money. For a $0 solution, Dr. Flynn-Evans says to step outside your front door: “Going outside when the sun is out will expose you to blue light from the sun naturally.”

Even though it looks yellow from Earth, the sun contains blue light (and many other colours). “There are specialized photoreceptors in our eyes that are very sensitive to blue-wavelength light that are different from the rods and cones that we use for vision,” explains Dr. Flynn-Evans.

“They are most sensitive to blue-enriched light, because the light that we receive from the sun has a strong blue component. When these photoreceptors detect light, they send a signal to our internal clock (circadian rhythm) to indicate that it’s daytime.

“This initiates a cascade of other effects throughout the body that promote alertness. For example, our bodies immediately stop producing melatonin when the photoreceptors detect light.”

Little wonder that blue light is being studied as a powerful off-switch for melatonin production (a master sleep hormone), and a powerful on-switch for wakefulness signals.

Key takeaways: At a glance

• The biological switch: Natural morning light triggers specialized photoreceptors in your eyes. These instantly signal your brain to stop producing melatonin.
• The $0 NASA solution: While blue light therapy devices are helpful for night-shift workers and in the darker months of the year, natural light outside contains all the blue-cyan light you need to help ease sleep inertia.
• Blue light isn’t a 24/7 enemy: Reduce your exposure at least one hour before bed, then embrace it soon after waking to reduce grogginess.
• The weekend trap: Sleeping in creates ‘social jetlag’, which throws off your circadian rhythm and makes your sleep inertia worse on Monday.

6 a.m. cement brain

At the start of this year, my son started going through a rough patch with sleep and my father-in-law was receiving end-of-life care in hospital. I was stressed day and night, and my sleep took a hit.

It didn’t matter how many hours of sleep I got, either – because it was so broken, I felt deeply groggy each morning.

“Sleep inertia is the groggy feeling when somebody wakes up from a deeper part of sleep, and the body is still transitioning from sleep to wake, so they don’t feel fully alert yet,” explains Dr. Lindsay Browning, Chartered Psychologist, Neuroscientist and the founder of Trouble Sleeping.

It was winter when my grogginess drifted in. Sun-dappled mornings were replaced by deep black 6 a.m. skies, and I had lent my trusty Lumie Vitamin L light to a friend battling Seasonal Affective Disorder.

So I became reliant on a daily vat of caffeine to ‘power up’.

Call it divine timing (or forgetting that I had requested the product for testing), but a few weeks later I was sent a pair of 470nm blue-turquoise light-emitting glasses. My morning grogginess was beginning to ease up when wearing them, but they weren't an instant 'on' switch to take me from punch-drunk to instantly alert at 7 a.m..

“The circadian rhythm is a forward feeding cycle, so if you generally wake up at the same time each morning, your internal clock will anticipate when it’s time to wake up and begin to turn off sleep signals and turn on wake signals at your typical wake time," explains Dr. Flynn-Evans.

“You’re also likely to be exposed to light at about the same time in the morning if you get up around the same time, so any light you are exposed to may simply be interpreted by the body as the expected daily light signal.”

So if I always wake up at 7 a.m., my internal body clock already anticipates light at 7 a.m., so that burst of artificial blue light isn't a ‘shock’ system boost and won’t be as potent against sleep inertia as it would be at, say, 2 a.m. when I'm normally asleep.

The right light at the right time

“Bright light exposure soon after waking is one of the best ways of helping you feel more awake more quickly,” explains Dr. Browning.

Ok, but is there a difference between the blue light that helps wake us up versus the ‘melatonin-disrupting’ blue light we’re told to avoid before bed?

“Nope! It’s the same,” says Dr. Flynn-Evans. “The difference is that light in the evening shifts the drive to sleep and wake later. Light in the morning shifts the drive to sleep and wake earlier.

“As a result, most people need to minimize light in the evening in order to fall asleep, and maximize light in the morning to wake up.”

“Additionally, physically getting up out of bed and moving can also help you wake up and feel more refreshed,” adds Dr. Browning. “Staying in bed, repeatedly pressing snooze, is unlikely to help you quickly wake up.”

This is a trap many of us fall into on weekends; a time when we feel we deserve a lie-in, or have the chance to catch up on sleep.

Truth is, this ‘social jetlag’ confuses our circadian rhythm and perpetuates our sleep issues. A consistent sleep schedule, especially your wake-time, is arguably the MVP of good sleep hygiene.

“Sleeping in later at weekends can shift your sleep-wake schedule later, making a Monday morning alarm feel more like waking up during your ‘biological night’,” Dr. Lindsay explains.

“This effect may be more pronounced in naturally later chronotypes (owls) compared to earlier chronotypes (larks)."

Less is more: How long to use blue light for

It’s important to remember that Dr. Flynn-Evans’s work at NASA is focused around how to help astronauts reduce sleep inertia fast when working in space.

Using enriched blue-light helps them go from groggy to alert when they wake up for a shift in a place where they have few circadian cues, yet many physical stressors.

Back on Earth, shift workers who sleep in the day and work through the night might also benefit from blue light exposure.

So how long should a person be exposed to this light before their brain switches from ‘sleepy and groggy’ to ‘awake and energized’?

“We don’t know exactly, because it depends on the time of day and the stage of sleep that a person has awoken from,” Dr. Flynn-Evans explains, before revealing more about her team’s lab protocol: “Our studies typically use a minimum of 20 minutes of bright light exposure.”

For most of us, getting outside soon after waking is still the gold standard approach for easing sleep inertia. Dr. Browning: “At the end of the day, natural daylight is easy, free and one of the most effective practical options for most people.” 

Why some people experience sleep inertia more than others

“If you wake up from a deeper part of sleep, particularly slow-wave sleep, you are more likely to experience sleep inertia.” Dr. Lindsay explains.

“If you wake up from a much lighter part of sleep, typically at the beginning or end of a sleep cycle, you are less likely to experience as much sleep inertia.

“Also, if you set your alarm for a different wake-up time from your usual one, either earlier or later, you might find yourself waking from a deeper part of sleep and therefore experience more sleep inertia.”

Dr. Lindsay's point rang true when I had to wake up around 3 a.m. for a family flight to Spain—not even the excitement of a holiday could override that crushing sleep inertia we all felt.

“Our sleep cycles tend to have more deep, slow-wave sleep in the first half of the night, and sleep tends to get lighter and less deep with each subsequent sleep cycle towards the morning,” Dr. Browning reveals.

“Therefore, if you wake up when your body clock thinks you should still be in the middle of your night’s sleep, you are more likely to wake up from a deeper part of sleep and experience sleep inertia.”

I used my light therapy glass to power through at the airport, giving me enough energy and concentration to lug my sleepy son in a hip carrier whilst also dragging a 20kg suitcase up a steep hill.

Other ways to reduce sleep inertia

In the lighter months where mornings are awash with daylight early doors, sleeping with your curtains partially open is a great way to harness natural light cues.

“Even through closed eyelids, you can sense the sunlight increasing, which has been suggested to help pull you from a deeper part of sleep into a lighter part of sleep.” Dr. Browning then recommends opening your curtains fully as soon as you’re up. “This helps to shift sleep inertia more quickly.”

A good sunrise alarm clock is an excellent solution here.

Her other top tip is to keep a consistent wake time, even on weekends. “This helps your body get used to that time as ‘wake-up time’, and it helps your body shift to that time being a more natural waking point between sleep cycles rather than from a deeper part of sleep.

“So, in summary," continues Dr. Browning, "getting some natural daylight shortly before waking and as soon as you wake up, and having a consistent wake-up time, may both help to reduce the likelihood of sleep inertia.”

When to see a doctor

“People who consistently wake up exhausted often have an undiagnosed sleep disorder," explains Dr. Flynn-Evans, "so the first thing I would recommend is talking with your doctor about a referral to a sleep clinic.

“For those who do not have sleep disorders, it’s important to maintain a regular bed and wake time, with regular bright morning light exposure.

“Night owls tend to struggle with waking up in the morning, which makes it more important for night owls to turn down the lights before bed and maximize morning light exposure to adapt to their work or social schedule." Dr. Flynn-Evans says. "It’s also important to have an appropriate cool, dark, and quiet sleep environment.”

Dr. Browning adds: “If you find that you experience severe sleep inertia most mornings, or it doesn't shift after waking and the sleepiness and grogginess persists long into the day, then this might be a sign that you aren't getting enough sleep, you might have circadian misalignment, or you might possibly have another sleep disorder such as sleep apnoea.”

If you only occasionally experience sleep inertia, it’s nothing to worry about: “Making sure that you get enough sleep is more important than worrying about avoiding sleep inertia, because even if you wake up with sleep inertia, it will usually wear off fairly quickly.”

Sleep tech to help banish morning grogginess

Like most people, my evening routine used to resemble scrolling on my phone in bed at the expense of getting the quality sleep I need. Tired, wired and averaging six hours of sleep a night, I needed to take drastic action.

I felt as though modern life was working against me, and the blue glare from my screens was keeping me artificially stimulated long after it was time for bed. Caffeine and sugar propelled me through the day but left we wide awake at 3 a.m.

So, inspired by the Amish and their healthy relationship with their circadian rhythm (our body's 24 hour internal clock), I decided to rise and sleep with the sun in an attempt to fix my poor sleep habits.

I expected that I might get more sleep, but what happened to my focus and energy levels caught me completely off guard. Here's my story...

Key takeaways: At a glance

• Our circadian rhythm is our body's internal clock, primarily regulating our sleep-wake cycle.
• The rising and setting of the sun acts as a circadian cue, triggering the production of the key sleep hormones we need to fall asleep and wake up.
• For me, modern life and artificial light has resulted in a disconnect between the solar day and my circadian rhythm. This has led to poor sleep.
• To get more sleep and improve my energy levels, I took inspiration from the Amish to sleep and rise with the sun for 14 days.
• The result? I slept longer after just night one. After two weeks, my cognitive fog lifted and my focus returned.

• Read more: I kept waking up exhausted until a NASA scientist shared her $0 lab-tested tip for beating morning grogginess — here’s how it works

What is your circadian rhythm and what role does in play in sleep?

Your circadian rhythm is your body’s internal clock. It’s governed by the sun and regulates your sleep-wake cycle. It also regulates other functions, including hormone production, temperature and metabolism.

“Circadian means ‘around the day,’ and for humans and almost every other living thing on earth, it's aligned with the sun and controls two of our most fundamental states of being — sleep and wake,” explains Dr. Alex Dimitriu, a doctor double-board certified in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine.

“At the core of the circadian system is sleep and wake,” says Dr. Dimitriu. "Sleepiness is reset by sleep, and builds up the more hours you are awake.”

The sleep-wake cycle is made up of two parts. First comes sleep pressure (your homeostatic sleep drive). It builds from the moment you open your eyes in the morning. As does a chemical called adenosine.

“As it gets later in the day, we build up more adenosine, which accumulates and makes us sleepy over time,” says Dr. Dimitriu.

He then adds that the second part of the sleep-wake cycle is aligned with daylight and melatonin, which, alongside adenosine, delivers a one-two punch of tiredness, making it easier to fall asleep.

“The system is designed so that when these two signals overlap — so you are sleepy, and it is dark outside — you enter and stay asleep,” explains Dr. Dimitriu.

The catalyst: Why I turned the lights off in my life

I write about sleep for a living, yet my own relationship with sleep is complex. An erratic sleep schedule, endless to-do lists and age-related hormonal fluctuations (I’m 40+) means I usually get in the region of six hours of broken rest per night.

And, no, I’m not one of those rare humans who manage to thrive on less than seven hours of sleep. I exist in a cognitive fog, my emotions sit close to the surface and I often find myself wide awake at 3 a.m. in a mild panic.

Ironically, the idea to shun artificial light in order to claw back my sleep quality could be described as a lightbulb moment. It was during a camping trip that I mulled over the fact that I always slept better in the great outdoors.

These camping trips tend to follow a familiar pattern; a busy day of outdoor activities — hiking, surfing, swimming — followed by a gradual wind down, perhaps a short walk, before getting into bed soon after the sun sets. I climb onto my air mattress and sleep like a log.

During my most recent trip, I clocked up an unprecedented 8h 47m of sleep, 1h 55m of which was spent in deep sleep (most adults aged between 25 and 64 require between 45-90 minutes of deep sleep per night, which suggests my body was trying to repay a portion of the mountain of sleep debt I’ve accumulated over the past decade).

For the first time in weeks, I woke up feeling restored. I had (unintentionally) corroborated a 2013 study that explored how following a natural light cycle could shift your circadian rhythm forward, resulting in more sleep.

It was then that I realised I was slowly suffocating my circadian rhythm with artificial light and tech back home.

"Bright lights, late meals, and highly stimulating activities can make it harder for the body to register that it's time for sleep," explains Dr. Alex Dimitriu, a doctor double-board certified in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine. "Lightbulbs have changed our relationship to the sun, and screens and devices have made it worse.

"Bluish high efficiency LED lights do the same — they trick the circadian system into thinking it's daytime when it's night," he continues. "People need to be in dark dim sunset colors to sync their circadian systems, and align them for sleep."

With most modern homes packed with tech that actively prevents them from sleeping, could it ever be possible to apply the simplicity of a rustic camping trip — where I sleep and wake with the sun — to my busy daily life? I decided to try...

Sleeping like the Amish

In her quest to explore what life was like when humans had a closer relationship with natural light, health and science journalist Linda Geddes visited an Old Order Amish community in rural Pennsylvania. There connection to the electric grid is forbidden and their days are largely spent toiling the land and tending to the home.

It was here, while researching her book Chasing the Sun, that Geddes noticed how certain aspects of Amish life leant itself to quality sleep. Physical activity, a circadian rhythm closely aligned with the sun, and plenty of natural daylight.

In contrast, my life as a desk-bound journalist means I spend a large portion of my day hunched over a laptop under the glare of bright LED office lights. Instead of fresh air, I’m blasted by recycled air and survive on a staple diet of oven chips.

Sleeping and waking with the sun

When Geddes stayed with an Amish family, she noted how their attention isn’t absorbed by electrical gadgets. Their evenings weren’t punctuated by bright electrical lights, either.

Instead, they use a single, large, stand-mounted propane gaslight that they move between the kitchen and living space, where the family congregates. If anyone needs to use the bathroom, they take a battery powered LED lantern, a torch or oil lamp.

“Even so, once the sun goes down, most Amish households are far darker than the average American house,” writes Geddes.

As a result, a sleep schedule that closely aligns with the sun — around 9 p.m. until 4.45 a.m. — is standard, rising without an alarm before dawn.

Daily labor

Adenosine, a chemical that builds throughout the day and helps promote sleep, is a byproduct of physical activity. So sedentary lifestyles can impact sleep pressure, our biological urge for sleep.

Sleep pressure is a pillar of our circadian rhythm, so when we move less throughout the day, the delicate balance of our circadian rhythm — which regulates our sleep-wake cycles — is disrupted.

For the Amish community, who work, walk (for the Old Order, cars are forbidden), farm and do, this isn't an issue as they are constantly moving.

"The way many of us live today is almost the opposite of what our internal clock expects," Dr. Shelby Harris, a licenced Clinical Psychologist and Behavioral Sleep Medicine Specialist, tells me.

"We spend most of the day indoors, often under relatively dim lighting, and then at night we're surrounded by bright lights, TVs, laptops, and our phones. That evening light tells the brain to stay alert when it should be winding down."

Daylight exposure

While modern life has left many of us disconnected from the solar day and at the mercy of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression tied to a lack of natural sunlight, Geddes points out that the Amish population has the lowest prevalence of SAD of any Caucasian population.

And that could be down to the amount of daylight they're exposed to. According to Geddes, Amish people are exposed to an average daytime illuminance of 4,000 lux during the summer, compared to the 587 lux that Brits are exposed to.

In Winter, that drops to approximately 1,500 lux and 210 lux respectively, which, again, leads to a dysregulation of our circadian rhythm. "In other words, our waking hours are approximately seven times gloomier than those of the Amish," writes Geddes.

My experiment: What happened when I slept and rose like the Amish

I'm not about to disconnect my home from the National Grid, nor can I swing two weeks off work to grow my own food.

But there are aspects of Amish life that I can take inspiration from in order to improve my sleep — and that's sleeping and (hopefully) rising with the sun.

Instead of using artificial light to prop up a later bed time, I decide to spend two weeks going to bed as the sun goes down, just like I do when camping. Two weeks should give me enough time to settle into some sort of routine.

The night I start my experiment, the sunset takes me by surprise. Is it 10.15 p.m. already? I’ve accidentally left it until the light is practically non-existent before getting ready for bed.

But, like I would when I go camping, I muddle through with the little light there is and manage to get myself ready for bed.

I leave my phone downstairs out of reach, turn off my sunrise alarm (I’m just hoping that I wake up in time to get the kids ready for school) and climb into bed.

Normally, I would appreciate reading in bed (or, more accurately, scrolling on my phone) for a while in order to wind down after a busy day.

However turning on a light goes against the whole point of this exercise, so I lie in the darkness and wait for sleep to take me.

I sleep for longer from night one

The speedy bedtime routine (and earlier bedtime) means it takes me longer than normal to fall asleep. When I do, I’m aware I’m sleeping lightly as I’m worried about sleeping in and the kids being late for school.

Despite worrying, I wake naturally at 06:49, which is a little later than I would normally wake but still within the realms of my usual routine. My sleep tracker tells me I’ve clocked up 8h and 18 minutes of sleep and didn’t wake up in the night.

I question how accurate that is as I felt like I kept checking the time all night. Still, for me, 8h and 18 minutes of sleep is pretty incredible.

Waking up eventually stops being a struggle

Worrying about not setting an alarm is starting to impact my sleep. So I set my sunrise alarm clock for 6 a.m. as a safety net and hope that I don't need it.

I start my experiment on a Thursday and, when my sunrise alarm starts chirping away on Monday morning, I'm still dead to the world. I initially feel disappointed that I'm not waking naturally with the sun at 5 a.m.

But then I remind myself that I've been getting less sleep than I need for years, so paying off all that sleep debt won't happen within a few days.

However, as the experiment goes on and my alarm goes off, I begin to feel ready for it. For the first time in months, I'm waking with energy.

There are even occasions when I wake before my alarm.

When that happens I try to get out of bed straight away and enjoy my first cup of tea in the garden before anyone else wakes up.

While I would normally have spent that time on my phone in bed, I've instead been checking the progress of my dahlias and soaking up the early morning rays.

This, says Dr. Harris, is one of the most impactful ways I can anchor my circadian rhythm: "One of the biggest things is getting outside soon after you wake up. Even 15 to 30 minutes of morning light helps reinforce your body's schedule and makes it easier to fall asleep that night."

My cognitive fog is lifting and my focus is returning

Over time, the double whammy of sleep deprivation and underlying stress has taken a toll on my cognitive function. I've become forgetful, there are times I can struggle to focus, and I rarely allow myself the luxury of finishing a thought.

After a week of sleeping and rising(ish) with the sun, I begin to feel the cognitive fog lift.

For the first time in a long time, I feel creative again — ideas come to me and I allow myself the time to mull them over. I'm focusing on one task at a time and enjoying immersing myself in them, whether it's work, cooking or DIY.

This, says Dr. Dimitriu, is entirely expected: "Sleeping closer to sunset and waking closer to sunrise, is what we have been doing naturally for millennia, and it also helps establish deeper, and longer periods of sleep.

"More sleep, that is circadian aligned, has multiple benefits, physical and mental. Mood stability improves, anxiety is reduced, and there is more room to think before you react," he continues.

"People become more patient. Attention and focus, as well as memory and recall — the ability to learn, are also improved."

How to protect your circadian rhythm during the darker months

While attempting to align my circadian rhythm with the sun, I've been aware that summer is the easiest time to do this. After all, a sunset and sunrise time in the region of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. isn't a million miles from my optimal routine.

Which leads me to wonder, how can I anchor my circadian rhythm around the sun during the winter months when the days are shorter and the sunlight is weaker?

"Winter definitely makes it harder because we're naturally exposed to less sunlight, especially in the morning," acknowledges Dr. Harris.

"My advice is to make the most of whatever daylight you do have. If you can step outside for a morning walk, that light is still much stronger than what you get indoors."

For those who notice that their mood and energy levels are impacted during winter, Dr. Harris recommends a light therapy box, which emulates natural sunlight for improved health.

"More than anything, try not to let your routine drift," concludes Dr. Harris. "Keeping a consistent wake time, getting some movement during the day, and limiting bright light late at night can go a long way in keeping your body clock on track, even when the days are shorter."

Tech to help regulate your circadian rhythm

If you've ever become engrossed in CleanTok, that TikTok community dedicated to strangely-satisfying cleaning videos, you've probably watched influencers dunk their old, yellowed pillows into a bathtub full of household items to make them sparkly clean.

So compelling are these videos that I sometimes forget that the people who confidently guide me through their hacks are not professional cleaners but simply TikTok account holders with a bathtub and some grubby pillows. In fact, many CleanTok videos go against expert-approved cleaning advice on how to wash a pillow.

"I would be cautious because these household products were not formulated or tested as complete fabric cleaners," says Shamsa Kanwal, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist and medical writer at MyPsoriasisTeam. "Standard laundering methods are more reliable because they are designed to lift sweat, skin oil, saliva, cosmetics, and other residue from fabric and rinse them away."

That's why I took bunch of old, grubby pillows with deep set stains to test five CleanTok hacks and to see how they compare against three gold-standard pillow cleaning techniques used by specialists and in hotels. Here's how it all went...

Key takeaways: At a glance

• Viral TikTok pillow cleaning trends (like shaving foam and vodka) are mostly visually-pleasing, clout-chasing quick-fixes that fail to completely remove deep-set, stubborn stains.
• Spritzing a 3% hydrogen peroxide and water mixture, scrubbing it in, and running the pillow through a standard wash cycle outperformed all other methods, lifting tough stains and restoring brightness.
• While soaking pillows in a bath of soda crystals yielded weak results, adding them directly to the washing machine drum proved far more effective for fading severe discoloration.
• However, the safest expert-recommended approach is to follow the pillow's care label and make sure its dried completely before using.

The pillow stains I needed to remove

To begin my experiment, co-workers (not going to name and shame!) kindly sent me their old, grubby yellow-stained pillows.

These yellow stains (usually caused by a build-up of sweat, body oils, and drool) are the most common type of pillow stain.

However, I know that plenty of people eat and drink in bed, so I decided to kick it up a notch by staining each pillow further with tea, coffee, and smoothies.

I then allowed each stain to set, making them mega-tough to remove so I could see how effective each pillow-cleaning method really is.

Putting each viral hack to the test — see my results and how I scored them

Hack 1: Shaving foam | Test score: 0 out of 5

We all love a medicine cabinet staple that can double as a multipurpose cleaner, which is why CleanTok is full of shaving foam cleaning hacks. It seems simple, right? Just apply a dollop of foam to a stain, leave for 15 minutes up to 1-2 hours, and wipe away with a damp microfibre cloth.

However, when I gave this hack a go on a prominent yellow pillow stain, it did nothing but make the pillow smell nice. I had an inkling that this quick fix seemed a little too good to be true, plus health experts advise against it.

"Shaving foam may leave fragrance and surfactant residue, which can cause irritation," warns Dr Kanwal.

If you do want to give this no-harm, no-foul hack a try, make sure to use a white shaving foam (the kind that's already foamed up as soon as it's squeezed out of the can) rather than a shaving gel with added dyes.

Hack 2: Vodka | Test score: 1 out of 5

Next up is vodka, which seems a little counter-intuitive as a drink is usually what causes stains. However, plenty of CleanTok videos herald vodka as a stain remover for grubbiness. So, I chose a feather pillow (the yellowest of the pack) to see if a vodka spritz could remove the build-up of body oils and grease.

I spritzed the pillow with a cheap bottle of vodka poured into a spray bottle, and then I rubbed the pillow with a cloth dunked soaked with hot water. Did it remove any stains? No. Did it de-odorize the pillow and give it a little refresh? Yes. As Dr Kanwal puts it: "Vodka does not replace the oil and dirt removing action of laundry detergent".

Hack 3. Soda crystals | Test score: 2 out of 5

Now, this is the hack I had high hopes for, as soda crystals seemed the most legitimate of cleaning tips. These magic crystals are not only used to remove detergent build-up in washing machines but they also help remove stains and soften water.

So, I added 1 cup of soda crystals to a half-filled bathtub of warm water, swished the crystals around, and left them to soak for 1 hour. When I returned, I found that the stains were removed slightly, but I feel that the soda crystals didn't live up to their stain-removing hype. However, I wouldn't skip the soda crystal treatment altogether (as you'll find out later).

Hack 4: Baking soda and vinegar | Test score: 3.5 out of 5

Ah, the baking soda volcano. I don't think any other kitchen ingredients have been used in DIY cleaners more frequently than baking soda and white vinegar. However, I was a little sceptical.

I've been told by cleaning experts to avoid using baking soda on certain mattresses due to its fine particle. "Baking soda may help with odour, but using too much can leave residue that may irritate sensitive, acne prone, or eczema prone skin when the face rests against the pillow for several hours," Dr Kanwal tells me.

However, a vinegar and baking soda mixture can be a cleaning wonder when baking soda is used properly. So, here's how I preceded: I put a stained pillow in the bathtub and sprinkled a generous amount of baking soda on the stains and rubbed it into the fabric. Next I filled the bathtub with warm water and added 2 cups of white vinegar. I then left the pillow to soak for a couple of hours.

Unsurprisingly, the mixture did fade the stains significantly, but definitely not completely or quickly. While a couple of hours is a slog, I will admit that these are stubborn, deep-set stains that faded with low effort and minimal scrubbing. My verdict? Worth a shot.

Hack 5: Lemon slice soak | Test score: 4 out of 5

Out of all the pillow hacks I've seen grace CleanTok, this one is probably the most talked about. Lemons are kind of seen as nature's cleansers, so soaking your pillow in a bath filled with citrusy goodness seems like a good idea.

However, this hack has become controversial because research shows that citrus acid degrades fabric. That doesn't stop it from remaining one of the most popular TikTok cleaning hacks out there, so I figured it would be pretty remiss of me not to give it a try.

In the video above, the TikToker soaks a child's pillow in a bathtub full of piping hot water, baking soda, detergent, and sliced lemons. Naturally I did the same.

As I scraped the last of the lemon slices from a chopping board and into the bath, I noticed the bathwater had already begun to discolor. Surely just the lemon juice?

Then, I started to squeeze and press the pillow, and as I was doing so, I began to see the tea and coffee stains spurt out of the fabric. With my hands massaging the fabric and the lemons floating on the surface, I felt like I was giving the pillow a luxury spa treatment rather than a good clean.

Out of all the cleaning hacks I tried, this was honestly the most fun to do and the most TikTok-worthy to look at. Watching the bath water fill with lemon zest and filth was oddly satisfying and made me realize why the original video was such as hit.

So, it was fun and hypnotizingly gross, but does this method help remove stains? I hate to admit it, but...yes. It didn't remove stains completely, but it did noticeably lighten them.

Overall, a fun cleaning hack to try, even if the addition of lemons is a little dubious.

Bottom line

All the CleanTok pillow cleaning hacks I tried above may seem like miracle solutions, but trying them for myself reminded me that most of these "hacks" are made for visually-pleasing quick-fix social media content and won’t actually remove deep-set pillow stains. Most will leave you either disappointed...or low on shaving foam.

If you want to know more about how to clean pillows from experts rather than cleanfluencers, then visit our guide on how to wash a pillow, how to wash a memory foam pillow, or read on to see how I got on using the specialist pillow cleaning techniques used by experts and luxury hotels.

3 gold standard pillow cleaning methods that actually work

According to Dr Kanwal, the best way to clean a pillow is to follow what its care label permits.

"The safest approach is the warmest suitable water setting, an appropriate laundry detergent, a complete rinse, and thorough drying so the pillow is not left damp," she advises.

However, some pillow stains need extra help to budge, so I've tried the ultra stain-removing methods that health experts, cleaning specialists, and luxury five-star hotels approve of. Here's what happened and why they actually work...

Method 1: Hotel hot wash | Test score: 3.5 out of 5

Hotels get their bedding crip and white by using a hot wash of 140 °F for a minimum of 90 minutes, to remove germs and stains. I was a bit apprehensive at first as none of the pillows' cleaning labels advise a hot cycle, plus it's not very environmentally friendly.

"A hot water cycle can improve cleaning and reduce some allergens or microorganisms, but only when the pillow’s care label permits it," says Dr Kanwal.

After putting a stained pillow in the machine for two hours, I wasn't at all surprised to see that the high temperature faded most of the tea and coffee stains.

It definitely didn't get the pillow clean enough for a five-star hotel bed, but most five-star hotels don't have pillows this stained.

Method 2: Soda crystal + washing machine | Test score: 4.5 out of 5

Now we're back to the soda crystals. While this versatile powder didn't impress me during the TikTok method, I thought maybe the power of the washing machine would bring out the soda crystal magic.

"Soda crystals can support detergent by helping loosen greasy buildup, but it should be rinsed thoroughly because it can irritate skin or damage certain fabrics if misused," says Dr Kanwal.

Turns out, the detergent really did bring out the soda crystal magic. After applying half a cup of soda crystals to the drum of my washing machine and following the laundry instructions on the pillow label.

I was pleased to see that the pillow stains had faded almost to nothing (though a few stubborn stains did linger).

Method 3: Hydrogen peroxide | Test score: 5 out of 5

I've written quite a few cleaning articles in my time, and every time I interview a cleaning specialist about the best ways to remove stubborn stains, they always bring up hydrogen peroxide. "Three percent hydrogen peroxide can help break down some organic stains, but rinse thoroughly to avoid skin irritation," says Dr Kanwal.

So, I followed this guide on how to hydrogen peroxide as a safe cleaner, and then grabbed some gloves, a spray bottle and 3% concentration of hydrogen peroxide.

I spritzed a mixture of equal parts hydrogen peroxide and water all over the stained pillow and let it sit. After 30 minutes, I worked the solution into the pillow with an electric toothbrush.

As I scrubbed, I was surprised to see the stains start rub and flake off. I then popped the pillow into the washing machine (following the label's cleaning instructions) for an hour.

When I took the pillow out of the drum, I was shocked. Not only had it removed even the toughest of stains, it had also made the pillow whiter and brighter — something that the other methods failed to do.

So, the best pillow cleaning method in my opinion? Hydrogen peroxide all the way.

Top-rated products to keep your pillows stain free

Night sweats and allergens can ruin our sleep during the summer, and not washing your bedding enough can make these issues even worse. Sweat, oil, and allergens can build up if sheets and pillows during heatwaves, but how often (and at what temperature) should we wash our sheets in the summer?

While research has found that the average person changes their sheets every 24 days, an infection prevention expert says this is way too long a wait wash your bedding.

"Bedding collects normal skin bacteria, environmental bacteria, yeasts, mold spores, dust mites, and the allergens that come with all of it," says Dr. Shanina C. Knighton, PhD, RN, CIC, a Research Associate Professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University.

So, to set the record straight, I've called on Dr. Knighton to tell us how often we should be washing our sheets and pillows during the summer. She'll also tell us what temperature to wash your bedding at, and three other ways you can prevent summer allergens from piling up and disrupting your sleep.

• Read more: I pointed a thermal cam at a luxury cooling pillow to see if it actually helps you stay cool in a heatwave

Key takeaways: At a glance

• Wash your sheets and pillowcases at least once a week: but those with skin conditions, an active lifestyle, or allergies will need to change them more frequently.
• Duvet covers should be washes at least every two weeks: pillows and comforters can be washed every few months if they aren't visibly soiled or stained.
• Wash bedding at a temperature of at least 130°F: with 140°F being the optimal for killing dust mites.
• Make sure bedding is well-ventilated: this prevents moisture from encouraging bacterial growth, and use a waterproof mattress protector.
• Wear slippers: these stop your feet from picking up floor debris and bringing it into your bed.

How often should you wash bed sheets and pillowcases in summer?

"Wash your sheets and pillowcases weekly at a minimum during hot weather," advises Dr Knighton.

However, the infection expert stresses that many people may need to wash their bedding more frequently depending on their lifestyle, occupation, and conditions.

"Wash more frequently if you sweat heavily, go to bed without showering, have oily or acne-prone skin, have allergies or eczema, share the bed with pets, or work a high-exposure job such as healthcare, sanitation, childcare, or repair work where you carry the day home with you," she shares.

How often should other types of bedding be washed in summer?

While Dr. Knighton advises pillowcases and sheets be washed frequently, other types of bedding can survive a longer wait.

"Duvet covers should be washed weekly or every two weeks depending on use," says Dr Knighton. "Pillows and comforters follow the care label, which is usually every few months, and sooner if they become sweaty, stained, musty, or visibly soiled."

However, just because pillows, duvet cover, and comforters don't need to be washed as often as sheets and pillowcases, this doesn't mean they aren't immune to allergen and moisture build-up.

In fact, Dr. Knighton says that dense pillows and comforter can hold onto moisture far longer than thinner sheets do, trapping heat, sweat, skin oils, and dead cells without airflow.

These warm, moist conditions allow bacteria, fungi, and odors to thrive deep inside the fill — even if your sheets look completely clean on the surface.

"Over time, that same combination is what produces the musty smell, the yellowing, and the staining that will not wash out easily," explains the health specialist.

What temperature should bedding be washed at in summer?

As for what temperature you should was bedding at, Dr Knighton points to research that found that 140°F (60°C) kills all house dust mites.

However, she suggests following the bedding's care labels and opting for the warmest temperature the fabric can stand, with most allergy guidance pointing to 130°F (which is 54.4°C).

• I tested 5 viral pillow cleaning hacks to see if they work

What happens if you don't wash your bedding often enough in summer?

So, we know if we don't wash our bedding often enough, oil, sweat and allergens will start to accumulate in our beds, but what are the consequences of that happening?

"The risk is not the same for everyone, and that is the honest answer," Dr. Knighton tells me. "For a healthy person with intact skin, the usual result is odor, breakouts, skin irritation, or allergy and asthma flares.

"For someone with asthma, mold sensitivity, eczema, broken skin, or a weakened immune system, the picture is more serious, and there is real infection risk for the immunocompromised."

3 more ways to keep your bedding clean in summer

1. Wear slippers or socks

"Slippers are not optional in my house and serve a purpose beyond just comfort," says Dr Knighton.

She says this rule applies especially to those who have pets or allow outdoor shoes indoors, where the floor could be covered in debris.

"Walking across it barefoot and then climbing into bed means you have just dragged all of that up onto your sheets with your own feet.," she warns. "A pair of slippers between the floor and the bed breaks that chain."

2. Don't bring your phone to bed

You may want to skip your nightly doomscrolling session, as a phone's surface are "one of the dirtiest things most people own".

The same phone that has been on restaurant tables, in bathrooms, and in their hands all day, and they set it on the pillow or the sheets, " says Dr. Knighton. "My phone does not come to bed with me."

The expert also says she doesn't bring the clothes she's been wearing all day to bed either. " Whatever my outdoor clothes and my phone touched during the day stays out of the space where I sleep," she reveals.

3. Make sure your bed is dry

While washing your bedding is important, keeping it dry also prevents the risk of allergen buildup.

To prevent your bedding trapping moisture and encouraging microbial growth, Dr Knighton recommends using one of the best mattress protectors with waterproof protection and ensuring your bedding gets enough ventilation.

If excessive sweating at night means you're waking up to a damp bed, the infection prevention expert recommends allowing the bedding to dry before making it.

"After a sweaty night, throw the covers back, let the bed breathe for a while, and make it later," she advises.

For more cleaning advice, see our guide on how to clean a mattress. This is especially important if you've invested in the best mattress for your sleep needs and want it to last as long as possible to get your money's worth.

I thought my biggest challenge would be choosing between medium-firm and hybrid. Instead, my shiny new mattress arrived with an unwelcome guest: a harsh chemical stench that turned my bedroom into a paint factory.

While the support was sheer heaven for my aching back, the overwhelming scent made sleeping on it impossible. That lingering smell is off-gassing, a common nuisance with modern foam beds, but you do not have to just sit back and endure it.

Here is what actually causes that industrial odor, the rookie mistakes to avoid, and the practical steps I took to clear the smell from my bedroom.

What causes mattress off-gassing?

The moment you break the vacuum seal on a fresh mattress, synthetic materials suddenly react with room air. Most bed-in-a-box models rely on polyurethane foams, adhesives, and flame retardants that release Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) as they expand.

Trapped in heavy plastic packaging for weeks or months, those compounds escape all at once upon unboxing. While the scent is rarely harmful to health, it can trigger headaches or throat irritation, and it can certainly ruin a good night's sleep.

The initial mistakes that made the smell worse

My immediate instinct was to slap on a mattress protector, dress the bed with fresh linen, and shut the bedroom door to contain the problem. That was a mistake.

Sealing the mattress traps escaping gases directly inside the foam layers, prolonging the off-gassing process by days. Spraying heavy scented fabric refreshers only created a bizarre, nauseating mix of lavender and industrial solvent. To actually neutralize the odor, the mattress needs constant airflow and room to breathe.

How to stop the off-gassing smell

First, strip the mattress bare and open windows on opposite sides of the room to establish proper cross-ventilation.

Next, position a floor fan so it blows air directly across the top surface toward an open window. Pushing stale air away from the bed prevents escaping gases from settling back into the fabric, cutting the off-gassing timeframe nearly in half.

Foam acts like a dense, microscopic sponge filled with pockets of trapped gas. To speed up the release, walk barefoot back and forth across the mattress surface for ten minutes, or press down firmly with your hands.

This mechanical pressure squeezes trapped VOCs out of the inner core much faster than passive airing alone.

Once the room has aired out for several hours, sprinkle a light, even layer of plain baking soda over the exposed mattress top. Let it sit untouched for at least four hours (overnight is even better), so the powder can pull residual moisture and chemical odors out of the outer ticking.

Finish by thoroughly vacuuming the surface using a clean upholstery attachment, taking care to clean out the deep side seams.

How long does the smell really last?

By combining forced airflow with manual compression and a basic baking soda treatment, the heavy chemical scent vanished within 48 hours.

While a faint smell can linger for up to a week depending on the mattress density, taking active steps means you can sleep comfortably without sacrificing your air quality, or your lungs.

More from Tom's Guide

• How to take the perfect power nap — 5 dos and don'ts
• Don't throw out your used tea bags — this trick helps eliminate fridge odors as good as baking soda
• How to make your home smell amazing — try these top tips

Emma mattress has launched its newest line-up — and this cooler sleep collection might have arrived just in time for a scorching hot summer. The Performance mattress range, starting from £549 in the Emma sale, uses Emma's breathable AirGrid technology to keep you cooler even when another heatwave inevitably hits.

The Emma AirGrid is found in one of the best mattresses we've tested; the Emma Original Elite (formerly the Emma Hybrid AirGrid). Our tester credited the AirGrid with the plush, contouring feel that made the Original Elite so comfortable for side sleepers, as well as its breathable feel "even on warmer days."

So why not stick with the Original collection? Emma's new Performance mattress range aims to take the comfort of the Original and turn it up a notch, meaning more cushioning, enhanced support and better airflow... but that also means boosting the prices. Here's everything you need to know.

Emma Performance mattress collection: Price

Emma's Performance collection includes beds featuring the brand's most up-to-date comfort tech, so it's no surprise that they also come with the highest prices. Luckily, Emma is known to love a sale and two Performance mattresses are already on sale.

Here's the RRP and current sale price of each bed in the collection:

Performance 26 mattress at Emma prices:

• UK Single: £729 RRP (currently sold at £549)
• UK Double: £1,129 RRP (currently sold at £849)
• UK King: £1,259 RRP (currently sold at £949)
• UK Super King: £1,459 RRP (currently sold at £1,099)

Performance 28 mattress at Emma prices:

• UK Single: £799 RRP
• UK Double: £1,259 RRP
• UK King: £1,399 RRP
• UK Super King: £1,599 RRP

Performance 30 mattress at Emma prices:

• UK Single: £999 RRP (currently sold at £749)
• UK Double: £1,599 RRP (currently sold at £1,199)
• UK King: £1,799 RRP (currently sold at £1,349)
• UK Super King: £1,999 RRP (currently sold at £1,499)

Even the cheapest Performance mattress, the 26, has a higher RRP than the most luxurious mattress in the Original Emma line-up (the Emma Original Elite mattress, which starts at £454.30 in the sale.)

The line-up is similar in price to Simba's hybrid mattress range (without the mega-luxurious option of the Simba Ultra Hybrid mattress). And while brands such as Otty offer hybrid mattresses for a lower price (the Otty Original mattress is just £599.99 for a double), they lack the luxury and performance features of this new Emma range.

However, as premium mattresses, you might want to wait for a sale before you buy. Luckily, Emma doesn't shy away from a sale. If the bed you want isn't discounted right now, it's worth waiting for the discount to change.

Finally, Emma offers a 200-night trial and 10-year guarantee with all Performance mattresses.

Emma Performance mattress collection: Features

Emma describes the Performance mattress range as its "most cooling and responsive", and it's Emma's innovative AirGrid tech that should create this feel.

The AirGrid, found in all three of the Performance mattresses, is a flexible material constructed with cutouts to form a grid. The unusual shaping allows the material to bend and yield easily, to adapt to every part of your body. The result should be incredible pressure relief with no sore arms and shoulders.

The grid design also improves airflow, as warm air can escape through the holes. This allows air to circulate and cool, keeping you at a more comfortable temperature throughout the night (overheating was a common complaint of some of Emma's early mattresses).

Alongside the AirGrid, the Performance mattresses use MemoryAdapt foam (for cushioned comfort) and a SupportBase plus pocket springs (for full-body support). The Performance beds also feature a foam railing — this is new to Emma mattresses and should help boost edge support so you can stretch out without sliding off.

While the basic Performance mattress package is the same, the more you pay, the plusher and taller the design becomes. The Performance 26 is 26 centimeters tall, the 28 is 28 centimeters tall... you get it.

So the more you spend, the more mattress you get.

As a sleep editor I get the opportunity to test a huge range of sleep tech and products, all geared towards helping us in our collective quest for a decent night’s sleep. I have everything I need for a good night’s rest, and yet I still struggle with middle insomnia.

Middle insomnia is characterised by falling asleep with ease, only to then wake in the middle of the night. For me, I go through periods of waking up at 3 a.m., unable to fall back to sleep. While unpicking the root cause of my nighttime awakenings is an ongoing process, I’ve learnt that there are habits that make the issue worse.

Below, three leading sleep doctors weigh in on the nighttime routine mistakes I’m making, like falling asleep in front of the TV. Plus, they share the three simple switches I can make in order to better manage my middle insomnia.

• Read more: Stress was waking me up at 3 a.m. — until two of the world's best sleep doctors shared 5 fast fixes to lower my cortisol at night

Why do I keep waking up at 3 a.m.?

• Sleeping in on the weekends: Breaks your natural circadian rhythm and causes 'social jet lag.'
• Falling asleep in front of the TV: Falling asleep in front of the TV diminishes your sleep pressure, making it harder to both fall and stay asleep.
• Getting inadequate exercise: Incorporating less movement into my day when I'm tired perpetuates the cycle of poor sleep.

3 simple doctor-approved daily routine switches to help you sleep through the night

I strongly suspect that the underlying cause of my 3 a.m. wake ups is due to elevated baseline levels of cortisol, the 'stress' hormone.

While there's no quick fix to dealing with stress and anxiety, there are several nighttime routine mistakes that I wasn't aware were contributing to my middle insomnia.

Below, sleep doctors weigh in on why certain common daily habits wreak havoc on my rest, plus the simple switches I can try instead for better sleep.

1. The 3 a.m. culprit: Sleeping in on the weekend

As a parent, sleeping in on the weekend isn’t something that I get to do all too often. But if the opportunity arises to sleep in past my usual wake time, I tend to grab it with both hands — especially following a broken night’s sleep.

But, according to experts, this is one of the biggest sleep routine mistakes I could be making.

“Even after a poor night's sleep, maintaining a consistent wake time can help restore healthy sleep patterns more effectively than sleeping in,” says Dr. Joshua Roland, medical director at Dreem Health.

Dr. Matthew Walker, a leading sleep scientist, agrees. "Irregular wake times, particularly across weekends, can create social jet lag: a mismatch between biological time and clock time, even without travel."

The swap: Sticking to a consistent sleep schedule

Following a consistent sleep schedule, like the 7:1 sleep rule where you go to bed within the same one hour window and achieve a minimum of seven hours of sleep, ensures you have enough time to build adequate sleep pressure throughout the day.

Sleep pressure is your biological urge to sleep. It’s also referred to as your homeostatic sleep drive. It starts building from the moment you wake up, reaches its peak as you nod off, before levels begin to drop again.

When you sleep in later than usual, you aren’t giving your body enough time to build enough sleep pressure to both fall and stay asleep all night.
The best way to fall into a consistent sleep schedule is by anchoring your wake up time — even on the weekend.

“A fixed wake time determines the length of the waking day, stabilizes the accumulation of sleep pressure, and provides a repeatable circadian cue when paired with morning light,” explains Dr. Walker, neuroscientist and professor of neuroscience and bioengineering at the University of Texas at Dallas.

“A consistent wake time is arguably one of the most important anchors of the body's circadian rhythm because it helps set the timing of hormone release, body temperature cycles, alertness, and subsequent sleep pressure,“ agrees Dr. Roland, a Board-Certified Sleep Medicine Physician.

2. The 3 a.m. culprit: Falling asleep in front of the TV

Falling asleep in front of the TV is my guilty pleasure, particularly on the weekend. I'm not alone, an estimated 61% of us fall asleep in front of the TV every night. However, doctors warn that it could be contributing to my middle insomnia.

“A [mistake] is the brief evening doze, often during television or reading," Dr. Walker has previously explained. "Even twenty minutes of sleep in the evening can partially discharge sleep pressure and make it harder to initiate sleep later."

Falling asleep in front of the TV or napping during the day is a common mistake that Dr. Roland also encounters.

“Many people compensate for sleepiness by resting on the couch or napping throughout the day, which can relieve sleep pressure and make nighttime sleep more fragmented,” explains the sleep doctor.

What's more, when we push past our natural sleep window, it can trigger the production of wakeful chemicals, such as orepinephrine, dopamine, orexin and, my biggest foe, cortisol.

"When we push past our natural bedtime, we create a tug-of-war inside the body. Sleep pressure has been building all day; natural melatonin is rising, and every signal is telling you it's time to rest," Dr. Roland has previously explained.

That can result in a tired and wired feeling, which is when you're physically exhausted but feel too mentally stimulated to fall asleep.

The swap: Pay attention to sleep cues and go to bed when I’m tired

Instead of napping through a film or falling asleep when reading, Dr. Walker stresses the importance of staying in tune to our natural sleep window.

“Adequate sleep pressure is usually signalled by increasing eyelid heaviness, yawning, reduced alertness, impaired sustained attention, and the repeated loss of focus while reading or watching something,” explains Dr. Walker, who notes that artificial lighting, screen time and stimulation late into the night can impair your natural sleep cues.

“These [sleep] signals are often missed because evening light exposure, screens, and mental stimulation can override or obscure the biological drive for sleep," explains the author. "Think of the system like an instrument panel: the body is displaying reduced alertness, but environmental stimulation can distort the reading."

3. The 3 a.m. culprit: Getting less exercise on the days I feel tired

Forget the under eye bags — a quick glance at my fitness tracker stats will tell you if I’ve had a good night’s sleep or not.

On the days when I’m existing in a fog of sleep deprivation, my step count is pitifully low. But when I’ve had a good night’s sleep I tend to move more.

Why does this matter? “Moving less during the day can make it harder to get a good night's sleep,” explains Dr. Shelby Harris, a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in behavioral sleep medicine.

“But it’s really a cycle because when people don't get enough sleep, they're also often more fatigued the next day, which can lead to spending more time sitting and being less physically active.”

The swap: Incorporating movement into my day to build adequate sleep pressure

Instead of leading into exhaustion and barely getting out of my chair, Dr. Harris recommends incorporating movement into my day — even after a terrible night's sleep.

“Regular physical activity helps build the body's natural drive for sleep, supports a healthy sleep-wake cycle, and can reduce stress and improve mood,” says Dr. Harris, author of The Women's Guide to Overcoming Insomnia.

However, that doesn’t mean you need to push yourself too hard. “If you're exhausted after a bad night's sleep, don't put pressure on yourself to do an intense workout," says Dr. Harris. "Even getting up to stretch every hour, taking a short walk during lunch, or walking while you're on a phone call can make a difference.”

How to fall back to sleep when you're awake at 3 a.m.

• Don't check the clock: If you're anything like me, rolling over and checking the time can stress you out further. It can also lead to the temptation of scrolling on your phone, making it even harder to go back to sleep.
• Practice the 15 minute sleep rule: When I do wake up at 3 a.m., the advice from experts is clear — get up and leave the room and do something relaxing. This prevents creating a negative association with your bed and bedroom.
• Try the cognitive shuffling method: This is a visualisation technique or random objects and helps empty my mind of racing thoughts. To practice it, think of a word and spell out as many objects as you can beginning with each letter.

Most of us know what we need to do in order to get a good night’s sleep. But I’ve found that when life gets busy, my routine gets thrown out of whack and middle insomnia makes an unwelcome return.

Waking up at 3 a.m. is miserable and I’ll never stop searching for ways to sleep peacefully throughout the night, every night. To help get my sleep back on track and fix my middle of the night awakenings, I’ve given the 3-2-1 sleep rule a go — and it’s already reduced my middle insomnia.

Sticking to a simple wind down strategy like the 3-2-1 method has helped me get back to the basics of healthy sleep hygiene and effectively reducing my 3 a.m. wake-ups. Below, I’ll dig into what this method is and how it helps with middle insomnia, plus share expert advice from leading sleep doctors on how to banish 3 a.m. wake-ups.

• Read more: Stress was waking me up at 3 a.m. — until two of the world's best sleep doctors shared 5 fast fixes to lower my cortisol at night

Key takeaways: At a glance

• The 3-2-1 sleep rule is a structured process of winding down before bed
• Practices such as avoiding heavy meals and cutting out screens before bed help promote quality sleep
• As well as falling asleep faster, I’ve found that sticking to a strict wind down structure helps combat my 3 a.m. wake ups through the healthy production of key ‘sleep’ hormones

What is the 3-2-1 sleep rule?

The 3-2-1 sleep rule is a term to describe a structured wind down routine, drawing on healthy habits that help promote deep sleep in a structured way. Here’s how to do it:

• 3 hours before bed: Stop eating heavy meals or consuming alcohol.
• 2 hours before bed: Stop working and engaging with stimulating tasks.
• 1 hour before bed: Turn off your screens or devices, including your TV.

How the 3-2-1 sleep rule reduced my 3 a.m. wake ups

The 3-2-1 sleep rule isn’t ground breaking, but I’ve found that following it is reminding me of the healthy habits I need to follow in order to get the sleep I need.

Here’s how it’s helping with my 3 a.m. wake ups...

My blood sugar levels stay regulated

Rich, heavy meals too close to bedtime is a leading cause of broken sleep, say dieticians. “One of the most common reasons for waking around 3 a.m. is a drop in blood sugar during the night,” Conny Wade at Wade Wellness, a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P) and practising Nurse Practitioner, previously explained to us.

“If you eat dinner too late or the meal is unbalanced, your body may release stress hormones to bring blood sugar back up, and that can wake you suddenly,” Wade explains.

As someone with recurrent nighttime anxiety, I knew that rising cortisol levels were often to blame for my 3 a.m. wake ups. However, I didn’t know that my evening meals could be contributing to that.

Instead of late, carb-heavy dinners, I’m making an effort to eat my evening meal by 7 p.m. in order to allow my body to digest my food before my 10 p.m. bedtime. If I’m still hungry in the runup to bedtime, I opt for light healthy snacks like yoghurt and fruit and water.

As for cutting out alcohol three hours before bedtime, I rarely drink so this isn’t something I have needed to take on board. However, it’s worth reiterating that, along with a whole host of other side effects, studies show that alcohol consumption compromises your sleep quality and disrupts your rest.

That’s because our brains produce cortisol in order to metabolize alcohol, leading to frequent nighttime awakenings. If you’re struggling with middle insomnia and enjoy a nightcap or two, consider cutting yourself off three hours before bedtime in order to allow your body to metabolize it before nodding off.

Avoiding stimulating tasks before bed prevents disruption of key sleep hormones

Whether it’s work or life admin that you haven’t had time to tackle during the day, the pocket of time you might have in the runup to bedtime (or beyond) can feel like the right time to tick things off of your to-do list.

However, studies indicate that when we work past our bedtime, it disrupts the natural rhythm of key sleep hormones required to help us feel ready for sleep — and that can lead to difficulty both falling and staying asleep.

“The brain activates its alertness systems, releasing chemicals like norepinephrine, dopamine, and orexin to keep you functional,” explains Dr. Joshua Roland, a board-certified sleep medicine physician and medical director at Dreem Health.

“Cortisol can creep up, too, which is why you get that ‘tired but wired’ feeling: physically drained but mentally switched on,” says the sleep physician. Cortisol levels naturally rise around 3 a.m. before peaking upon waking. However, elevated baseline levels of cortisol levels can cause levels to rise enough around this time to wake you up.
As a time-poor parent, working beyond bedtime is a trap I often fall into, and it’s why I often lie in bed feeling too switched on to fall asleep, only to then wake in the early hours of the morning. Now, if I’m aiming for a 10 p.m. bedtime, I’ll close my laptop at 8 p.m. and allow my brain to wind down naturally for sleep.

Going screen-free before bedtime calms my nervous system

There is evidence to suggest that blue light from our screens isn’t as disruptive to the production of the sleep hormone melatonin as we once thought. However, the content that we’re consuming on those screens can be, and it can lead to an overwrought nervous system.

“What's interesting is that scrolling often feels restful, but physiologically it isn't,” says Dr. Jessica Meers, a Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Rhythm Wellness. “Every swipe brings something new and unpredictable, keeping the brain engaged and alert.

“Even when we're relaxing on the couch, our brains are still processing information, emotions, and stimulation. That's one reason many people feel mentally tired but not truly rested,” says the Board-Certified Sleep Behavioral Specialist.

So, although scrolling on my phone or watching TV looks like downtime, switching off my screens one hour before bedtime in favor of an analogue activity (puzzling and reading are currently my go-to activities of choice) I’m allowing my nervous system to decompress — and that’s crucial for combatting middle insomnia.

3 sleep doctor-approved tips for stopping 3 a.m. wake ups

It’s normal to partially wake during the night as we cycle through different sleep stages and rarely even remember it.

However, waking up at night becomes a problem when you find yourself wide awake for extended periods of time and struggle to fall back to sleep.

For me, nighttime anxiety is a leading cause of my 3 a.m. wake ups. Here, leading sleep doctors share their tips for banishing middle insomnia and getting the rest you need.

1. Set aside worry time

In an ideal world we wouldn't worry at all, but if anxiety is causing you to wake up at night then setting aside time before bed to offload could help.

"One of my favorite strategies for reducing nighttime anxiety is what I call a cognitive offload," says Dr. Meers.

"Before bed, write down everything that's on your mind — tasks, worries, reminders, anything unfinished. It helps signal to the brain that it doesn't need to keep rehearsing those thoughts overnight."

2. Build sleep pressure

Building adequate sleep pressure has been a game changer for my sleep. Sleep pressure, also referred to as your homeostatic sleep drive, is essentially a term to describe your biological urge to sleep.

It builds from the moment you wake up and hits its peak just before you go to sleep. Things that add to sleep pressure include exercise and a consistent wake time. On the flip side, excessive napping, a sedentary lifestyle and caffeine can rob you of the sleep pressure required to stay asleep all night.

3. Try an invisible hour

I've tried an invisible day method, a digital 24-hour detox, in order to combat my 3 a.m. wake ups. While it undoubtedly works, it can be difficult to carve out the time in my busy schedule to implement one.

Instead, Dr. Eric Zhou, associate professor in the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, recommends taking a regular 'invisible hour' before bedtime.

"Create a consistent 'invisible hour' each night," recommends Dr. Zhou, a sleep researcher. "During this time, promise yourself that you won't turn on your work laptop, or see what your friends have posted on Tik Tok. Instead, use this time to participate in something that you genuinely enjoy."

Just when I think I’ve got my sleep problems under control and I'm finally getting the rest I need, my 3 a.m. wake ups make an unwelcome return. During these periods of middle insomnia (the most common cause of insomnia) I wake with a jolt and my heart pounding in my chest.

Key takeaways: At a glance

• Doctors pinpoint three potential causes of my 3 a.m. wake ups, which include a lack of adequate sleep pressure, elevated cortisol levels and blood sugar fluctuations
• Daily habits such as napping and sleeping in on the weekend are unexpected causes of middle insomnia
• Tips for sleeping through my 3 a.m. wake ups include eating my evening meals earlier and sticking to a consistent sleep schedule
• Doctors also recommend spending more time in nature to manage anxiety and lower cortisol levels

Staring at the clock and willing myself to fall back to sleep just isn’t cutting it, so I spoke to leading sleep doctors to help pinpoint the cause behind my 3 a.m. wake ups — and how, crucially, I can better manage them for improved rest.

Together, they’ve helped identify the three main culprits behind my middle of the night awakenings, along with simple routine strategies I can use to try and sleep through once and for all.

• Read more: Stress was waking me up at 3 a.m. — until two of the world's best sleep doctors shared 5 fast fixes to lower my cortisol at night

Doctors pinpoint the top 3 causes of my 3 a.m. wake ups

Whether it's a health condition such as sleep apnea, a late-afternoon caffeine habit that you can't quite kick or environmental factors (like noisy neighbors or a sweltering heatwave), many of us go through periods of waking up at 3 a.m.

My middle insomnia has ramped up over the past five years or so and I'm determined to find a solution. But in order to do so, I need to find the root cause. Here, doctors outline the likely culprits behind my 3 a.m. wake ups.

1. Lack of adequate sleep pressure

Sleep pressure can also be referred to as your sleep hunger or homeostatic sleep drive. Essentially, it's how tired you feel in the run up to bedtime. Driven by neurotransmitter called adenosine, sleep pressure begins building from the moment you open your eyes, dropping once you go to sleep.

As cortisol levels naturally begin to rise around 3 a.m., insufficient sleep pressure means you're more susceptible to being woken up by the alerting impact of cortisol. So, if your homeostatic sleep drive is on the lower side before you go to bed, you're more likely to experience fragmented sleep.

Sedentary lifestyles, excess caffeine and late afternoon naps are all examples of factors that can negatively affect your sleep pressure.

After a disrupted night's sleep, I know I'm guilty of reaching for more coffee to help me get through the day. On those low-energy days, I'm also less inclined to exercise and I'm more inclined to snatch time for a nap — and that's a big no-no.

"Think of a late-afternoon nap like snacking just before dinner: it takes the edge off your appetite," explains Dr. Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and bioengineering at the University of Texas at Dallas.

"In the same way, a late nap can blunt your sleep hunger, leaving you with less biological force driving you down into sleep at night," explains the leading sleep expert.

2. Elevated cortisol levels

Cortisol has a bad reputation as being the 'stress' hormone, but it also plays a pivotal role in our sleep-wake cycles. Cortisol levels begin to naturally rise in the early hours of the morning, before peaking upon waking. That's called your Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR). It's part of what helps us feel alert when we start the day.

However, if your baseline level of cortisol is higher — often caused by stress or anxiety — that slight increase of cortisol at 3 a.m. can be enough to wake you up. That's why, for some of us with middle insomnia, those awakenings are accompanied by a racing heart and feelings of anxiety.

"The Cortisol Awakening Response is when your cortisol begins to rise early in the morning, a few hours before you get out of bed, which transitions your body from sleep to wake by raising blood sugar, blood pressure, and mental readiness," Dr. William Lu, a sleep medicine physician, has previously explained to me.

"However, if this increase happens too early it can wake you at 3 or 4 a.m. This usually happens when you are on high alert from stress, anxiety, or blood sugar instability," says Dr. Lu, medical director at Dreem Health.

3. Blood sugar fluctuations

As a busy working parent, there are times during the week that I don't get the opportunity to sit down and eat my evening meal until around 8-9 p.m. While going to bed soon after eating doesn't exactly feel comfortable and often means I have difficulty actually falling asleep, I didn't know that late, heavy meals could also be contributing to my middle insomnia.

“One of the most common reasons for waking around 3 a.m. is a drop in blood sugar during the night,” Conny Wade at Wade Wellness, a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P) and practicing Nurse Practitioner, previously explained to us.

“If you eat dinner too late or the meal is unbalanced, your body may release stress hormones to bring blood sugar back up, and that can wake you suddenly,” Wade explains.

Again, the culprit here is rising cortisol levels, which our bodies produce as a reaction to low sugar and insulin levels — which can wake you up.

The sleep doctor-recommended routine switches to help manage middle insomnia

Unfortunately, there's no one silver bullet solution to overcoming 3 a.m. wake ups. However, I have learnt that there are a series of small actions you can take every day for sleep better at night.

I've noticed that each small habit outlined below supports the others, which helps to improve my overall sleep hygiene and reduce middle of the night awakenings.

1. Stick to a consistent sleep schedule for improved sleep pressure

Sleeping in later than usual can feel like an enticing prospect following a rough night of broken sleep. However, an erratic sleep schedule can lead to insufficient sleep pressure — which is a common culprit of middle insomnia.

Instead, sticking to a regular sleep schedule — like the 7:1 sleep rule — allows an adequate amount of time for adenosine to build, which makes you less susceptible to nighttime awakenings.

"A consistent wake time is one of the strongest behavioral anchors for the circadian system," explains Dr. Walker, who notes that while a consistent bed time is also important, sleep onset can't be forced and is therefore difficult to control.

"Waking at a stable time, followed by morning light exposure, provides the brain with a reliable daily timing cue that helps synchronize the 24-hour rhythm," says the best-selling author of Why We Sleep.

2. Forest bathing to help soothe my stressed nervous system

Forest bathing might sound like the act of rolling around on the muddy forest floor but is actually an ancient Japanese mindfulness practice that involves immersing yourself in nature.

I've written before about how making the time for a twenty minute mindfulness walk through my local woods helped calm my frazzled nervous system. However, once I saw an improvement in my stress levels and sleep, forest bathing slipped down my list of priorities.

Now that my 3 a.m. wake ups have returned, making time for activities that actively lower my baseline level of cortisol and increase my sleep pressure (adenosine is a natural by product of exercise) is something I need to prioritize.

"Science shows that spending mindful time in nature significantly lowers cortisol (our stress hormone) and blood pressure," says Gary Evans, director and co-founder of The Forest Bathing Institute in the UK.

If possible, spending time outdoors within the first 60 minutes of waking has the added benefit of natural daylight exposure, which helps build sleep pressure and anchor the circadian rhythm.

"Morning light helps stabilize the circadian signal, while daytime physical activity can strengthen the depth and continuity of subsequent sleep," explains Dr. Walker.

3. Eating evening meals earlier to regulate my blood sugar levels

Instead of carb-heavy comfort meals close to bedtime, a nutritionally balanced meal around three hours before my chosen bedtime allows my body enough time to digest dinner before hopping into bed.

Your circadian rhythm is your body's internal clock, helping you to feel tired and alert at the right time. And as well as orchestrating your sleep-wake cycle, your circadian rhythm regulates your metabolism.

“The human body thrives on routine,” Emma Zengh, a certified nutritionist, previously explained to us. “Which means that eating dinner at the same time every night helps keep the hormones in the body in check.”

So, as well as allowing enough time to digest my food (and prevent a spike in cortisol due to low blood sugar levels), eating mealtimes at roughly the same time every day is another way to cement my circadian rhythm.

Quick tips to falling back to sleep when you wake at 3 a.m.

Waking up at 3 a.m. can feel debilitating. However, I have learnt how to better manage them in the moment in order to fall back asleep faster. These are some of the strategies I find useful...

• Practice the 15 minute sleep rule: Staying in bed when you can't sleep leads to a negative association with your bed. The advice from experts is clear — if after 15 minutes you're still awake, get up and leave the room and do something relaxing. Then, when you feel tired, go back to bed.
• Don't immediately check the clock: Rolling over and checking the time can cause further feelings of anxiety. It can also lead to the temptation of scrolling on your phone, making it even harder to go back to sleep.
• Try cognitive shuffling to stop rumination: If you're waking with anxiety, it can be hard to turn off the chatter in your brain in order to fall back to sleep. To help, I try cognitive shuffling, a relaxation technique. To do it, pick a random letter then think of different words beginning with that letter.

I'm a Certified Sleep Coach but early motherhood means I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in nearly four years. Most mornings I battle with sleep inertia — that dense, groggy feeling when your brain refuses to reboot. I’ve been relying on caffeine for an energy boost, but it’s interfering with my sleep (caffeine has a half-life of up three to seven hours in adults).

To break the cycle, I decided to stop propping up my morning brain with caffeine and start biohacking it instead. That’s how I ended up testing the AYO+ Light Therapy Glasses (from $249/£249 at Ayo)—lightweight phototherapy frames that use blue-enriched light to fine-tune my circadian rhythm.

NASA’s Fatigue Countermeasures Lab team, led by Dr. Erin Flynn-Evans, is doing some interesting research into blue light as a way to reduce sleep inertia, so I was curious to see how effective AYO’s blue light glasses were. Here’s my experience after testing them for three months…

• Read more: I kept waking up exhausted until a NASA scientist shared her $0 lab-tested tip for beating morning grogginess — here’s how it works

At a glance: Key takeaways

• The AYO+ glasses effectively reduce sleep inertia: The 470nm blue-turquoise light effectively flushes out deep, heavy brain fog after waking.
• They help stave off afternoon slumps: In my case, implementing a 20-minute ‘blue light boost’ session after lunch stopped me from crashing later that afternoon.
• Total freedom of movement: Unlike traditional 10,000-lux light boxes, you can go about your morning routine, get dressed, and pack lunches when wearing the AYO+ glasses.
• AYO+ Light Therapy Glasses are not an overnight miracle: It took around three weeks of consistent daily use for me to feel a noticeable biological shift.
• Some people need to exercise caution: Light therapy glasses aren’t suitable for everyone. People with cataracts, bipolar disorder, or lupus should speak to their doctor first.

What are AYO+ Light Therapy glasses?

• 10,000-lux equivalent: Because they sit in close proximity to your eyes, the AYO+ Light Therapy Glasses produce the same powerful wake-up signals as a clinical grade light therapy box.
• Targeted blue-turquoise light: The AYO+ emit a 470nm wavelength, which studies show as the sweet spot for stimulating your internal body clock and boosting daytime energy.
• Eye-safe: These narrow-band LEDs are free of harmful UV rays and infrared rays, making them safe for daily wear.
• Optimized light strength: They deliver a peak irradiance (light intensity) of 250 µW/cm² – that’s an effective clinical dose of phototherapy without causing glare or eye strain.

AYO+ are the next-gen version of the original AYO Light Therapy Glasses, which began life as a Kickstarter in 2019. They’re often pitted against rival phototherapy glasses such as Luminette, and are fall into the circadian tech bracket – a branch of sleep tech designed to regulate, fine-tune and strengthen your circadian health.

The AYO+ glasses emit a blue-turquoise light at around 470nm (nanometer), with a ‘light strength’ (irradiance) of 250 µW/cm² (250 microwatts of light energy per square centimeter).

This targeted 470nm wavelength works by stimulating specialized receptors in our eyes called ipRGCs. Neuroscientists at Harvard discovered these receptors are uniquely tuned to blue-turquoise light for regulating sleep and alertness.

I wear contact lenses and prescription glasses and the AYO+ Light Therapy Glasses work well with both.

On an eye health note, I haven’t experience any side effects since using the glasses, but on its website AYO lists possible side effects while your body adjusts to the glasses. These include headaches, eye strain and dizziness.

The glasses themselves are incredibly lightweight and can easily be worn over prescription eye glasses, emitting light downwards into your eyes via four light-emitting diodes.

The glasses turn on as soon as you open up the arms, kick-starting a 20-minute light therapy session. In the app you can change the duration of your session from 5 minutes (minimum) up to 90 minutes.

The light intensity can also be customized – choose from low, medium or high (most effective), or a custom intensity from 10% to 100%.

You also have the option of finishing your blue light therapy session with three minutes of red light.

There’s lots to dig into with narrowband red light, but in a nutshell it can stimulate the "powerhouses" of your cells (the mitochondria) to produce more energy. In terms of eye health, narrowband red light can help lower inflammation and give retinal cells a boost.

The root cause of my sleep and energy issues

There are two pain points in my day: feeling like a zombie when I wake-up, and hitting the wall, energy-wise, around 2.30 p.m. most afternoons.

In my defence, my sleep hygiene is excellent. I keep a consistent sleep schedule, follow the same bedtime routine, and go device-free and switch to circadian lighting an hour before bed. I drink water and eat soon after waking to give my body those wakeful cues, and I start moving my body.

None of that is a match for my wakeful three-year-old.

Sleeping has always been hard for him, for various health reasons. So I’m awake multiple times a night with my son, and that’s without my daytime caffeine habit fuelling more overnight chaos.

I can easily get through four or more cups of tea or coffee by 3pm. If I had to guess, I’ve probably been consuming around 400mg of caffeine in an eight-hour period (7am to 3pm) most days.

Caffeine can stay in your system for up to seven hours, which can make falling asleep within a decent time frame (20 minutes is average) quite tricky.

And according to the National Institutes of Health, even if you can fall asleep after a day on the caffeine train, high doses can reduce the amount of deep sleep you get. They can also trigger overnight awakenings.

Trading caffeine for circadian-optimized shots of blue light

I’ve tested many traditional light therapy boxes throughout my career working across Tom’s Guide, T3, TechRadar, and Top Ten Reviews, and while these S.A.D. lamps are highly effective, they require you to sit still.

The AYO+ Light Therapy Glasses are my first long-term experience using wearable phototherapy — and they’ve been a revelation.

Instead of being stuck at my kitchen table for 20 minutes each morning sat near a lightbox, I simply pop the AYO+ glasses soon after waking and get on with my morning routine.

From a productivity perspective alone, being able to move around the house while getting my daily dose of light therapy is convenient. And honestly? I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a stationary light therapy box.

But convenience wasn’t my main motive for testing the AYO+ Light Therapy Glasses. Instead I was desperate to tackle three major, interconnected issues:

• Intense grogginess upon waking – that heavy, stubborn sleep inertia that makes me feel like a zombie.
• Regular afternoon slumps – the ones that left me reaching for caffeine long past the recommended midday cut-off.
• Frequent overnight wake-ups – which I strongly suspect my caffeine habit was worsening.

To break the cycle, for three months I used the AYO+ glasses for 20 minutes soon after waking every morning. I wanted to see if they could reduce my morning fatigue and help me gain day-long energy without hammering the caffeine.

Here’s what happened…

My 90-day testing experience with the AYO+ Light Therapy glasses

When you’re rolling a huge sleep debt and feel so tired each morning that you want to crawl back into bed, setting up fiddly tech is a hard no. Luckily, the AYO+ Light Therapy Glasses are easy to use.

I keep mine next to my bed, nestled in the pill-shaped hard travel case they come in. My routine is simple: wake up, get out of bed, put on the AYO+ glasses, and go about my morning.

Here’s how effective, or not, the glasses were against each of my three big interconnected energy and sleep issues…

Sleep inertia

The AYO+ glasses were shipped to me during deep winter with its pitch black mornings. I’d given my Lumie light therapy box to a friend who was struggling with Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.), so I’d been without a light therapy device for weeks at that point and I was really feeling it.

The AYO+ glasses came packed in a white reinforced cardboard box with the brand’s logo on the outside. Inside was a hard travel case, housing the glasses, a white charging cable, and a small dust bag / soft travel pouch.

After charging the glasses (a full charge takes around three hours and lasts for around nine 20-minute sessions), I placed them on my nightstand ready for the morning.

I chose my normal wake-up time of 7 a.m. as the approximate start time for each daily session, as numerous studies have shown that light therapy is most effective within an hour of waking.

On my first day of testing I used the pre-set 20-minute session. While the glasses were a novelty – they look quite ‘Tron-esque’ when switched on – I didn’t feel any benefit.

I was still yawning after taking them off, and by mid morning I was flagging and hitting the caffeine. At 2.30 p.m., despite staying hydrated, eating a good lunch and going for a brisk walk, I was firing up the kettle.

AYO states that it can take a few days to a few weeks (or longer, depending on the individual, severity of symptoms, and lifestyle habits) to see any improvement.

So I persevered for a week to see if repeated daily use would nudge my body into easing off the melatonin and ramping up the cortisol and other wakeful hormones soon after waking. But it didn’t.

Come week two, however, I was beginning to feel less groggy in the mornings.

I usually need a cup of coffee before leaving the house for work or nursery drop-off. On the morning of day eight I didn’t. Instead, I had my first cup of tea at around 11 a.m. However, I was flagging again in the afternoon.

This became my pattern for another week. During my third week of testing, my morning grogginess had vastly reduced. In fact, I was waking up a few minutes before my alarm and feeling energised to boot.

And from a caffeine perspective, I was down to one cup at 11 a.m. These were huge wins for me compared to even a month before when I would be finishing my third cup by 10 a.m.

The afternoon slumps were still hell though, so I went back to the biohack drawing board. That was when I decided to introduce what I now call my ‘2 p.m. blue light boost.’

It was a game-changer…

Goodbye, afternoon slumps

Ever heard of anticipatory anxiety? It’s a phenomenon where you have a feeling of dread or worry about something that hasn’t happened yet.

Mine would start creeping in soon after lunch, when I’d begin worrying about the inevitable energy slump waiting to ambush my afternoon.

I’d panic about not having enough fuel in the tank to get through my work-load, or to keep up with my busy bee of a son for another five hours.

So after three weeks of single-dosing with light therapy I started double-dosing. I wasn’t expecting it to work so fast, but it did; like a gentle bubbling up of fresh energy that carried me through the afternoon.

Was it as instantly powerful as a cup of coffee? No. But it also didn’t give me jitters, heart palpitations or interfere with my sleep at night.

This post-lunch, 20-minute blue light boost has become a reset button for my afternoons. And I no longer have a physical need to consume caffeine after midday.

I always finish my second dose of phototherapy by 2 p.m. too, as blue light exposure can affect sleep in some people when used later in the day.

Why the AYO+ Light Therapy Glasses didn’t stop my overnight wake-ups

The AYO+ Light Therapy Glasses are an excellent tool for strengthening your natural circadian rhythm and for understanding the best times of your day to eat, exercise, be productive, sleep, and wake up.

When your body clock is properly anchored, your brain naturally learns exactly when to produce the right hormones at the right time — whether that’s cortisol to keep you energized during the most productive parts of the day, or melatonin to help you wind down for sleep at night.

Biologically, this predictable rhythm should help you settle down, fall asleep faster and boost your chances of sleeping through the night.

So why am I still waking up at 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m. and on? I mentioned him earlier: my three-year-old who wakes regularly due to ongoing health issues. As effective as the AYO+ Light Therapy Glasses are, they can’t help me there.

What I can say is this: when I do wake at night now, I fall back asleep fast. When I was necking loads of caffeine in the day, it took me an age to fall back asleep each time at night, even after practising techniques like 4 7 8 breathing or cognitive shuffling.

Energy levels rising, caffeine reliance dropping: Three months on

After three months of testing, the AYO+ Light Therapy Glasses have become a daily essential for me.

I love putting them on each morning and seeing that slim band of turquoise-blue sitting above my eyes. It feels summery, tropical and mood-boosting, even on dark winter mornings.

Having spent years reviewing traditional 10,000-lux S.A.D. lamps across Tom’s Guide, T3, and TechRadar, the freedom of wearable phototherapy has been a revelation and one I wish I’d embraced sooner.

The AYO+ didn't solve my interrupted nights — no piece of wearable tech can reprogram a wakeful three-year-old. But by using clinical-grade blue-turquoise light to anchor my circadian rhythm and reduce my morning grogginess and afternoon slumps, it did something much better: it gave me my days back.

I no longer feel like a zombie in the mornings, I don’t hit the wall at 2 p.m., and I no longer have to chug several coffees just to survive the day.

My reliance on caffeine has plummeted from around 400mg a day to just one solitary, late-morning cup of tea – and some days I even skip that.

Is light therapy suitable for everyone? No. According to AYO, people with bipolar disorder, those with eye conditions such as cataracts, people on photosensitizing medications, and those with skin sensitivities such as lupus should be cautious when considering light therapy glasses.

I’d recommend speaking to your doctor or healthcare professional first.

My verdict

If you’re looking for a magic wand that instantly guarantees seven+ hours of uninterrupted sleep a night, the AYO+ glasses aren't it.

As a Certified Sleep Science Coach, my recommendations there are choosing a few good sleep hygiene tips and sticking to them, keeping a consistent wake-up time, investing in the best mattress you can afford, and not stressing too much about ‘perfect sleep’ (orthosomnia).

But if you are a parent, a shift worker, or someone drowning in sleep debt and looking to break free from a vicious cycle of morning fatigue and afternoon caffeine crashes, the AYO+ Light Therapy Glasses are worth it.

Hybrid mattresses are famed for their airflow-boosting support, but you can get the same cooling comfort for less with a hybrid mattress topper — and one of the most popular hybrid toppers has now had a massive price drop at Amazon. The Simba Hybrid Mattress Topper, now down from £296.65 from £349 in a double at Amazon, is one of our favorite Prime Day sleep deals.

Most mattresses in our best mattress guide are hybrids, and the multi-layered Simba Hybrid Mattress Topper is designed to deliver a similar build. It currently has a 4.2 star score from over 200 customer ratings — 63% of those customers awarded the bed topper five stars.

We haven't seen many discounts on big-name brands while tracking the Amazon UK Prime Day mattress deals, so this discount from the ultra-popular Simba brand is one to snap up soon (a single is almost sold out.)

What customers are saying about the Simba Hybrid Topper...

While some user reviews do criticise the price tag and off-gassing, costumers on the whole praise this mattress topper.

Most Amazon customers love this hybrid mattress topper's ability to add cooling comfort to stuffy memory foam beds, with one reviewer noting that it's "noticeably cooler than any other mattress toppers" and another saying that it adds a "cool and firm layer".

Other customers also praise the pressure relief it adds to the bed, helping with aches and pains. "It's got a nice thickness, weighs a bit but is manageable, helps with controlling temperature and helps with pain relief in my hip," one customer writes.

Want something cheaper? Try this...

With homes in the UK acting like brick ovens and soaring energy bills leaving many in the US hesitant to blast the AC, the summer heatwaves are set to ruin your sleep. You need a way to cool down before bed so you don't spend the next few months sweaty, sticky and sleep deprived.

Your internal body clock relies several signals to fall asleep and one of them is temperature — your core needs to drop around 2°F / 1°C for you to drift off. But when your room is too warm, your body is unable to disperse heat efficiently. This leads to tossing and turning, which in turn causes cortisol levels to spike, leaving you vulnerable to 3 a.m. wake ups.

But a refreshing bedtime drink such as our Iced Summer Sleep Tea can help your body cool naturally, so you fall asleep fast even in a heatwave. Created by Claire Davies, Sleep Editor and Certified Sleep Science Coach, here we'll explain why this tea works, plus everything you need to make it.

How a bedtime iced tea helps you fall asleep fast in a heatwave

Our bedtime tea takes a three step approach to creating the perfect conditions to sleep in a heatwave.

First, it's cooling (both literally and mentally.) Served over ice, this tea cools the throat to provide immediate relief from the hot weather.

The menthol in the peppermint also makes you think you're cooler (without the shock of ice water.) By triggering the TRPM8 sensors in your mouth, menthol tells your nervous system that you're physically cold.

Second, it's hydrating. Slowly sipping a cooling drink replaces the fluids you've lost through sweating, keeping your body hydrated during the night. This helps you wake up energized and without the classic "heatwave headache" that comes from an under-hydrated system.

Third, it's full of sleep friendly ingredients. Chamomile is a source of sleep-inducing compound apigenin while the electrolytes from a splash of coconut water or a pinch of salt will help replenish the minerals you've lost through sweating. This in turn relaxes your muscles and calms a racing, overheated heart.

The ritual of the tea-drinking process can also help you relax before bed. But make sure to sip, rather than chug, to keep your bladder happy.

How to make an Iced Summer Sleep Tea

• Steep two chamomile tea bags and two peppermint tea bags in 500ml of boiling water for 8-10 minutes
• Remove the tea bags and add 60ml of coconut water and honey to taste
• Chill for 1-2 hours
• Serve over ice and sip roughly one hour before bed

Below are the detailed instructions to brew an Iced Summer Sleep Tea but don't worry, it's super simple. And if you keep scrolling, you'll find everything you need to make it.

Brew the tea (10 mins prep)
Place two chamomile tea bags and two peppermint tea bags into a heat proof pitcher. Pour over 500 ml of boiling water. Leave to steep for 8 to 10 minutes to extract the maximum amount of apigenin (a sleep-inducing antioxidant) and menthol.

Add a mineral boost (1 min prep)
Remove the tea bags and, while the tea is still warm, add 60ml of pure coconut water as a mineral boost to supercharge the tea with sleep-supporting electrolytes like potassium and magnesium. Alternatively, add 60ml of soda water and a pinch of natural sea salt.

Add honey (1 min prep)
Stir in one tablespoon of raw honey (or sweeten to your personal taste) until completely dissolved. Science tell us that natural sugars slightly raise insulin levels, making it easier for the sleep-inducing amino acid tryptophan to enter the brain.

Let it chill (2 to 3 hours)
Allow the pitcher to cool to room temperature before putting it in the fridge to chill completely for roughly two to three hours before you drink it.

Start drinking around 90 minutes before bed
Pour the chilled tea into a tall glass over large ice cubes. Sip it slowly over a period of 30 minutes, and around 90 minutes before when you want to sleep.

This allows the sleepy compounds to get to work while ensuring the liquid has passed through your system before bed, so you won't be woken up in the night because you need the bathroom.

What you'll need to make an Iced Summer Sleep Tea

For the highest concentration of apigenin to quiet the nervous system, we recommend using teas made with intact chamomile heads, rather than chamomile dust (but you might need your own tea filters.)

And opt for pure peppermint tea for the biggest cooling pay off. Whole leaves such as the Teapigs Peppermint Leaves are best, as they contain more menthol oil for that tingly fresh sensation.

For electrolytes and minerals, we suggest pure coconut water — a potassium boost with a touch of sweetness. Alternatively, use a pinch of natural saa salt for minerals without an unwelcome bite of sodium (Those on low sodium diets should opt for coconut water or skip this step.) And don't forget a spoonful of honey.

The equipment is simple but a heatproof glass pitcher is a must, so you can pour boiling water straight in without worrying about cracking (thermal shock resistant borosilicate glass is best.) We also recommend big ice molds which melt slower, keeping your drink crisp without watering it down. And for the final touches; insulated glasses and stirring sticks.

US shopping list

UK shopping list

Summary

If your usual mug of steaming chamomile tea looks less than appealing in the heat, our cooling alternative offers the same benefits without leaving you hot and bothered.

It also gives you what's likely to be a much needed hydration boost before bed. Alternatively, try TikTok favorite the sleepy girl mocktail, which uses tart cherry juice for a sleep-boost.

While the sun sets and your tea brews, cool your house by throwing open the windows and doors to create a cross breeze (but close your windows in the morning, to lock in any cool air.)

Put your lotions in the fridge while you take a lukewarm shower — your post-wash routine will feel like bliss on your skin. And if you want a snack with your drink, try a kiwi for a boost of serotonin.

Amazon Prime Day has arrived in the midst of a scorching hot summer, making it the perfect time to save on cooling sleep gadgets designed to help you get the rest you need.

Snapping up a cooling sleep deal is one of the best investments you can make, especially when you consider that heat-related insomnia isn't just a summer issue — research shows the average global citizen is already losing 44 hours of sleep a year to increasing nighttime temperatures.

While not all deals in this days-long sales event are worth buying, these cooling products are some of the best Amazon Prime Day mattress and sleep deals we've seen so far that we predict will sell out fast. From heat-dissipating pillow cases to portable air conditioning units, these Amazon deals will have you falling asleep fast during heatwaves...

The best US cooling sleep deals

The best UK cooling sleep deals

I'm a sleep editor and a mother of two, so I know a thing or two about helping your kids get the sleep they need. I've combed through today's Prime Day deals to bring you my five top picks for helping your little ones sleep well through a swelteringly hot summer and beyond.

My top recommendation? The YOTO Player starter bundle, now $99.99 (was $124.99) at Amazon (£79.99 down from £99.99 at Amazon UK) which is an excellent price on this hugely popular audio book-player-come-nightlight.

With thousands of items discounted for Prime Day, it can be hard to know where to start. This is my fourth year covering the sales, and I've helped pick the best Amazon Prime Day sleep and mattress sales. Below, you'll find my top picks for helping your kids rest well, night after night.

• Shop all Prime Day deals at Amazon

5 Prime Day deals I’d buy to help my kids rest well at night

5 Prime Day deals I’d buy to help my kids rest well at night

A bed topper is a cost-effective way to upgrade your sleep setup without having to spend a fortune on a new mattress, and this new Amazon Prime Day deal proves it. The Niagara Sleep Solutions Bamboo Mattress Topper, now down from £28.99 to £23.19 in a double at Amazon, is a hit with customers who want to add a soft, cooling touch to their bed.

While it has a much different design to the foam mattress toppers found in our best mattress toppers guide, this ultra-cheap bamboo mattress topper is an excellent choice if you want to add a breathable, pillow top layer to your bed in a pinch. It currently has a 4.2 star score from over 24,000 customer rating — 66% of those customers awarded the bed topper five stars.

Still, its design is more akin to a mattress pad than a bed topper, but as far as Amazon UK Prime Day mattress deals go, this discount definitely offers the best value for money. Here's more on what customers love (and don't love that much) about it...

What customers like about this 'cloud-like' bamboo mattress topper

There are plenty of reviews on this Amazon product, with the vast majority being very positive. Most praise the cooling breathability of the bamboo viscose material. One reviewer calls it "comfy and cool" while another customer shared that their bed "definitely feels cooler".

Softness received mixed reviews, with one customer saying it felt "incredibly soft and cloud like" while another said it it "definitely doesn't feel like sleeping on a cloud". We expect this, as the topper contains no foam, meaning that it's unlikely to change your mattress's firmness.

However, its value price tag and its machine-washable and tumble-dryer friendly design make it a low-cost, low-maintenance alternative to plusher and thicker mattress toppers. So, if you're priority is is saving your mattress on a smaller budget, we think this Bamboo Viscose Mattress Topper is an ideal choice.

Want something softer? Try this...

A second summer heatwave is upon us and if your bed turns into a giant foam oven at night, I recommend investing in a cooling mattress that wicks away heat fast. Simba makes some of the comfiest and coolest beds I’ve tested, and its cheapest cooling mattress, the Simba Simbatex Cool Mattress, is down to £261 (was £349) at Amazon for Prime Day members. It also has a machine washable cover to get rid of summer sweat.

The Simbatex Cool Mattress was launched in March and is made from four layers of certi-PUR graphite-infused Simbatex foam. This material is breathable and fast to dissipate heat. So the main consideration is the height. At 23cm (9 inches), it’s slightly shorter than the average bed-in-a-box, so I’d be wary of heavier bodies (240lbs+) receiving enough pressure relief to sleep comfortably.

Otherwise, at £299 for a double the Simbatex Cool is excellent value for money among this year’s best Amazon Prime Day mattress deals. Not an Amazon Prime member? No problem – Amazon is offering a free 30-day Amazon Prime trial, so you can sign up today and access big price drops on all of this year's best Prime Day deals.

Cooling, supportive and affordable

There are only seven double sizes left on Amazon for the Simba Simbatex Cool Mattress, and it isn’t hard to see why this budget bed-in-a-box is close to selling out on Day 1 of Prime Day 2026…

In the UK, Simba makes some of the best mattresses for every type of sleeper. Every Simba mattress we’ve tested has walked away with a score of at least 4 out of 5, and I’ve been sleeping on the Simba Natural Hybrid Apex (a knock-out organic mattress, on sale from £1,109 at Simba) for two years and can’t fault it.

The Simbatex Cooling Mattress comes in a medium-firm feel, and looking through verified customer reviews on Amazon (our official review is coming soon) it seems to be on the firmer side.

So based on that real-life feedback, the 23cm depth, and the construction of the mattress itself, I’d mainly recommend this mattress to back and stomach sleepers who fall in a normal weight category (under 230lbs each).

Side sleepers might need to partner it with a cooling mattress topper to add a bit more cushioning around the hips and shoulders. I’ve added some recommendations for you below.

Overall, few sleep brands come close to Simba for performance versus price, especially when you consider the amount of cooling tech you’re getting in a double size mattress here for £261. If you like the look of the Simbatex Cool Mattress, I’d buy sooner rather than later as this one could sell out soon.

Topper deals to soften up firm beds for less…

• Want more deals? See all mattress topper offers at Amazon

The Oura Ring 4 is hands-down our favorite sleep tracker, and it's just had a major price cut thanks to a new Amazon Prime Day deal. The Oura Ring 4, now up to 46% off at Amazon UK provides accurate sleep tracking, a comfy fit, and a panoramic, analytical view of your sleep.

The Oura Ring 4 takes the top spot in our guide to the best sleep trackers, thanks to its advanced features and seamless design. Lead tester Eve Davies rates the Oura Ring 4 for the way it helps her keep a consistent sleep schedule, as the smart ring's accompanying app reminds her when bedtime is approaching. "If sleeping better is your priority, the Oura Ring is the winner," says Davies.

While there are now plenty Amazon UK Prime Day mattress deals, this Oura Ring deal stands out as one of Prime Day's best savings for your sleep. Here's a more in-depth look at the Oura Ring 4, its spectacular Prime Day discount, and why it's great investment for your sleep.

Why the Oura Ring 4 is our #1 sleep tracker

Our lead tester says that the Oura Ring 4 helps her keep to a consistent sleep schedule, making it "my secret to falling asleep fast and waking up refreshed". But what sleep-improving features does the Oura Ring 4 boast?

First of all, the accompanying Oura app sends bedtime reminders to help you maintain your sleep schedule. The next benefit (and arguably most important) is the Oura Ring's accurate, precise sleep tracking, which gives the user key insight into their sleep stages and any nocturnal awakenings, data which betters your understanding of your sleep patterns.

Using your sleep data and sleep scores, the Oura App then offers an AI Oura Sleep Advisor who offers you tips and recommendations to enhance your sleep and improve any problems that may be lowering your sleep score.

Other benefits include a lengthy battery life, sleek screenless design, and an intuitive app that "presents data in a digestible, user-freindly format".

Smaller budget? Try this...

Each day during a heatwave, my neighbor hangs her pillows and bedding on the line for a few hours of ‘sun washing’ or ‘sun curing’ – a viral cleaning trend that claims leaving bed sheets in direct, super-hot sunlight UV-sanitizes them. I understand the appeal – this viral pillow cleaning hack is free, and who doesn’t like sleeping in line-fresh bedding?

But here’s the microbiological truth: ‘sun washing’ does little to get fungi, bacteria, dust mites and odors out of your pillows, bed sheets and toppers. According to a study on optimal ways to remove dust mites, allergens and pollen, a standard machine wash at 104°F 40°C leaves 94% of dust mites alive and kicking in your bedding. Yep, 94%.

So why is my neighbor dead-set on ‘sun washing’ her bedding during a heatwave? “The real benefit is moisture and not disinfection,” says Dr. Shanina C. Knighton, PhD, RN, CIC, an infection prevention expert and Research Associate Professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University.

To help us separate cleaning myth from microbiological reality, Dr. Knighton explains what ‘sun washing’ actually achieves, why pillows and bedding become moisture bombs during heatwaves, and the exact temperature a washing machine needs to get rid of the nasties.

Key take-aways: At a glance

• The 'sun washing' misconception: Hanging pillows and duvets outside in the sun won't disinfect them. Sunlight cannot physically lift soil or skin cells, and UV rays can't penetrate dense pillow and comforter interiors where microbes hide.
• Why airing bedding in a heatwave is still smart: Moving hot air pulls moisture, sweat, and odors trapped inside dense bedding. It temporarily stops bacteria from multiplying, but it won't get rid of the bacteria.
• The wash temperature that works: According to one study, 104°F / 40°C washes leave 94% of dust mites alive in your bedding. To eliminate dust mites and pathogens, you must machine wash your bedding using the warmest setting its care label safely tolerates. The ideal is 130°F to 140°F / 54.4°C to 60°C.
• When to wash bedding in a heatwave: While pillowcases and bed sheets should be washed once a week (minimum) during summer, step up the frequency if you sweat heavily, skip nighttime showers, have acne-prone skin, or share the bed with pets. Especially during a heatwave.
• Prioritize a dry bed over a tidy bed: Never make your bed straight after getting up if you've been sweating and the sheets felt damp. Pulling up the covers seals in body heat and moisture – the ideal conditions for fungi and odors to multiply during a heatwave.

‘Sun washing’ refreshes bedding — it doesn’t disinfect

With regular use, pillows and bedding house a build-up of fungi, dust mites, other allergens and odors.

“When researchers at the University of Manchester cultured used pillows, ones in service from a year and a half to more than 20 years, they found between four and 16 species of fungi in a single pillow, with higher numbers in the synthetic ones,” reveals Dr. Knighton.

“The concern is not that any single pillow is a biohazard. It is hours of close contact, night after night, with moisture and skin debris and microbial buildup sitting right against your face and airway."

Deep penetration is required to disinfect dense pillows and comforters, especially older ones that don’t get cleaned regularly in a washing machine — and that’s something a few hours of airing outside can’t deliver.

“A machine wash physically lifts sweat, oil, skin cells, allergens, and microbes off the fabric through detergent, water, agitation, rinsing, and heat,” Dr. Knighton explains. “Sunlight does not lift soil off of anything.”

Even the geometry of some pillows and bedding dilutes the germ-killing potential of ultraviolet light.

“Direct sun can reduce some microbes on an exposed surface, but the exposure is uneven and unreliable,” says Dr. Knighton. “The top of a duvet might catch the sun while the underside, the seams, the folds, and the dense fill inside a pillow never do.”

The fungi and bacteria hiding deep within the stuffing or wadding of your pillow and comforter remain entirely unreached by sunlight, even if you're 'sun washing' during a raging heatwave.

“I would never tell someone to skip a wash because the bedding spent an afternoon outside,” warns Dr. Knighton.

Why you should still air pillows and bedding outside in a heatwave

Moisture, not microbes, is the real reason to hang your pillows, comforter, and bed sheets out to air during a heatwave. You aren’t UV-sanitizing, you’re UV-dehydrating.

Every night as you lie in bed sweating away during a heatwave, your bedding acts like a giant sponge. It drinks up sweat, saliva (drool), skin oils, dead skin cells, and not to mention skin and hair products. During a heatwave, that sponge becomes extra thirsty and absorption rockets.

“Putting pillows and bedding out in dry moving air pulls that dampness back out and cuts the odor that comes with it,” Dr. Knighton notes. “That is what airing does. It dries and freshens between washes. It does not sanitize anything.”

How pillows and bedding become ‘moisture bombs’ in hot weather

All those hot, sticky summer nights spent sweating away in bed drive moisture down into your mattress, pillows and bedding.

“A dense pillow or comforter holds onto moisture far longer than a thin sheet does,” explains Dr. Knighton. “After a hot night, it’s carrying sweat, skin oil, and shed skin cells, and the warmth stays in the fill.

“Warmth, moisture, and organic material with no airflow is exactly the condition that lets bacteria and fungi persist and lets odor build, and the bedding doesn’t have to look dirty for this to be happening.”

So even though your crisp white sheets still look clean after nearly a week of sleeping under them, what’s infiltrated the sheets tells a different story.

To be clear, a heatwave won’t conjure dangerous new organisms overnight, says Dr. Knighton: “What the heat does is drive more sweat and trap more moisture, and moisture is the thing most microbes need to survive.”

The washing temperature that actually kills dust mites and more

Now that we know ‘sun washing’ draws out moisture, but doesn’t sanitize, it’s time to look at what will: your washing machine.

A standard wash cycle won’t cut it during a summer heatwave (or during any other time of year) — especially if you suffer from allergies or asthma.

“For temperature, use the warmest water the fabric can safely tolerate,” Dr. Knighton advises. “The benchmark most allergy guidance uses for dust mites is 130°F / 54.4°C.

“One study found that washing at 140°F / 60°C killed all dust mites, while a warm wash at 104°F / 40°C killed only about six per cent of them.”

While dropping your laundry down to a cool or warm cycle protects the fabric and saves energy, from an infection prevention standpoint, the hotter the wash the better.

Check your bedding’s care labels to ensure it will withstand a hotter wash. And if you have asthma, allergies, or a chronic health condition, consider swapping to pillows, comforters and bedding that can be safely washed at 130°F / 54.4°C.

"Hospital laundry runs hotter and longer than that, but that is validated industrial processing, not something a household needs or should try to copy,” Dr Knighton explains.

“The practical message is simple: wash often, use detergent, use the warmest safe setting, and dry the item all the way through."

How often you should wash pillows and bedding in summer vs a heatwave

A weekly bed sheets wash is common in most homes, but according to Dr. Knighton you might need to clean them more often during a heatwave.

During extreme summer heat your body is working overtime to cool itself down at night (heat spikes can cause 3 a.m. wake-ups and other middle insomnia issues).

As a result, sweat, facial skin oils, dead skin and more all seep down into your pillows and bedding at an accelerated rate.

Dr. Knighton recommends stepping up your laundry schedule significantly if you match any of the following criteria:

• You sweat heavily during the night or experience night sweats.
• You prefer to shower in the morning and go to bed with daytime skin buildup.
• You have oily, acne-prone skin, eczema, or environmental allergies.
• You share your bed with dogs, cats, or other pets.
• You work a high-exposure job (such as healthcare, childcare, sanitation, or repair work) where you actively carry the day's grime home with you.

Here, Dr. Knighton breaks down exactly how often you should machine wash different types of bedding during hot weather to keep the microbial load under control:

Bed sheets and pillowcases: Once a week (minimum)

You should wash these at least once a week in hot weather, but "more often for a lot of people," says Dr. Knighton.

Duvet covers: Every one to two weeks

To combat fungi, dust mites, allergens and more, you should hot wash your duvet cover once a week during summer – more if you don’t shower before sleep then sweat in bed.

Using a top flat sheet as a barrier between you and the duvet cover buys you a bit more time – up to two weeks, but check your cover for odors.

Pillows and comforters: Every three months (or sooner)

Always follow the care label on your pillow or comforter, but generally you should be washing them every few months. However, in a heatwave you need to wash them immediately if they are damp with moisture, stained, musty, or visibly soiled.

“A tidy bed should not outweigh a dry bed,” says Dr. Knighton.

By using ‘sun-washing’ to reduce daily moisture build-up between washing your pillows and bedding on as safe a hot wash as they can handle, you’ll get the microbial load under control and enjoy much cleaner sleep in the hot summer months.

Nighttime anxiety has me in a chokehold, jolting me awake at 3 a.m. most mornings with my heart hammering in my chest. While I fantasise about a relaxing spa break where I can finally decompress, I’ve found the next best thing: an ‘invisible day.’ What is it? A 24-hour digital detox that allows my nervous system to re-set before bedtime — and sleep experts approve.

“Taking an invisible day, especially when done consistently, can be a powerful method of reducing stress and anxiety from an overstimulated brain, which can help with the 3 a.m. wakings,” explains Dr. Eric Zhou, associate professor in the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

As a busy working parent, my smartphone is my lifeline. But every ping of a notification is also another demand on my time and attention. Instead, turning my phone off — even just for a day — helps me relax without being in a state of constant alert. Here’s why it's helping me to fight back against all those 3 a.m. wake-ups…

• Read more: Stress was waking me up at 3 a.m. — until two of the world's best sleep doctors shared 5 fast fixes to lower my cortisol at night

Key takeaways: At a glance

• An ‘ invisible day’ is a 24 hour digital detox during which you either turn your phone off or place it on airplane mode
• Experts believe that silencing the demand for our attention allows our nervous system to decompress before bedtime
• A higher than normal baseline level of cortisol is why many people with anxiety wake at 3 a.m.
• Reducing daytime stress helps lower the baseline level of cortisol, helping you to stay asleep all night

What is an invisible day and how can it help with your sleep?

It’s up to you exactly how you conduct your own 'invisible day'. However, the crux of it is that you are essentially invisible to the aspect of your life that is causing you the most angst. That might be caregiving or household chores.

It’s a pause in your busy, daily life.

For me, I initially chose a day to be invisible to my online world — where group WhatsApp messages demanding my attention were rolling in thick and fast — so that I could spend time with my family without distraction. During my 'invisible day' I felt present, calm and, crucially, I slept peacefully and didn't wake up at 3 a.m.

“It makes complete sense to me that you've found it helpful,” says Dr. Jessica Meers, a Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Rhythm Wellness.

“The 3 a.m. waking pattern is one of the most common sleep issues I see, and it often comes back to a nervous system that never fully unwound during the day.”

I spend most days with my phone glued to my hand so that I can promptly respond to every email, call, Whatsapp or notification. Sound familiar? This constant input takes its toll on your nervous system and makes it hard to switch off at night, Dr. Meers explains.

“An ‘invisible day’ interrupts that cycle and gives your nervous system a chance to decompress before bedtime, which can absolutely improve sleep,” says Dr. Meers, a board-certified sleep behavioral specialist.

How an 'invisible day' curbed my anxiety and reduced 3 a.m. wake-ups

I took my first invisible day a couple of months ago during a period of feeling overwhelmed and suffering from poor sleep.

At first, I just wanted to turn off the constant background chatter that I was allowing to infiltrate every part of my life. However, I soon realised that it was helpful for combating my 3 a.m. wake-ups too.

Here’s the science behind why…

1. It reduces cortisol levels

“Waking at 3 a.m. can be the hallmark of sleep maintenance insomnia, driven by an overactive nervous system; a stress-response system that can't sustain consolidated sleep,” explains Dr. Ranji Varghese, a Board-Certified Sleep Medicine and Psychiatry Specialist.

“For most people, cortisol (the body's primary stress hormone) naturally bottoms out around midnight and rises around 3 a.m,” says Dr. Varghese, noting that, in chronic insomnia, cortisol levels remain high.
However, studies point to a reduction in cortisol levels following a digital detox. By lowering your baseline level of cortisol, you’re then less likely to be woken when levels naturally begin to rise around 3 and 4 a.m., says Dr. Varghese, Medical Director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center at Hennepin County Medical Center.

2. It eliminates constant brain arousal

Scrolling on your phone might look like rest, but what’s really happening is that your brain is suspended in a heightened state of alert. Rarely giving our brains the opportunity to relax or switch off results in a tired and wired feeling that’s difficult to shake off come bedtime.

“Every single tap, swipe, and scroll triggers your brain's reward pathways,” explains Dr. Zhou, a sleep researcher. “This is because every app you use, every video you watch is all designed to keep you engaged. As a result, you are in a constant state of heightened arousal.”

3. It enables me to wind down without distraction

If we’re honest, most of our bedtime routines involve scrolling on our phones until the wave of exhaustion eventually pulls us into sleep.

As well as being able to decompress during the day, I found that, without the lure of my smartphone during my invisible day, I was better able to relax before bedtime, too.

“I've seen that when people disconnect from devices for an extended period, their nervous system begins to relax in a different way,” says Dr. Meers.

“The constant anticipation of the next message, notification, or piece of news starts to fade. Many people describe feeling calmer, more present, and less mentally ‘on.’”

How to take an 'invisible day' for better sleep

If taking an invisible day is unrealistic, Dr. Zhou suggests instead taking an "invisible hour" every night before bed.

"During this time, promise yourself that you won't turn on your work laptop, or see what your friends have posted on Tik Tok," he advises. "Instead, use this time to participate in something that you genuinely enjoy."

If you are able to take an invisible day, here's how to do it...

• Pick the date: Choose a low demand day when you’re unlikely to be needed
• Put your OOO on: Let those around you that you will be uncontactable during this time
• Establish an emergency contact method: If turning your phone off, set up an emergency contact method. This could be your partner or neighbor.
• Engage in mindful activities: Whether it’s puzzling with your kids or walking the dog, engage in activities you find relaxing

This year's Amazon Prime Day mattress deals have landed and so far it's been a pretty bland sale from the online retail giant. While there are a handful of genuinely good deals, most of the offers in today's Prime Day deals drop are on cheap beds with no cooling clout to help you sleep well in the summer ahead.

To help you spend your money wisely, we've found Amazon Prime Day mattress deals worth buying. Two of these mattresses are made by Simba and Nectar; sleep brands behind some of the best mattresses we've tested.

We'll be updating this page throughout the week with new deals, vetted by our sleep experts as and when they land. Don't forget, you have to be a Prime member to access these cheaper prices. Not a member? No problem – Amazon is offering a free Amazon Prime 30-day trial all of this week.

At a glance: Today's best Prime Day mattress deals

• View all Prime Day mattress deals at Amazon
• Simba Simbatex Cool Mattress: from £261 at Amazon
• Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam: from £73 at Amazon
• Nectar Memory Foam mattress: from £319 at Amazon
• Respray Memory Foam Sprung mattress: from £118 at Amazon

Today's 5 best Amazon Prime Day mattress deals of 2026

Amazon Prime Day mattress deals 2026: FAQs

When is the Amazon Prime Day sale 2026?

Amazon Prime Day has traditionally taken place in mid-July, but the big sales have come early this year. Now held in June, Prime Day 2026 starts on June 23rd and has a closing date of June 26th.

This means that Prime Day is a four-day event, but we recommend shopping on the opening day to grab the top sleep deals before they sell out fast.

How do I choose a good mattress at Amazon?

When choosing a mattress on Amazon (especially during Prime Day), you'll likely be bombarded with ultra-cheap deals that can seem too good to be true — and that'd because they often are.

So, when looking for a mattress on Amazon, choose a mattress thickness that's over 20cm (8") tall, as anything thinner will be totally unsupportive. We usually recommend 23cm (or 10") and above for most adult sleepers.

Look out for the green "Customers usually keep this item" badge, which is a good sign that the mattress is of decent quality.

Also, take a look at customer ratings and reviews, especially if the mattress is from a brand name that you don't recognise. While brands such as Simba, Nectar, and Dormeo are brands you can trust, you should probably avoid a cheap mattress from an obscure brand with only three reviews and an overall rating of under 4 stars.

Just when I think I’ve got my sleep issues sorted, nighttime anxiety comes knocking — and usually at the inconvenient time of 3 a.m. Waking up at night is a recurrent sleep problem for me and I’ll never tire of trying to get to the root cause of the issue.

In my search for answers, I’ve spoken to Dr. Joshua Roland, a Board-Certified Sleep Medicine Physician, and Dr. Matthew Walker, a leading sleep scientist. According to Dr. Roland, a ‘temporary second wind of energy’ is causing my wake ups — and falling asleep in front of the TV is one of the biggest culprits.

Evidence suggests that ignoring sleep cues and staying up later than your body need triggers the production of hormones associated with wakefulness, which contributes to 3 a.m. wake-ups. Below, I dig into the sleep cues I’m missing plus the every day habits that are causing my 'middle insomnia'.

• Read more: Stress was waking me up at 3 a.m. — until two of the world's best sleep doctors shared 5 fast fixes to lower my cortisol at night

Key takeaways: At a glance

• Research suggests that ignoring your natural sleep cues and instead staying awake can contribute to 3 a.m. wake-ups
• Overriding our body’s sleep signals to stay awake for one last scroll / chapter / episode etc. triggers the production of 'wakeful' hormones, including cortisol
• Elevated cortisol before bed means that, when cortisol levels naturally rise in the early hours of the morning, you’re susceptible to waking up
• Experts say one of the key sleep cues we ignore is feeling sleepy as opposed to tired
• Habits that give a temporary ‘second wind’ of energy include working late into the evening and falling asleep in front of the TV, something 61% of us do

Why pushing past your bedtime causes a cortisol spike

The 3 a.m. club isn’t exclusive and no one wants to be in it. And yet, my sleep over the past decade has been blighted by instances where I’m white-knuckling my way through the early hours of the morning, heart hammering in my chest.

I've recently learnt that my habits in the lead up to bedtime (most crucially, staying awake later than I should) can influence how anxious I feel or how often I'm awoken. Without realizing it, daily habits like like drifting off in front of the television is sabotaging my sleep. And it’s all down to the the release of hormones associated with wakefulness.

"When we push past our natural bedtime, we create a tug-of-war inside the body. Sleep pressure has been building all day; natural melatonin is rising, and every signal is telling you it's time to rest," says Dr. Roland, medical director at Dreem Health.

"But if you stay awake anyway, the brain activates its alertness systems, releasing chemicals like norepinephrine, dopamine, and orexin to keep you functional. Cortisol can creep up, too, which is why you get that 'tired but wired' feeling: physically drained but mentally switched on."

Studies also suggest that when we ignore our natural sleep cues and stay up later than our bodies need, our brain assumes there must be an emergency preventing us from sleeping. And this triggers the production of cortisol, the get-up-and-go hormone required for our fight or flight response.

Once you've fallen asleep, this hormonal rollercoaster isn't over. Cortisol levels naturally begin to increase around 3-4 a.m, peaking shortly after you wake. That's called your Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR). However, when your baseline level of cortisol is higher than it should be, this small rise in the middle of the night could be enough to wake you up.

Tired vs. Sleepy: How to identify true sleep pressure

We might use the terms interchangeably, but there's a difference between feeling tired and feeling sleepy. And being able to distinguish between the two can help stay attune to your natural sleep window.

"Adequate sleep pressure is usually signaled by increasing eyelid heaviness, yawning, reduced alertness, impaired sustained attention, and the repeated loss of focus while reading or watching something," explains Dr. Walker, neuroscientist and professor of neuroscience and bioengineering at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Dr. Roland agrees, noting that as you becoming more accustomed to overriding your body's sleep signals, these cues are easily missed. "In general, signs of adequate sleep pressure include feeling sleepy rather than just tired, finding it harder to stay alert, and being less engaged with activities."

However, Dr. Roland adds that it's easy to push through these sleep cues with screen, work, bright lights or caffeine. I often find myself barely able to keep my eyes open earlier in the evening, only to feel wide awake in bed. And that's all down to the second wind of energy that comes from ignoring your sleep signals and staying awake anyway.

• Read more: I tried the 7:1 sleep rule and finally hit 90 on my sleep tracker — here's all the ways it's boosting my metrics

3 evening habits that cause middle insomnia

During bouts of waking up at 3 a.m., I often feel as though I'm running on fumes. And yet, when bedtime rolls around, there are habits that I'm unintentionally falling into that are giving me a temporary spike in energy. Not only does that make falling asleep a chore, it also means I'm more likely to wake up again at 3 a.m., which perpetuates the cycle.

1. Working late into the evening

Catching up on work when you should be winding down for sleep is, unsurprisingly, impacting your ability to later switch off.

"Evening light exposure, screens, and mental stimulation can override or obscure the biological drive for sleep," explains Dr. Walker.

At a time when melatonin levels should be peaking in order to prepare us for sleep, the blue light from our devices suppress its production. Add in mental stimulation, and we've created a perfect storm for pushing through our sleep window.

2. An afternoon caffeine fix

When you're not getting enough sleep, caffeine can feel like your friend; the late afternoon pick-me-up you need to get through the rest of your working day. However, Dr. Walker highlights how the 'energy' it provides is just a trick.

"Caffeine does not create biological energy; it primarily blocks adenosine receptors, masking the brain’s perception of accumulating sleep pressure," explains the author of Why We Sleep. "Because caffeine has a long half-life, a coffee consumed in the early afternoon can still exert meaningful effects late into the evening."

3. Falling asleep in front of the TV

This is a question I've been asking myself for years. Why am I always fast asleep on the sofa but wide awake in bed? I'm not alone, an estimated 61% of us fall asleep in front of the TV every night.

But this quick doze can make it hard to fall asleep when you later get into bed. And it all comes down to your sleep pressure, also referred to as your sleep hunger or homeostatic sleep drive. It's essentially your urge for sleep.

Sleep pressure builds from the moment you wake and starts its decline when you fall asleep. However, if you briefly fall asleep before going to bed, your sleep pressure can fall enough to stop you feeling tired.

"[Another] mistake is the brief evening doze, often during television or reading," explains Dr. Walker. "Even twenty minutes of sleep in the evening can partially discharge sleep pressure and make it harder to initiate sleep later."

Sleep products we love right now

For me, decent sleep is hard to come by. I wake most mornings feeling like I haven’t slept enough and vow to make a change. And yet, more often than not, I clock around five hours of broken sleep a night. Juggling work, life and parenthood means my to-do list never ends and sleep-disrupting nighttime anxiety is the result.

However, with multiple studies pointing towards the poor health outcomes associated with people who sleep less than six hours a night, I’m making a concerted effort to sort out my sleep. I’ve started with the 7:1 sleep rule, where the aim is to get seven hours of sleep per night and go to bed within the same one hour window.

At first, I found it difficult to stick to until a doctor suggested a simple routine switch: stop obsessing over bedtime and anchor my wake time instead. Once I made this shift, I went from sleeping five hours a night to seven — and now I feel like I’ve finally cracked the code to sleeping better and for longer. Here's what happened...

• Read more: I kept waking up at 3 a.m. until doctors explained that falling asleep in front of the TV was destroying my sleep pressure

Key takeaways: At a glance

• The 7:1 sleep rule recommends regularly getting at least seven hours of sleep a night, and going to bed within the same one-hour window at least five nights a week.
• At first I found the 7:1 sleep rule hard to stick to, until sleep doctors told me to focus on my wake time – and not both my bedtime and wake time.
• Once my wake time was anchored and I had a consistent schedule, my sleep duration has increased from five hours a night to seven.

What is the 7:1 sleep rule?

The 7:1 sleep rule is a snappy term to describe the practice of achieving a minimum of seven hours of sleep and going to bed within the same one hour window (half an hour on each side), at least five times a week.

It is a concept developed by researchers from Vitality and The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) who, after analyzing 47 million nights of sleep data as part of a groundbreaking study, found that those who followed this sleep hygiene rule could live up to four years longer.

How I used the 7:1 sleep rule to go from 5 hours sleep a night to 7 hours

Once I had decided to make my sleep a priority, I turned my attention to the 7:1 sleep rule. However, I initially found it difficult to stick to it as I rarely felt tired at the same time every night.

And that’s because of a sleep routine mistake I didn’t even know I was making — waking up at a different time each morning.

While the 7:1 sleep rule focuses on falling asleep within the same one hour window, little mention is made of how important it is to anchor your wake-up time.

According to experts, a regular wake time is the best place to start when attempting to add consistency to your sleep schedule.

“A consistent wake time is arguably one of the most important anchors of the body's circadian rhythm because it helps set the timing of hormone release, body temperature cycles, alertness, and subsequent sleep pressure,” Dr. Joshua Roland, a Board-Certified Sleep Medicine Physician and medical director at Dreem Health, tells me.

So, instead of focusing solely on the time I fall to sleep — which can be influenced by all sorts of external factors, like the temperature, whether I’m feeling particularly anxious or whether I have plans that might mean I stay up later — I switched my attention to regulating my wake time. And that’s when I began to see an uptick in my sleep duration.

By stipulating a wake time and (mostly, I’m not perfect) sticking to it, I feel tired around the same time each night. Which meant I started to fall asleep faster and clock up more time asleep.

From someone who got in the region of five to six hours per night, I’m now getting seven. And I'm not the only one who's seen the benefits; one of my team finally hit the 90s with her sleep score after using the 7:1 rule. According to Dr. Roland, that’s entirely expected.

“While a regular bedtime is beneficial, wake time tends to have a stronger influence on stabilizing your internal body clock, and is easier to control than when we fall asleep,” says the sleep expert.

“Even after a poor night's sleep, maintaining a consistent wake time can help restore healthy sleep patterns more effectively than sleeping in.”

3 other routine changes I made to get more sleep

As well as following the 7:1 sleep rule in my quest for better sleep, I’ve also been paying close attention to my sleep pressure. Sleep pressure, also referred to as homeostatic sleep drive or sleep hunger, is a term that essentially describes your urge for sleep.

It begins to build from the moment you open your eyes and starts to drop when you go to sleep. The higher your sleep pressure, the easier it is for you to fall asleep. So, with that in mind, here’s what I’m doing to make sure I have enough sleep pressure in the tank to fall asleep within that golden one-hour window.

1. Getting plenty of exercise

First, a quick bit of science. Your sleep pressure is largely fuelled by a neurotransmitter called adenosine. And adenosine is a byproduct of, among other things, physical movement.

That means that even though sleep pressure naturally builds over the course of the day until you feel tired at night, moving your body helps push it even higher.

So, getting plenty of exercise — whether it’s walking, running or just taking the stairs in the office — helps contribute to your homeostatic sleep drive, helping you to later feel tired at the right time.

As someone with a desk job and therefore fairly sedentary for a large part of the day, I know that incorporating movement into my daily schedule is helping me to get more rest.

2. Natural daylight, especially in the morning

Most of us are lucky that, during the spring and summer months, it’s light when we wake up. — and that sends a strong signal to our circadian rhythms that it’s time to be awake.

Exposure to natural light, particularly within the first 30-60 minutes, helps suppress the ‘sleep’ hormone melatonin and boost the production of get-up-and-go hormones, like cortisol and serotonin.

So, instead of spending twenty minutes scrolling on my phone, I open the curtains wide and allow light into my room. If I have time, I’ll drink my first cup of tea in the garden.

Much like lowering the lights and avoiding screens in the evening helps prepare us for sleep, natural daylight helps us feel alert and ready to take on the day. And that helps build sleep pressure so we can feel tired at night, and stick to our one-hour sleep window.

3. No more lie-ins

Dr. Roland cites sleeping in on the weekend as one of the worst habits you can form when attempting to stick to a consistent sleep schedule. For me, the opportunity for a long and leisurely lie-in are few and far between.

However, after a rough night’s sleep on the weekend, I would often rely on staying in bed longer to try to make up for lost sleep — and, according to the experts, that’s a big no-no for sticking to a consistent sleep schedule like the 7:1 sleep rule.

While waking up early on the weekend initially felt like a wrench, they’re starting to feel easier and I’m now starting the day with much more energy.

How sticking to the 7:1 rule helped me get more sleep: My verdict

By making a few small tweaks to my daily routine, like waking up at roughly the same time every day and making the time for exercise, I’ve managed to increase my overall sleep duration considerably.

And, as someone who previously often slept for less than six hours a night, that feels like a significant achievement.

My sleep routine is by no means perfect. And I’m still making plenty of mistakes along the way (like the recent night that I spent scrolling on my phone instead of sleeping).

However, one of the most important things I'm realizing is that consistently great sleep doesn't happen overnight. And I'm reminded that sticking with it and trying again the following night is another step towards better sleep and overall health.

Sleep products we love right now

Father’s Day is a week away which means there’s still plenty of time to ditch the fishing gear and buy the dad in your life a gift he actually wants. But what do dads really want? Turns out, they're all looking for a good night's sleep (or failing that, the perfect afternoon nap.)

Yes, according to a Father's Day survey, over a third of dads are dreaming of some peace and quiet, while another survey found that 52% of dads want to spend their special day relaxing. So if you were planning on bringing the whole family together and now you're wondering how on earth you can turn it into "peace and quiet", I've rounded up the best sleep gifts that can do just that.

Here you'll find cozy sleep deals, from noise-blocking ear plugs to comfy bathrobes, that will help your dad achieve the ultimate Father's Day activity: doing nothing at all.

The best US Father's Day sleep deals

The best UK Father's Day sleep deals

My dad has always struggled to sleep. From work stress to a snoring wife, there's always something disrupting his rest, so by lunch he's exhausted and struggling to keep his eyes open. And it's not just my dad – a 2025 survey found that 72% of adults struggle with daytime sleepiness.

However, lately I've noticed my dad has a spring in his step, particularly in the afternoons. I asked him what changed and he let me in on a simple sleep solution that gives him energy throughout the day without causing 3 a.m. wake ups. Every afternoon at 2 p.m. he sets a timer for 20 minutes, takes a quick nap, and then as soon as the alarm goes off he's up and ready to go.

It's a solution that comes approved by various sleep experts. I spoke to Dr. Shelby Harris of BetterSleep, to learn how naps can help people with insomnia and sleep deprivation to maintain energy throughout the day, plus she shares her expert tips on how to nap properly without ruining your sleep at night.

• Read more: I kept waking up at 3 a.m. until doctors explained that falling asleep in front of the TV was destroying my sleep pressure

Key takeaways

• 72% of adults experience daytime sleepiness and exhaustion that gets in the way of their everyday activities
• A nap can help you reclaim energy and feel more awake in the afternoon but they can also destroy your sleep quality the following night
• To nap properly, set an alarm for 20 minutes, get up once your nap is over and finish napping by mid-afternoon
• If you feel like you need to nap everyday or you think your naps are impacting your overall sleep quality, speak to a healthcare professional about other ways to improve your sleep quality

How napping alleviates insomnia symptoms

My dad's tried everything to improve his sleep — from meditation to pre-bed yoga — and while a regular schedule has helped him sleep longer, he still goes through periods of 3 a.m. wake-ups and fatigue-filled mornings.

And when exhaustion is dragging him down, a nap is my dad's go-to response for a quick energy boost. But it's a balancing act. Nap too long or too late and you might find yourself groggy with sleep inertia all afternoon.

His trick is deceptively simple and comes approved by the experts — he sets a 20 minute alarm before his nap and gets up as soon as it chimes.

"A short nap, around 20 minutes, can improve focus and energy, especially if you’re dealing with short-term sleep loss," Dr. Harris advises.

She explains that my dad, like many others, is experiencing "lighter, fragmented" sleep that leaves you feeling unrested even after hours in bed. This can be caused by things such as too much screen time, an erratic sleep schedule, or "higher levels of stress" (ding ding — that's my dad!)

"It’s very possible to get a full night of sleep and still feel exhausted, because sleep quality and consistency matter just as much as duration," she says. As you haven't got enough the deep sleep essential for energy restoration, you might find yourself running on fumes by lunchtime.

That's where a nap comes in, providing you with that boost of extra energy to reclaim some of what you lost in the night.

Can naps cause insomnia?

To get a healthy night's sleep, it's important to build up enough sleep pressure. This is that yawning, heavy-eyed feeling you get before bed and it's the result of the chemical adenosine building during the day.

Naps help clear some of that adenosine, reducing sleep pressure but also potentially making it harder for you to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Too much napping, therefore, can be the reason you're tired in the first place and Dr. Harris emphasizes better sleep at night should take priority over naps.

"Naps can help in the moment," says Dr. Harris, "but they’re not a substitute for consistent, restorative sleep overnight."

Napping can't substitute better sleep quality

Regular napping can be a way to off-set poor sleep and give yourself a boost of energy in the afternoon. However, if you're napping daily or fighting drooping eyes at your desk, naps might be a bandaid over a bigger problem.

"If you feel like you need a nap every day just to get through the day, that’s often a sign your nighttime sleep or overall schedule needs attention." explains Dr. Harris.

She advises following the tips below for napping perfection and to pay attention to your overall sleep health.

"If that level of fatigue continues, it’s worth checking in with a healthcare provider or sleep specialist to rule out underlying issues," she advises.

How to take the perfect nap

1. Keep it under 20 minutes

The alarm hack is for people willing to accept napping self-responsibility: you won't wake up naturally, so set an alarm. Because it's far too easy to promise yourself a 'few minutes shut-eye' and find yourself startled awake hours later.

A 20-minute nap is enough time to shake off some sleep pressure without eating into your sleep at night. And the alarm means you definitely will wake up when you promised yourself you would.

2. Finish napping by early afternoon

Timing is everything when it comes to naps, in both senses. First, you want to keep it under a certain amount of time (as noted above.) Second, you have to pick the right time of day.

"I recommend earlier in the afternoon, so it doesn’t interfere with nighttime sleep," says Dr. Harris.

The ideal nap time for adults is between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. This aligns with a natural sleepy dip in your circadian rhythm and leaves ample time for sleep pressure to build up again before bed.

3. Try a 'nappuccino'

A nappuccino, or coffee nap, combines the power of caffeine with the refreshment of a quick lie-down, to supercharge your naps.

Working on the principal that caffeine takes about 15 minutes to kick in, a nappuccino encourages you to drink a cup of coffee just before you settle down for your nap.

Set your alarm for around 20 minutes and when you wake up you should be feeling doubly energized.

Best sleep products for a power nap

I haven’t had a consistently decent stint of quality sleep in over a decade. A combination of parenthood, the stressors of daily life and a poor late night social media habit (my willpower is no match for Meta) mean it’s fairly standard for me to clock anywhere between 5-6+ hours of sleep.

However, a recent epiphany means I think I’ve finally cracked the code to tackling my sleep issues. And the ‘trick’ to being able to fall asleep fast and skip the 3 a.m. wake-ups was staring me in the face all along. It all comes down to sleep pressure.

Sleep pressure, sleep drive, sleep hunger — they’re all terms used interchangeably that mean the same thing. It’s basically your biological urge to want to go to sleep. What experts have been telling me for years, and what I’ve only just fully grasped, is that there’s plenty you can do to increase your sleep pressure, which makes it easier to fall asleep.

• Read more: I kept waking up at 3 a.m. — until insomnia experts spotted 3 key culprits and explained how to fix them

Key takeaways: At a glance

• Sleep pressure is your biological urge to want sleep. It begins building from the moment you wake up, before dropping again once you fall asleep.
• Exercise, a consistent sleep schedule, an adequate window between your wake and sleep time are all ways to increase your sleep pressure
• Sedentary lifestyles, excess caffeine and lack of natural light are examples of how your sleep pressure can be impacted
• After taking steps to increase my daily sleep pressure, I’ve noticed that I sleep better and for longer

What is sleep pressure?

Sleep pressure, also referred to as homeostatic sleep drive and sleep hunger, is essentially your biological urge for sleep. Your sleep pressure begins building from the moment you open your eyes before reaching its peak when you fall asleep.

Once asleep, this sleep pressure begins to drop. That’s why it’s hard to fall back to sleep when you wake in the early hours, as your sleep pressure isn’t as high as it was when you initially fell asleep.

Your level of sleep pressure is largely dictated by a neurotransmitter called adenosine. As well as regulating other bodily functions, adenosine helps promote your sleep pressure.

Essentially, adenosine is a byproduct of physical and brain activity. So the more you move or challenge yourself intellectually, the higher your level of adenosine — which means a higher sleep drive that helps you fall and stay asleep all night.

How paying attention to sleep pressure has improved my sleep

After tracking my sleep for the past few weeks, I noticed a pattern begin to emerge. On the days that I was fairly active, walking the kids to school, cycling alongside them to various after school activities, I slept better.

But on the flip side, the fairly sedentary days that I spent working in the office — sitting at my desk and moving infrequently — I went to bed later and clocked up less overall rest.

Historically, Sundays are my worst days for getting adequate sleep. Unexplained anxiety usually means I find it hard to nod off, and often wake in the early hours of the morning. However, this past Sunday, after an intentionally busy day on my feet — working in the garden, weeding, sweeping, mowing and clearing — meant I fell into bed at 9.45 p.m. and slept straight through until my sunrise alarm woke me at 6 a.m.

For this borderline insomniac who frequently wakes up at 3 a.m., this was unprecedented. However, according to Dr. Alex Dimitriu, a dual board certified psychiatrist and sleep doctor, it’s entirely expected. “I tell my patients they need to be vertical by day, so they can sleep better horizontally at night," he says.

Taking that on board, waking relatively early and being active outside throughout the day meant I was actively building my homeostatic sleep drive. That meant that once bedtime rolled around, I was more than ready to fall into bed, where I dropped off within minutes and stayed asleep all night.

3 ways to build healthy sleep pressure

If, like me, falling asleep is something you struggle with, there are several simple changes you can in your daily routine to ensure you get better rest at night.

"Sleep pressure builds naturally the longer you're awake, so the most effective strategies are maintaining a consistent wake time, getting regular physical activity, exposing yourself to bright light in the morning, staying mentally engaged during the day, and avoiding long or late naps," explains Dr. Joshua Roland, a board-certified sleep medicine physician and medical director at Dreem Health.

Let's take a closer look at why each daily strategy helps increase sleep pressure...

1. Move your body

Every time you move a muscle, adenosine is created as a byproduct. So, the more you move, the greater the buildup of adenosine. Which, come bedtime, helps you feel ready for sleep.

While it's easy to get hung up on trending exercises that promise different health benefits, the most important thing for building sleep pressure is that you simply move. Whether that's walking, running or dancing around the kitchen with your toddler.

"Get up and get moving, go outside, get light and get sweaty. All of that helps," says Dr. Dimitriu, the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine.

Research suggests that adenosine is linked to how much time we spend in deep sleep per night. Spending a decent amount of time in deep sleep helps your body restore and repair muscles, as well as clearing metabolic waste from the brain. So, the more you move, the more time you spend in deep sleep, and the more refreshed you feel the following day.

2. Get plenty of natural light

Exposure to natural sunlight, particularly in within the first 30-60 minutes of waking, helps cement your circadian rhythm. Alongside other functions, including temperature and metabolism, your circadian rhythm helps regulate when you feel tired and when you feel alert.

Morning sunlight kickstarts a chain reaction which, by suppressing key sleep hormones, like melatonin, and producing others, like cortisol and serotonin, helps your sleep pressure begin to build.

Morning sunlight exposure won't make you feel tired, but it will help you feel energized enough to take on the day. Which, in turn, will burn mental and physical energy, which increases adenosine. This, in turn, will help you feel tired closer to bedtime.

3. Stick to a consistent sleep schedule

How many times have you woken later than normal one morning (perhaps on the weekend) before deciding you'd like to have an early night that night, only to find it impossible to fall asleep?

That's because the longer you're awake, the more adenosine has had chance to accumulate in your brain. A late lie-in followed by an early night means you haven't allowed yourself enough time to build an adequate amount of sleep pressure.

On the flip side, a consistent sleep schedule will ensure that you're giving yourself enough time to clock up quality rest and build the required sleep pressure to fall (and stay) asleep all night.

"The most important part is when you wake up — that starts the timer for the night, and you can more easily control when you wake up, than when you fall asleep," says Dr. Dimitriu.

Daily habits quietly draining your sleep pressure

While there's plenty you can do to increase your sleep pressure, there's also a lot you could be doing by accident that is quietly draining you of your sleep drive, making it harder to fall (and stay) asleep.

"The biggest mistakes are sleeping in after a poor night, taking long naps — especially in the afternoon or evening — going to bed too early before feeling sleepy, and spending excessive time awake in bed," says Dr. Roland.

"Many people also compensate for sleepiness by resting on the couch or napping throughout the day, which can relieve sleep pressure and make nighttime sleep more fragmented."

Let's take a closer look at the habits to avoid...

• Long or late naps: When we nap, our adenosine levels (and sleep pressure) begin to drop, which can make it harder to fall asleep later that night. If you really need to nap, keep it between 10-20 minutes long and don't nap past 3 p.m.
• Sedentary lifestyle: On the days that I'm in the office and I barely move, my sleep suffers that night. Plenty of movement, ideally outside in natural light, builds sleep pressure, which helps you fall asleep quickly.
• Lack of mental stimulation: Your brain is a muscle that needs exercise. Mental stimulation, provided that it's not too late into the evening, can also help produce adenosine, which fuels your sleep pressure.
• Weekend lie-ins: A late start on the weekend can feel like a treat, but it's actually sabotaging your sleep. When we wake up later and aim for an early night, the window in which we need to build sleep pressure is too short, which makes it difficult to fall asleep.
• Caffeine too close to bedtime: Caffeine blocks our adenosine receptors, which is why it's a go-to drink for helping us feel alert. However, it also has a half life, which means its stimulating effects will be kicking around in your blood stream up to 8 hours after drinking it.

The upcoming FIFA World Cup has highlighted just how important sleep is for athletes to perform at the top of their game. With the tournament set to commence on June 11, it's been reported that players are currently battling heatwaves, jet lag, and hectic schedules to try and get some much-needed sleep.

In fact, global media outlets have published that the England team will even bring their own sleep kits consisting of the best mattress toppers, cooling gel pillows, and ear masks to combat sleep disruptors such as noisy sleep environments and too-firm hotel beds.

If you're dealing with similar sleep disruptors at home, we're here to help. Here we've curated our own sleep survival kit to help you fall asleep fast at night, especially during hot weather, so you can be on your A-game by morning...

World Cup 2026: Top-rated US sleep kit

Breathable bedding to help you sleep cool

With temperatures rising, feeling too hot to sleep has been a common complaint of many soccer stars taking part in this year's World Cup. Cooling bedding can help prevent overheating while sleeping. Here's what our experts recommend...

Mattress toppers to make hard beds feel softer

Another complaint of some English soccer players staying at The Inn at Meadowbrook hotel is 'too-firm beds'. A soft and contouring gel memory foam topper can be an instant fix for hard mattresses. Here are the ones we recommend...

Sleep tech to block out unwanted noise and light

This year's World Cup players have been relying on scores of noise-cancelling sleep earbuds to block out noise from neighboring rooms. Here's where to start if you're also dealing with noisy neighbors...

World Cup 2026: Top-rated UK sleep kit

Breathable bedding to help you sleep cool

Temperatures are set to rise across the UK this weekend, and being feeling to hot in bed can make it harder to fall asleep – and sleep through the night. Cooling bedding can help prevent overheating. Here's what our experts recommend...

Mattress toppers to make hard beds feel softer

A major complaint of this year's English squad is that the mattresses their sleeping on are too firm to promote deep, restful sleep. If your bed at home is too firm, but you're not ready to switch to the best mattress for you, then try a soft bed topper instead.

Sleep tech to block out unwanted noise and light

The ideal bedroom for sleep is cool, dark and quiet. If you need to optimize your bedroom for sleep, change things pronto with our top-rated sleep earbuds and light-blocking sleep accessories...

If there’s one thing that’s been brought to the forefront of our attention as heat waves have hit, it’s how difficult it is to sleep in the heat. That’s because, as humans, our biology dictates we need to cool down to be able to nod off.

With temperature having such an influence over our ability to fall asleep, the Apple Watch, along with other top-rated sleep trackers, includes wrist temperature monitoring as part of their sleep tracking offering.

To understand whether tracking your temperature overnight is helpful and, crucially, what you can do to ensure your body temperature is enabling quality sleep rather than hindering it, I’ve caught up with renowned Professor of Neuroscience Dr. Matthew Walker, board-certified physician Dr. John La Puma, and Director of Science & Clinical Research at Eight Sleep, Dr. Nicola Moyen. Here's what they say.

Apple Watch wrist temperature tracking

The Apple Watch Series 8 and later models (for reference, we’re now up to the Series 11, with Apple Watch series 12 rumoured to drop in Fall), and all models of the Apple Watch Ultra, can gather wrist temperature data while you sleep to help give you insight into the quality of your rest and your overall well-being.

The idea is that your wrist temperature provides a window into your core body temperature, which can naturally fluctuate from night to night due to your diet and exercise, alcohol consumption, sleep environment or physiological factors, like menstrual cycles and illness.

After just five nights of wear, your Apple Watch will get to know your baseline wrist temperature and flag any changes to it going forward.

Is this useful? “Yes, body temperature can be a valuable metric when viewed as a trend over time rather than a single nightly reading,” explains Dr. Moyen — and Dr. La Puma agrees.

“Read as a trend, not a thermometer, yes,” the Italian-American internist says. “It tracks skin temperature during sleep, not core temperature, and only as a change from your own baseline. If your readings are half a degree or more higher, it sometimes indicates that you may be getting sick, or had too much alcohol, have a too-warm room, or excessive stress.”

• Read more: 6 Apple Watch settings you should change now for more accurate sleep tracking

Understanding temperature and sleep

There is indeed a close relationship between your body temperature and ability to clock quality sleep. As you get ready for bed, your core temperature will decrease, which signals to the brain that it is time to sleep.

“More intimately than almost anyone realizes. Sleep is, before it is anything else, a thermal event," explains Dr. Walker. "What tips you over the edge isn’t darkness or exhaustion or the hour on the clock — it’s a drop in your core body temperature of about one to two degrees Fahrenheit, roughly half a degree to a degree Celsius.”

“Your brain won’t reliably let go of wakefulness until it sees the core start to cool. It’s the reason you'll always find it easier to fall asleep in a room that’s too cold than too hot,” the leading sleep expert adds.

Why? Your circadian rhythm, aka your internal body clock, runs on hormones that either make you feel alert (cortisol) or help you feel sleepy (melatonin). Two key signals that control these hormone cycles are light and, you guessed it, temperature. When our core body temperature drops, your brain releases melatonin, making you feel sleepy. When our core body temperature rises, melatonin is suppressed, which leads to wakefulness.

While it is your core temperature rather than your skin temperature that’s related to sleep quality, your Apple Watch wrist temperature reading is useful.

What impacts temperature overnight?

There are several biological, environmental, and behavioral factors that impact your temperature by night. From a glass of wine to your late night workout and general stress levels, here’s what can get in the way of the temperature dip your body needs to sleep peacefully…

Late heavy meals

What we eat and drink can sway how well we sleep. We all know a 3pm latte can lead to tossing and turning at bedtime, but what isn’t so widely known is how late night meals and sugary bedtime snacks can actually elevate your core body temperature, delaying or disrupting sleep.

When you eat, your digestive system fires up to break down food and store the nutrients you consume. The chemical reactions involved here naturally produce heat as a by-product. Hence, research in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine has linked late night meals and snacks to increased sleep latency (that means it’ll take you longer to drop off) and poorer sleep quality.

Evening exercise

What tends to happen when you hit the gym or head out for a run? You get hot and sweaty. Unsurprisingly, evening exercise can push back against the temperature drop needed to facilitate good sleep.

Therefore, experts recommend getting your high intensity workouts in early doors and saving calmer, less vigorous exercise (we’re talking a post-dinner stroll or yoga routine) for the evenings, so your temperature fluctuations are in tune with your sleep-wake hormone cycles.

Stress

Research shows that stress causes an activation of the autonomic nervous system which leads to a consistent increase in body temperature. Lying in bed pondering over life’s stressors can initiate a fight-or-flight response in the body, subtly raising body temperature. Therefore, if you go to bed stressed, having not let go of worries from the day, you’re more likely to remain at an elevated temperature, pushing quality sleep further away.

Too much screen time

Can doomscrolling at night really raise your body temperature? We know that the blue light from our screens supresses the production of melatonin. However, as part of its role of helping the brain and body prepare for sleep, melatonin also "choreographs the cooldown,” explains Dr. Walker. Which essentially means that melatonin kickstarts the temperature drop our bodies need in order to fall asleep.

Hormones

Ladies, listen up: “A woman's resting temperature rises about half a degree in the second half of her cycle,” says Dr. La Puma, and hot flashes do the same in menopause.

This means you can rest assured that sometimes your nighttime temperature deviations are not a sign of illness or stress, or a result of your nutrition choices, but a natural part of your monthly menstrual cycle.

“In the luteal phase — roughly two weeks after ovulation — basal body temperature climbs three to five tenths of a degree and resting heart rate ticks up with it," says Dr. Walker, the author behind the book Why We Sleep.

"That isn’t strain; it’s healthy physiology, the body doing exactly what it should. But many devices don’t fold cycle phase into their math, so they read that normal rise as poor recovery and hand back a worse ‘readiness’ score for half the month.”

How to stabilize temperature overnight

Keep your room as cool as you can

An obvious but crucial point, keeping your bedroom a cool sleep sanctuary is key to resting well. “Start by creating a sleep environment that supports the body’s natural cooling process,” says Dr. Moyen.

If you have air con, Dr. Walker and Dr. La Puma both recommend setting the thermostat roughly between 65 to 68°F (18 to 20°C) — that’s the ideal temperature for sleep, according to studies.

If, like me, you don’t have such luxury, there’s still plenty you can do to keep your bedroom as cool as possible throughout summer. Personally, I make sure to close my blinds before heading out for the day to block out the sun’s rays. It takes two minutes and helps block out as much heat as possible.

Choose breathable bedding and sleepwear

In order to optimize your temperature for better sleep, avoid heat trapping fabrics, such as synthetic fibers and memory foam, which can trap body heat and hold in against your skin. Instead, choose naturally breathable bedding and nightwear made from natural cotton or wool, both of which can be a real game changer for nighttime thermoregulation.

What do our bedding testers recommend? We think the Coop Cotton Percale Sheet Set is undoubtedly the best bed sheet set online, while the Casper Hybrid Pillow with Snow Technology is the best cooling pillow we’ve tried.

Establish a calming nighttime routine

A relaxing evening routine, free of alcohol, late meals, and intense workouts, will help your body let go of stress and initiate the crucial temperature drop required for quality sleep.

Dr. La Puma says you could try taking a warm shower or bath one to two hours before bed, turn off screens an hour before bed, and “do something analog: write in a journal, lay out tomorrow's clothes, work a puzzle, read a relaxing book.”

Summary

Getting caught up on any one sleep metric, be that your sleep score, HRV, or indeed your nighttime temperature, can occasionally cause more harm than good (no orthosomnia, here). But, if you’re looking to make better sleep choices, being aware of your nighttime temperature fluctuations can help you identify areas where your sleep hygiene could improve.

“One night’s number means almost nothing, but the pattern across weeks means a lot,” summarizes Dr. Walker. “A run of warmer-than-baseline nights can flag a brewing illness, alcohol the night before, or simply a too-hot bedroom. Used that way — as a baseline that catches deviations — it’s a helpful nudge toward what to change.”

Be that investing in a cool sleep set up, prioritising a nighttime wind down routine, or skipping that glass of wine with dinner. Plus it’s always handy to be aware of brewing illness so you can pack in the nutrients or take it easie for a day order.

Sleep trackers that monitor temperature

As someone with recurrent nighttime anxiety, I often find myself wide awake at 3 a.m., heart hammering in my chest and staring at the ceiling. Experts refer to this type of sleep disturbance as 'middle insomnia' – the most common type of insomnia and one characterised by waking up in the middle of the night.

As a sleep editor, I've interviewed neuroscientists, chartered psychologists and doctors for their expert sleep advice. And there's one tip in particular that always gets mentioned: if you want to sleep better and not wake up so much through the night, go to bed and wake up at the same time each day.

The 7:1 sleep rule, which involves getting at least seven hours sleep a night and going to bed within the same one-hour window at least five nights a week, is an expert-recommended way to reduce 3 a.m. wake-ups. After putting it to the test over the course of a week, my nighttime awakenings have eased off. Here's why....

• Read more: Stress was waking me up at 3 a.m. — until two of the world's best sleep doctors shared 5 fast fixes to lower my cortisol at night

Key take-aways: At a glance

• The 7:1 sleep rule recommends getting at least seven hours of sleep a night, and going to bed within the same one-hour window at least five days per week.
• A consistent sleep schedule helps prevent waking up at 3 a.m. in three specific ways: it regulates your circadian rhythm (so your body knows when to release melatonin, a sleep hormone), it regulates your sleep pressure (so you feel drowsy at the right time), and reduces how much you wake-up through the night.
• A consistent sleep schedule is one of the best ways to manage insomnia.

What is the '7:1 sleep rule'?

The 7:1 sleep rule describes the practice of achieving a minimum of seven hours of sleep per night and going to bed within the same one-hour window.

It was coined by researchers from Vitality and The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)as part of their groundbreaking study that explored how following this sleep hygiene rule for at least five nights per week could help you live up to four years longer.

From analyzing the data from the wearable devices of 105,000 individuals, equating to 47 million nights of sleep data, researchers were able to determine that — instead of focusing solely on total sleep duration — adhering to the 7:1 sleep rule could increase your life expectancy by 24%.

As well as improved health outcomes, sleep experts urge those with middle insomnia and prone to waking up at 3 a.m. to adhere to a regular sleep schedule — even after a night of broken rest — in order to prevent further wake-ups.

"You should absolutely continue to keep a regular bedtime and wake up schedule and avoid spending longer in bed trying to catch up on sleep, as this simply disrupts your natural sleep rhythms further,” says Dr. Allie Hare, Consultant of Sleep Medicine at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London.

• Read more: I was struggling to fall asleep, yet waking up at 3 a.m. — until an expert made this simple change to my routine

How a consistent sleep schedule can prevent 3 a.m. wake-ups

Experts agree that a consistent sleep schedule is one of the most impactful ways to improve your overall sleep quality.

"If there's one thing you can do tonight to improve your sleep, it's to choose a consistent wake-up time and stick to it, even after a rough night's sleep," explains Dr. Jessica Meers, a Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Rhythm Wellness.

"Most people focus on bedtime, but your wake-up time is what really sets your body's internal clock.

"Once that anchor is in place, falling asleep, staying asleep, and feeling rested tend to become much easier over time."

As well as benefiting your overall sleep quality, a regular sleep schedule can prevent 3 a.m. wake-ups. Here's how...

1. Consistent sleep regulates your circadian rhythm

Your circadian rhythm is your body's internal body clock. Along with other bodily functions, including digestion and temperature, your circadian rhythm helps regulate your sleep and wake cycles.

This is done through the production of key sleep hormones at optimal times in order to help you nod off and wake up, such as melatonin and cortisol. When you go to bed within the same one-hour window, as per the 7:1 rule, you begin to train your body to release these hormones at the same time within a 24 hour period.

As well as helping you fall asleep faster, this regulation of the your sleep hormones help you wake at the right time, too. So, although cortisol levels begin to rise naturally at 3-4 a.m., a regulated circadian rhythm will prevent a cortisol spike at this time that could wake you from your slumber.

2. It reduces sleep fragmentation

A healthy adult goes through four to six sleep cycles within a night, with each sleep cycle lasting between 90 to 110 minutes.

However, sleep fragmentation, which is a term to describe brief interruptions in your sleep, prevent you from cycling through a complete restorative sleep stage. This can leave you feeling groggy and unrested come morning.

Sleep fragmentation can occur due to internal or external factors, including an uncomfortable mattress to a bedroom that's too hot.

However, we're more susceptible to awakenings around the 3 a.m. mark, which is when we typically spend more time in light and REM sleep (and those stages are easier to disrupt than deep sleep, which we spend more time in earlier ).

When we stick to a regular sleep schedule, we're essentially training our bodies to expect rest within this vulnerable sleep window, resist disturbances caused by hormonal fluctuations and transition smoothly between each sleep stage. (It won't help you stay asleep if the problem is a lumpy pillow, though),

3. Consistent sleep regulates sleep pressure

Again, this all comes down to consistency oiling the wheels of your body's ability to stay asleep. Sleep pressure, sleep drive or sleep hunger is a term to describe how ready you are for sleep.

Its official term is adenosine and is a chemical that begins building in your brain from the moment you wake up. Your sleep pressure, adenosine, reaches its crescendo the moment you go to sleep, before naturally beginning to drop as you clock up more rest.

In the past, whenever I've had a poor night's sleep, I tend to crave an early night the following evening so that I can catch up on lost rest.

However, this can wreak havoc on your sleep pressure. Going to bed early, especially if you've already had a bit of a lie in, means you haven't given yourself enough time to build enough sleep pressure.

Instead, a consistent bed and wake time gives you enough time for sleep pressure to build, which helps you to both fall and stay asleep all night.

Other tried and tested methods for reducing 3 a.m. wake-ups

When nighttime anxiety is the cause of your 3 a.m. wake-ups, a consistent sleep schedule can help — but it's not a silver bullet.

To give myself a fighting chance of sleeping through the night every night, these are the other tried and tested methods I rely on:

• I schedule 'worry time' before getting into bed: Offloading the things I'm worried about into a journal helps calm my nervous system before getting into bed (make sure you do this in a separate room to the one you sleep in to build an association with your bedroom and sleep).
• Practice relaxation techniques: Whether I'm trying to go to sleep or I've woken up in the middle of the night, the cognitive shuffling method, a visualisation technique of random objects, helps empty my mind of racing thoughts. To practice it, think of a word and spell out as many objects as you can beginning with each letter.
• Optimize my bedroom for sleep: In order to stay asleep, I know I need to rid my bedroom of anything that can wake me up. That means making sure I'm sleeping on the best mattress for me, my bedroom is cool, dark, quiet and clutter free.
• Practice the 15 minute sleep rule: In the event that I do wake up at 3 a.m., the advice from experts is clear — get up and leave the room and do something relaxing. This prevents creating a negative association with your bed and bedroom.
• If I have to nap, I keep it short: Sometimes I'm so tired I can't help but nap. However, sleep experts recommend setting an alarm for 20 minutes to prevent your naps from ruining your sleep that evening.

9 products we've tried and loved for better sleep

When I'm going through a period of poor sleep, going to bed feels more like snuggling up in a pit of snakes. My heart thumps and I'm overwhelmed by a sense of 'not this again.' Experts refer to this phenomenon as nighttime anxiety and it occurs when a regular lack of sleep makes you dread going to bed.

My solution is normally either forcing myself to stay up until I'm exhausted, or going to bed hours earlier than normal to catch up on sleep. Both of these approaches are wrong, according to experts. So what does work? Consistent bedtimes.

Known as the one-hour bedtime rule, this method requires you to go to bed and waking up within the same one-hour window at least five times a week. Here experts explain how this enables your circadian rhythm and sleep pressure to regulate so that you can fall asleep faster and beat nighttime anxiety.

Key takeaways: At a glance

• Nighttime anxiety describes the stress many people with sleep difficulties feel around bedtime, as your poor sleep makes going to bed into a source of stress.
• The one-hour bedtime rule encourages people to go to sleep and wake up within the same one-hour window at least five times a week. This is also the '1' part of the '7:1 sleep rule'.
• Sticking to a regular bedtime means your sleep pressure and body clock are aligned, so that you have an easier time falling asleep quickly.
• Pick a bedtime that suits your schedule and gets you the amount of sleep you need.
• Anchoring your bedtime and your wake time helps you to fall asleep quicker and stay asleep, even when you're experiencing stress and anxiety.
• It's recommended that adults get seven to nine hours sleep a night, although age, health and genetics impact the amount of sleep each individual needs.

What is the 'one-hour bedtime rule'?

Research from 2026 analyzed data collected from 105,000 participants detailing 47 million nights of sleep and found that falling asleep within a one hour time frame and sleeping for at least seven hours, a minimum of five nights a week, could potentially extend your lifespan by two to four years.

This follows a 2024 study that suggests sleep regularity could be a better indicator of mortality risk than sleep duration. In other words, the time you went to bed might be more important than how many hours you slept.

So does that mean you have to be in bed at the exact same time every night? That might be the ideal but let's be honest, life doesn't work like that. The one-hour rule gives you a more achievable way to meet this bedtime goal.

Start by picking your ideal bedtime. This is when you aim to fall asleep each night of the week. You use this to determine your sleep window, which extends 30 minutes either side of the central point.

For example, if you choose a 10.30 p.m. ideal bedtime, your one-hour sleep window is from 10-11 p.m. If you choose a 9.30 p.m. bedtime, your one-hour sleep window is from 9-10 p.m.

Your bedtime should fall within this sleep window at least five nights a week.

How a consistent bedtime helps you fall asleep faster

So how can the one-hour bedtime rule help you fall asleep faster when your mind is racing? It's all about rhythm and consistency.

I've found my anxiety spikes around bedtime, as my mind is freed from mundane thoughts to focus on every little worry. This peaked a few weeks ago, when a health issue (now sorted) became my sole focus as soon as the lights went out.

My first response was an early night, in an attempt to catch up on missed sleep. When that didn't work, I stayed up until I was exhausted — but that just added to my stress.

Then, on the advice of experts, I went back to basics and stuck to the one-hour rule. Picking my perfect bedtime, I followed a relaxing wind-down routine and climbed into bed. At first, it seemed as though my anxiety wouldn't let me go.

However, by night three my bedtime and sleep window had aligned. Even though the anxiety was still there, it seemed distant — my sleep pressure and body clock overwhelmed it, allowing me to drift off faster.

1. It regulates your circadian rhythm

The 60-minute sleep rule puts the focus on establishing a routine, and that routine quite literally teaches your body when to sleep.

"Your body clock, governed by light exposure and consistent sleep timing, has a window of maximum sleepiness that is partly fixed by your chronotype and your recent sleep history," explains Sheree-Ann Michelle, Pharmacist and Functional Medicine Health Coach at The Wellnaissance.

Your circadian rhythms, or body clock, helps create this window of sleepiness through your hormones. When you follow a routine, your internal clock learns the best times to release melatonin (to make you sleepy) and cortisol (to wake you up.)

That means during your 60-minute time frame, your body is internally prepping itself for sleep, helping offset the cortisol spike cause by anxiety.

"Going to bed significantly outside that window, even in the earlier direction, can work against the natural melatonin curve and make sleep onset harder rather than easier," says Michelle.

2. That, in turn, helps you fall asleep faster

When you've been experiencing nighttime anxiety, sleepiness sometimes seems like a lifeline, so I try to chase the feeling by getting into bed as early as possible. However, this can often exacerbate the problem.

"Large shifts in sleep timing can make it harder to fall asleep and wake up at your desired times," explains Dr. Aric Prather, sleep expert at BetterSleep.

You know that heavy-eyed, yawning feeling you get when you're ready for bed? It's called sleep pressure and it's driven by a hormone known as adenosine.

Adenosine builds the longer you're awake during the day, which is why sleep pressure is higher in the night.

And sticking to a sleep window allows that sleep pressure to peak at the same time every evening. So when you climb into bed, you're ready to give way to the pressure, dropping off quickly after the lights go out.

"Keeping a consistent wake time and allowing sleep pressure to build properly is far more effective than chasing more hours by going to bed earlier," adds Dr. Michelle.

3. It also strengthens the link between your bed and sleep

When I was experiencing a bout of nighttime anxiety earlier in the year, I climbed into bed the same way I'd enter a freezing cold bath: slowly, unwillingly and with the sense I was making a big mistake.

This was because I saw going to bed as a cue to lie awake (this is also why habits like bed rotting are bad for you.)

"One of the most important factors in consistently healthy sleep is a strong association between bed and sleeping," says Dr. Jessica Weatherford, CBT specialist at Catalyst Psychology.

The one-hour bedtime rule reinforces this association between 'sleep' and 'bed' by ensuring the only time you're tucked under the covers is during your optimum sleep window, as dictated by your hormones and circadian rhythm.

"When I'm treating clients for insomnia," says Dr. Weatherford, "one of the changes we make immediately is to reduce the amount of time they spend in bed awake, trying to force sleep."

Further sleep tips

A consistent bedtime is one of the golden rules for good sleep and by training your body clock to go to bed at a certain time, you have a good baseline in place for whatever your sleep throws at you.

However, this isn't a one night fix. These additional good habits can help ease your nighttime anxiety as you adjust to your new bedtime routine.

• Cut out caffeine: Caffeine raises cortisol levels (the awake hormone), blocks adenosine (responsible for sleep pressure) and has a half-life of around five hours. Cutting out caffeine in the afternoon allows your body clock to establish a more sleep-friendly routine.
• Try sleep meditation: Calming sleep meditations both help your body relax and distract the mind, so you're less focused on your nighttime anxiety and more open to sleep.
• Write down your worries: High cortisol levels means your brain often fills the hours spent awake in bed with every anxious thought it can. The constructive worry method encourages writing down problems and solutions, to turn to when your brain digs up all your stress.
• Follow the '15 minute rule': If you've been lying awake for more than 15 minutes, get up, leave the room and engage in a relaxing activity as sleep pressure builds. This maintains the association between bed and sleep.

Our favorite products for fall asleep fast

My mom has always preached the benefits of an early night, so even as an adult it's been my go-to fix following a bad night's sleep. Turns out, going to bed earlier to catch up on sleep is the worst thing I could have done.

"People often assume that if they're tired or sleeping poorly, the solution is to go to bed earlier," explains Dr. Joshua Roland, medical director for Dreem Health. "But this can create a mismatch between your sleep opportunity (time in bed) and your actual sleep need."

Here's why your 'early nights' might actually be causing your poor sleep and 3 a.m. wake-ups too, and how you can properly catch up on rest without sabotaging your quality of sleep...

• Read more: I kept waking up at 3 a.m. until doctors explained that falling asleep in front of the TV was destroying my sleep pressure

At a glance: Key takeaways

• Early nights are seen as a healthy way to catch up on sleep, however they can disrupt your circadian rhythm and lead to middle of the night wake-ups.
• When you go to bed early, you may not have built up enough 'sleep pressure,' so you might struggle to drift off. This can cause some people to mistakingly think they have temporary insomnia.
• But if you're yawning and feel drowsy, a slightly earlier bedtime (around 20 minutes earlier than normal) can help — but experts say to avoid significantly altering your sleep schedule.

How early nights caused my overnight wake-ups

Early nights might sound sensible but our sleep schedules thrive on routine. When that routine gets disrupted, even if you think you're doing the right thing, your sleep can suffer.

"When people extend their time in bed significantly beyond what they're used to, they may find that sleep becomes more fragmented," explains Dr. Aric Prather, sleep scientist and licensed clinical psychologist at BetterSleep.

"One reason for this is that the body is still operating on its usual timing," he says. "Sleep is regulated by both circadian rhythms and sleep drive, and an earlier bedtime doesn't necessarily shift those systems immediately.

Here are three ways it impacted my sleep...

I started waking up at 3 a.m.

I assumed an early night would simply add hours to my usual sleep routine but my good intentions flew out the window when I found myself waking up at 3 a.m.

As Dr. Rolands explains, this is because while my schedule has changed, my body clock is sticking to its usual routine.

"Someone who normally sleeps from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. may fall asleep at 9 p.m. if they're tired, but their body clock is still programmed for a later schedule," explains Dr. Roland. "As sleep pressure fades overnight and the circadian system begins preparing for wakefulness, they may wake at 2, 3, or 4 a.m. and struggle to fall back asleep."

This is because around this time of night, your hormones shift. Levels of melatonin, the sleepy hormone, drop off while cortisol, the awake hormone, begins to rise.

If you've already clocked up enough sleep, this hormone change can be enough to wake you. And because sleep pressure (the need for sleep) has faded, you can't drift off again.

"In some cases, an 'early night' can actually contribute to middle-of-the-night awakenings rather than improve sleep," says Dr. Roland.

I couldn't fall asleep

Despite yawning my way through the afternoon, I often find when I go to bed at an earlier hour, I lie awake until my regular sleep time arrives. What gives?

Sheree-Ann Michelle, Pharmacist and Functional Medicine Health Coach at The Wellnaissance, explains that the longer you're awake, the more the chemical adenosine builds up and it's this that makes us feel sleepy (in other words, the more you're awake, the more you feel pressure to sleep.)

"When you go to bed before that sleep pressure has had sufficient time to build, your body simply is not ready to enter or sustain deep sleep, even if you feel tired or stressed," says Michelle. "The result is that people who go to bed unusually early often find themselves lying awake."

It's like turning up early for a train. You're ready to go but the train is sticking to its schedule.

I struggled to sleep the next night

When your early nights haven't accomplished what you hoped for, you might feel tempted double down — keep moving your bedtime forward until those cumulative hours have finally killed off your sleep deprivation.

However, all this time spent in bed not sleeping can have a long reaching impact on your sleep health.

"One reason that early nights can backfire is that getting into bed before sleepiness leads the brain to connect bed with laying awake," says Dr. Jessica Weatherford, psychologist at Catalyst Psychology.

That means when you go to bed, your brain doesn't think: 'this is where sleep happens.' Instead, it might start to assume, based on experience, that you're lying there with the intention of staying awake.

How to sleep better after a bad night's sleep

So my early nights might not actually help me catch up on sleep. But as it's my go-to solution when I've clocked up under seven hours the night before, I asked the experts what I can do instead.

1. Move your bedtime slightly earlier

After a bad night's sleep you might be tempted to crawl into bed as soon as possible but Dr. Roland advises sticking as close to your usual sleep schedule as possible.

"I'd recommend recovering from a poor night's sleep by maintaining a consistent wake-up time," he says, "moving bedtime only slightly earlier if needed."

That means rather than an additional hour in bed, you take an extra 15 to 20 minutes. Doing so maintains your sleep cycle, limiting disruption (while still getting a touch more snooze.)

2. Aim for a few good nights, not one 'mega night'

"Consistency' is your watchword when it comes to good sleep as your body clock thrives on repetition. So when you're trying to catch up on rest, don't do it all at once.

"Prioritize several consecutive nights of adequate rest rather than relying on a single 'recovery' sleep marathon," says Dr. Rolands.

"Additionally, your body can only make so much sleep," notes Dr. Prather.

To get through the day in between, try a quick nap. But quick is the operative word: the 20-minute nap hack is the best way to regain energy without ruining your sleep pressure.

3. Make sure you're actually sleepy

There's a difference between feeling worn out and feeling tired. If you go to bed when you're experiencing the first but not the second, you might find yourself lying awake.

Dr. Weatherford encourages looking for "signs of sleepiness", including yawning and heavy eyes.

When these sleepy signals are clear, it's time to go to bed, even if you're (slightly) ahead of your usual bed time.

Many of us want to know the secrets behind how to fall asleep fast and sleep through the night. I've learned a lot during my time as a Tom's Guide sleep writer, but I want to know how one of the world's most renowned experts on insomnia and other sleep problems does it.

Dr Lindsay Browning is a neuroscientist and chartered psychologist, and the founder of sleep clinic TroubleSleeping. Through her work Dr Lindsay has helped thousands of people to learn how to fall asleep easily and quickly, and to skip unnecessary overnight wake-ups.

Here she shares her the four things she does every evening to fall asleep fast and sleep through the night. Plus, her golden rule about what not to do if she ever wakes up at 3 a.m.

Key takeaways: At a glance

• Dr Browning goes to bed at the same time each night (an important aspect of the 7:1 sleep rule), and uses 'sleep cues' including nighttime tea and a pillow spray to signal to her brain that it's time to sleep.
• She uses 'Do Not Disturb' settings on her phone to silence non-essential notifications overnight while still allowing emergency calls from close family.
• Dr Browning avoids using her phone in bed and never checks the time if she's having trouble sleeping. She also blocks unwanted light with an eye mask.

The 4 things an insomnia expert does every night to fall asleep fast and sleep through

1. Keeps a consistent bedtime

I know from the 7:1 sleep rule that bedtime consistency is key to better long term health, but studies show that reducing day-to-day variability in bedtime can also help treat insomnia.

And Dr Browning definitely takes this key finding into consideration when planning her nighttime routine.

"I try to go to bed at a similar time each night to allow me enough time in bed before my morning alarm," Dr Browning tells me.

"Even if I have things left to do, I really try to prioritise sleep because I know that if I get enough sleep, I will be better equipped for the next day," she adds.

• Read more: I kept waking up at 3 a.m. until I ditched this 'healthy' sleep habit — an expert explains why I had to stop it

2. Follows the same wind-down routine

The best teas for sleep contain ingredients such as lavender and chamomile that studies have found improve sleep quality, but Dr Browning tells me the very act of brewing and drinking a caffeine-free beverage every evening can send a message your brain that it's time to wind-down.

According to the psychologist, there is a "psychological association" between the tea's smell and taste and the fact that sleep will be soon.

"Having the same warm drink before bed each night helps signal to my brain that it’s time to wind down for the night," she shares.

3. Uses aromatherapy

I am a big fan of lavender pillow mist and lavender's proven sleep-inducing effect, so I was pleased to hear that Dr Browning "always use a lavender scented pillow spray before bed on my pillow". A spritz of lavender is also her secret travel sleep hack.

"Having these consistent pre-bedtime rituals means that when I travel I take my tea and pillow spray with me, which brings a sense of familiarity from home wherever I am," she reveals.

4. Silences most phone notifications

Can't wind down because your phone is constantly lighting up? Dr Browning doesn't have this problem as she helps her phone prepare for sleep, too.

"I ensure that my phone has an automatic night setting which silences all notifications," the neuroscientist says.

To put her mind at ease and soothe nighttime anxiety, she's also set an override so that her closest family members can call her during the night even when her phone is set to do not disturb. .

"This helps me to sleep peacefully knowing that I can be contacted in an emergency but without the disruptions from unnecessary notifications that can wait until the morning," she explains.

3 things an insomnia expert avoids at night for better sleep

While the above tips help her sleep through the night, trouble sleeping and nighttime awakenings are more common than you think.

So, when she finds herself struggling to sleep or awake at 3 a.m., here are the 3 things she avoids to help her fall back asleep.

1. Clock watching

When you wake up in the middle of the night, it's tempting to grab your alarm clock or phone to check the time. However, this will just prolong your nighttime awakening.

"I advise my clients that clock watching is almost never helpful in the middle of the night because it typically just makes you more anxious and frustrated about how little sleep you've had or how long it is left until morning," she says.

"Instead, I always set an alarm and if the alarm has not gone off yet, I know that it's not morning yet," she adds.

2. Bedroom light

There's plenty of research that shows how artificial light and seasonal changes can disrupt sleep, with one study finding that even a small amount of light can lead to nighttime awakenings.

Whether it's light from a device or from traffic, Dr Browning says there's a simple product you can buy to avoid sleep-disrupting light.

"If my husband is staying up later in bed to do something on his phone, or it is summer and there is light coming through the curtains, I will use an eye mask to block out the unnecessary light that might otherwise disrupt my sleep," she says.

3. Scrolling

And finally, we have one of the worst offenders for disrupting sleep: scrolling.

Research has even shown that one hour pf phone use in bed can increase insomnia by 59%, which is why Dr Browning avoids reaching for her phone whenever she finds herself awake in the middle of the night.

"I try to resist reaching for my phone because scrolling through social media instead of sleeping will make it less likely that I'm going to be able to go back to sleep again," she says.

Our top 3 gadgets for better sleep

I write about sleep health for a living, yet I probably haven’t had a decent stint of quality sleep in over a decade. The fog of becoming a new parent has seamlessly melted into the perimenopause years. Now, nights punctuated by nighttime anxiety means I regularly clock just 5-6.5 hours of sleep a night.

That falls far short of the 7-9 hours of sleep recommended by experts, placing me firmly in the long term sleep deprivation category. As a sleep editor who interviews leading experts and doctors, the side effects of chronic sleep deprivation are familiar to me — and they’re genuinely frightening.

Cognitive decline, poor cardiovascular health and diabetes are just a few of the side effects I’m at an elevated risk of. And now, the latest research to land in my inbox; insufficient sleep could be fueling the rise of cancer cases in the under 50s. I can’t put it off any longer, it's time for me to prioritize getting the sleep I need. With the help of five experts I trust, here’s everything I’m doing to get more sleep, starting from tonight.

Key takeaways: At a glance

• Statistics show cancer cases in the under 50s have risen by 80% globally in the past three decades.
• After analyzing the health data of over 18 million US adults aged between 18-50 over a two year period, researchers from MD Anderson Cancer Center and Jefferson Health cite insufficient sleep as a potential cause.
• Establishing a consistent wake time helps anchor your circadian rhythm and one of the most impactful ways to improve sleep, say experts
• Starting a wind down routine 1 hour before bed helps prepare mind and body for sleep, yet many skip this step

5 things I’m doing to get more sleep, starting from tonight

For anyone, like me, who gets less sleep than they know they need, the association between insufficient sleep and an increased risk of developing certain types of cancer is alarming (scroll below for a closer look at the recent research that links the two).

“First, I want to say don't panic, but do pay attention,” says Dr. Jessica Meers, a Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Rhythm Wellness. "The research is real and important, but the key thing to know is that your body can recover if you let it."

“The real problem is chronic sleep deprivation, not just a bad night here and there. The studies aren't saying ‘you're doomed if you've lost sleep,’ they're showing that ignoring sleep over time slowly adds up and affects your health. The good news is that most people still have plenty of time to make changes and improve their sleep,” says Dr. Meers, a board-certified sleep behavioral specialist.

With that in mind, here’s everything I’m doing to get the sleep my body needs in order to stay healthy, starting from tonight.

1. Setting and sticking to a consistent sleep schedule

From the five experts I spoke to, their top tip for getting consistently better sleep is to anchor your sleep and wake times.

"If there's one thing you can do tonight to improve your sleep, it's to choose a consistent wake-up time and stick to it, even after a rough night's sleep," says Dr. Meers.

"Most people focus on bedtime, but your wake-up time is what really sets your body's internal clock. Once that anchor is in place, falling asleep, staying asleep, and feeling rested tend to become much easier over time."

Dr. Weiss echoes this advice. "Starting tonight, establish a bedtime-wake-up routine to help your body unwind from the day, reduce stress, and switch into sleep mode," urges the sleep scientist.

This advice mirrors the findings we saw earlier this year from a groundbreaking study conducted by Vitality and The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Dubbed the 7:1 sleep rule, researchers outlined how regularly achieving seven hours of sleep while sticking to a one hour window in which to fall asleep could increase your life expectancy by up to four years.

2. Optimize your bedroom for sleep

If your sleep quality and quantity is suffering, pay attention to your sleep environment. Temperature, light, sound and clutter in your bedroom can all impact your ability to fall and stay asleep.

I recently moved house and my bedroom is still full of boxes. According to the experts, if I'm serious about improving my sleep, that needs to be addressed.

“The right sleeping environment is personal, so try different things and see what works for you," says Dr. Hana Patel, a UK-based NHS GP and sleep expert at Time4Sleep. "Having said that, it is generally easier to fall asleep when it’s quiet, dark and cool."

While blackout blinds or curtains are a great way to block out ambient light, a sleep mask is an easier fix you can use from tonight. Noise pollution can also impact your sleep, especially during the summer months when windows tend to be left open. A decent pair of ear plugs are a cheap solution.

Ultimately, you need a relaxing, welcoming sleep environment that you want to spend time in. "Your brain needs to associate that environment with safety and rest, not stimulation," says Dr. Meers.

Clutter and other reminders of unfinished tasks are a recipe for disrupted sleep (and I should know).

• Read more: I was struggling to fall asleep, yet waking up at 3 a.m. — until an expert made this simple change to my routine

3. Calm your nervous system before getting into bed

Nighttime anxiety makes it difficult for me to both fall and stay asleep. Often, I wake at 3 a.m. with a thumping heart that prevents me from drifting off again. In order to tame racing thoughts before getting into bed, Dr. Mike Gradisar, Head of Sleep Science at Sleep Cycle shares his advice.

"Spend 10 to 15 minutes before bed writing down your top worries and possible solutions. This prevents your mind from rehearsing problems once you are in bed," he says, noting that scheduling time for 'constructive worry' helps keep problem-solving out of the bedroom.

If you fall asleep only to then wake up in the middle of the night, Dr. Meers recommends getting out of bed. "If you can't sleep, get up," says the sleep doctor. "Lying in bed awake trains your brain to associate bed with wakefulness. That association is harder to break than most people realize."

4. Establish a wind down routine (and stick to it)

A wind down or nighttime routine can help prepare your brain and body for sleep. It doesn't matter what your nighttime routine looks like, provided that it follows a similar sequence of activities that you find relaxing.

One hour before bedtime, Dr. Weiss recommends clearing your mind, making a to do list, going on a light walk or doing some gentle yoga stretches. This is the point in the evening that you should dim the lights, reduce the volume, slow down your pace.

30 minutes before you want to be asleep, Dr. Weiss recommends taking a warm shower or a bath and finishing up any tasks. "Prepare your clothes, lunch bag etc. for the next day," she says.

Then, 15 minutes before you want to be asleep, try breathing exercises, reading a book or other relaxing activities, advises the sleep doctor.

"Dim the lights and listen to a calming podcast," recommends Dr. Gradisar. "The goal isn’t perfection but creating some space between your busy day and sleep."

5. Cut down on stimulants in the run up to bedtime

Getting less sleep than I need means I'm often reaching for caffeine to stay alert during the day. However, stimulants from tea, coffee and carbonated drinks can leave you feeling tired, wired and unable to sleep come bedtime.

To get consistently good sleep, it's time to break the negative stimulant cycle, say experts.

"Cut off caffeine by early afternoon; most people don't realize caffeine has a half-life of 5-7 hours, meaning your 3pm coffee is still half active at 8pm," says Dr. Meers.

In addition to the cut-off from caffeinated drinks, you should avoid alcohol and screens — anything that prevents your body from feeling tired should be eliminated in the run-up to bedtime, say experts.

"Light from screens, particularly phones and computers, can be particularly disruptive as it gives off a blue light which mimics daylight," says Dr. Patel. "Using screens late at night can also over-stimulate our brains, making us feel less sleepy."

The link between early-onset cancer and sleep deprivation

First, let’s look at the study that has spurred me into addressing my sleep issues head on. Statistics show the number of cancer cases in the under 50s has risen by 80% globally in the past three decades. Researchers from MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas and Jefferson Health New Jersey have cited insufficient sleep as a potential catalyst.

During a recent presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, researchers outlined how, after analyzing the health data of over 18 million US adults aged between 18-50 over a two year period, they discovered that poor sleepers were at a heightened risk of developing early-onset bowel, breast, uterine or ovarian cancer.

According to the data, those with insomnia are as much as three times more likely to develop certain cancers within five years of an insomnia diagnosis.

“These findings suggest that sleep disruption may represent a clinically relevant, potentially modifiable risk factor in early-onset cancer risk stratification and warrants further investigation,” the researchers said.

Commenting on this research, Dr. Carleara Weiss, Sleep Science Advisor at Aeroflow Sleep, says the findings support earlier research demonstrating that persistent sleep deprivation disrupts the circadian rhythm, our body's internal clock that helps regulate functions such as sleep and wake cycles, hunger and body temperature.

"[This disruption] critically impacts our physiology by affecting cell division, hormone regulation, DNA repair, and cardiovascular and glymphatic function," says Dr. Weiss, who specializes in behavioral sleep medicine and circadian rhythms.

"In turn, these disruptions lead to cancer, dementia, and mortality. For example, women with insomnia are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, even if they don’t have a family history of the disease."

Final verdict: The time to prioritize sleep is now, say experts

The above advice isn't a quick fix and requires consistency in order to achieve better sleep in the long run. "These simple steps require dedication and are not easy; however, if you stick to them, they will make a positive difference in your overall health," says Dr. Weiss.

And how much of a priority should we be making our sleep? "Sleep is considered a sixth vital sign", says Dr. Andrew Valenzuela, Medical Director of Sleep Cycle Center in Austin, Texas. "It impacts every organ system. Interestingly, every single cell in the human body has its own circadian rhythm.

"This means that sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality physically affects every single organ system at multiple levels, ranging from hunger to mood to heart health and longevity. Sleep is pivotal for overall wellness. The push for sleep quality is critical for all of us."

That means reframing how we view sleep. "For years, we've been told that getting by on little sleep means you're productive and tough, but that idea has caused a lot of harm," concludes Dr. Meers.

"The most successful people I see aren't the ones who push through on less sleep. They're the ones who learned that making sleep a priority is the best investment in everything else they care about. Sleep isn't a reward for a good day. It's what makes a good day possible."

In a world that celebrates morning people, I’m almost ashamed to admit that I'm a chronic night owl. While the rest of my household is asleep, I’m still skulking around in the darkness, tackling the tasks that I suddenly feel I have the time and energy for.

Provided that I’m getting enough quality rest, being a night owl isn’t necessarily a problem. However, the rhythm and demands of my daily life mean I have to get up with the early birds; my children have school and my job has a prompt start time. When you’re someone who favors the natural rhythm of going to bed late and waking up late, life becomes a daily battle with the snooze button and flagging morning energy levels.

While I know I’ll never change my hardwired sleep-wake cycle (I’ll go over why in more detail below), I have found a way to ‘hack’ being an early riser. And Dr. Joshua Roland, a board-certified sleep medicine physician and medical director at Dreem Health, explains why it works.

Key takeaways: At a glance

• Your sleep chronotype dictates the natural rhythm of your sleep schedule, influencing when you're likely to feel tired and alert
• My chronotype indicates that I'm a night owl, someone who naturally has more energy later at night than in the morning
• You can't change your chronotype, but you can alter your sleep schedule in order to wake up earlier through lifestyle tweaks
• Sleep experts maintain that a consistent sleep schedule is an effective way to stave off sleep inertia (morning grogginess)
• Waking up at the same time every day helps strengthen your circadian rhythm, helping you to fall asleep faster and wake with energy
• Waking at 6 a.m. every day (even on the weekends) helps me wake with more energy and less brain fog

What is a chronotype and what does it have to do with the time I feel tired?

Before we go into how I’m finally waking up earlier and with more energy, let’s touch on why some people find early mornings hard.

You’ve likely heard of the term 'night owl' and 'morning lark'. These are two examples of chronotypes; the classification of the natural timing of your circadian rhythms (your body's internal 24 hour clock).

Your chronotype is why you're hardwired to feel tired earlier or later in the evening, and why some wake up raring to go while others get an energy burst at night.

This framework was first developed by Dr. Michael Breus, a double board-certified clinical psychologist and sleep specialist. In his book, The Power of When, Dr. Breus identified four different chronotypes:

• Lions: Early risers who are most productive in the morning but start to flag in the evening.
• Bears: People who thrive on a traditional 9-to-5 schedule and align their days with the sun.
• Wolves: True night owls who feel most energized in the evening and struggle with early mornings.
• Dolphins: Light or irregular sleepers who find it difficult to stick to a regular schedule.

Going on the above framework, my biological predisposition most resembles a wolf; I'm naturally alert later at night but sleep right through my snooze button every morning.

Your chronotype is something you're born with, so while I'd like to become a lion overnight, I know I can't. However, there are steps I can take to adjust my body clock so I wake with more energy (and get the kids to school on time).

The 'hack' that's helping me wake up early and with more energy

I'm hardwired to go to bed later and wake later. However, with young children and a job to hold down, there's no way I can spend all morning catching up on sleep. And going to bed late and waking early is a one-way ticket to sleep deprivation.

Instead, I need to adjust my sleep and wake time earlier to ensure that, when my alarm goes off at 6 a.m., I've clocked up enough rest to feel energized and able to tackle the day.

However, it's not as simple as just moving my bedtime earlier, as due to my chronotype I'd just lie awake until my usual sleep time hit. In order to feel tired earlier and wake with something resembling energy, I need to be consistent with my new timings. That means setting my alarm for 6 a.m. every morning — yes, even on the weekends.

"Waking up early with consistent energy is less about willpower and more about supporting the body’s natural rhythms," explains Dr. Rowland. "One of the most important factors is consistency. Try to keep your bed and wake time stable, even on weekends, since your body’s internal clock responds best to routine."

So rather than one routine for the weekday and another for the weekend, my consistent sleep schedule is helping me wake early and feel refreshed. Having stuck to this routine for a couple of weeks, waking up early is getting much easier (there are even occasions when I get up before my alarm).

• I fixed my 3 a.m. wake-ups and brain fog by syncing my sleep with the rising and setting of the sun, just like the Amish — doctors explain why this circadian living works

3 crucial things I'm doing to support my new morning routine

Waking up every day at 6 a.m. only works because I'm going to bed earlier. In order to feel tired earlier and to ensure that I'm getting the sleep I need, here's three more things I'm doing to support my new routine:

1. Eating evening meals earlier to adjust my sleep schedule

Your circadian rhythm is your body's internal clock, controlling when you feel tired and when you feel alert. It also dictates the time of day you're most likely to feel hungry. In order to shift my sleep schedule earlier, I've shifted my mealtimes earlier, too.

Instead of going to bed at midnight (or later), my adjusted sleep schedule is 10 p.m. — 6 a.m, seven days a week. So, shifting my evening meal to 7 p.m. gives me two-three hours of time to digest my food before attempting sleep.

2. Starting my wind-down routine earlier

As a natural night owl, fighting the urge to stay up late has been the biggest barrier to becoming a morning person. But while my heart thinks 11 p.m. is the perfect time to start cleaning the baseboards, my head knows I should be in bed so I can wake the following morning feeling refreshed.

So, instead of 'one more episode' or 'just a quick tidy up', at 9 p.m. I begin my wind down routine. That means I turn my screens off — whether it's my phone, work laptop or TV — lower the lights and start getting ready for bed.

Following roughly the same sequence of tasks, be it taking off your make-up, folding laundry, or reading a book for twenty minutes, helps signal to the brain and body that sleep is coming. In time, this nighttime routine consistency helps you fall asleep faster.

3. Using morning sunlight to beat sleep inertia

Harnessing the power of natural sunlight can immediately boost your morning energy levels and anchor your wake-time. That's why spring and summer are the ideal seasons to fix a broken sleep schedule, thanks to the abundance of natural morning light.

"To improve morning energy, get bright light exposure soon after waking, ideally natural sunlight, which helps reinforce your circadian rhythm and promote alertness," explains Dr. Roland.

Morning sunlight helps kickstart two specific get-up-and-go hormones; cortisol and serotonin. So, opening up the curtains first thing or having your morning cup of coffee outside helps stave off grogginess (also known as sleep inertia.) And it means I feel ready to take on the day, even if wolf inside me thinks I should still be in bed.

What if I told you there's a way to boost your longevity that doesn't involve red light, cold plunges, or quaffing superfoods? In fact, it's something we can all do for free: keep a regular sleep schedule.

My sleep tracker is always urging me to get to bed on time and, judging by two major new studies published this year showing that sleep regularity is a crucial aspect of ageing better, it's clear that my sleep tracker is looking out for my long-term health.

Below, we're looking at what is a sleep regularity (also known as sleep consistency) sleep score, where to find yours, and how to improve your score based on advice from board-certified physician Dr. Kenneth Ro and renowned health and longevity expert Dan Miller.

Key take-aways: At a glance

• The 'master switch' for longevity: Sleep regularity is the ultimate predictor because it sets the schedule for your entire body. It's what controls the timing of the cellular repair that keeps your organs young.
• The one-hour sleep rule: Science now indicates that staying within a 30-minute window of your target bedtime and wake time every day is vital for longevity. Being consistent with this 'one-hour' window is the gold standard for a healthy circadian rhythm. So if your bedtime anchor is 10pm (the time you'd like to fall asleep), your one-hour window is split 30 minutes either side of that.
• The 4-year longevity boost: A huge new study by Vitality and The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) found that consistent sleep timings paired with getting 7+ hours of sleep a night can help increase your life span by up to four years. This is known as the 7:1 Sleep Rule.
• The weekend lie-in trap: Scientists now believe that 'social jetlag'—shifting your sleep schedule on the weekends—accelerates biological aging and decline.
• The 'Regularity' metric: Most high quality sleep trackers, including the Apple Watch, Oura Ring, and Garmin Index Monitor, track 'sleep consistency' to help you monitor this vital longevity marker.
• Optimizing your bedroom for sleep: Experts recommend using temperature-controlled bedding and smart lighting to anchor your circadian rhythm and help you stick to a regular sleep schedule.

• Read more: Science says my poor sleep habits mean I'm at risk of developing cancer and I'm terrified — 5 experts share their top tips for getting more rest, starting tonight

What is sleep regularity?

Sleep consistency is all about going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time every day to regulate your circadian rhythm (and therefore your sleep/wake hormones).

Instead of simply focusing on how many hours you sleep, researchers now use the Sleep Regularity Index (SRI). According to the doctor-cited science health journal Nature, the SRI is used to "measure an individual’s sleep/wake consistency over time."

According to a paper by the researchers who created the SRI, 'the index is scaled so that an individual who sleeps and wakes at exactly the same times each day scores 100, whereas an individual who sleeps and wakes at random scores 0.'

"Higher sleep regularity scores are associated with better metabolic health, improved cardiovascular markers, and lower mortality risk," explains Dr. Ro.

When you have an irregular sleep schedule, you’re essentially putting your body in a state of stress, he says. This can fast-track you toward type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cognitive decline.

• Read more: Experts share 3 reasons why your Apple Watch sleep score is ‘Low’ even when you get 7 hours or more sleep a night

The social jetlag trap

Social jet lag (when your work or social habits get in the way of your sleep patterns) is the most common interference in sleep consistency.

People's sleep schedules tend to shift significantly between weekdays and weekends — I must admit, I'm guilty of this.

Dr. Ro says a common example is waking at 6am during the workweek and then sleeping until 9am or 10am on the weekend.

"Even though the person has not traveled, the body experiences a shift similar to crossing time zones. Repeating that cycle week after week can disrupt hormone rhythms, metabolism, and sleep quality,” he explains.

Why sleep regularity is the master switch for longevity

While CDC guidelines still recommend that adults get 7 or more hours' sleep a night, new research shows that sleep regularity is actually a stronger predictor of mortality risk compared to how much sleep you're getting, and combining that regularity with enough sleep can add up to four years to your life.

A 2024 Windred et al study of more than 60,000 participants found that sleepers with higher SRI scores had a 20% to 48% lower risk of all-cause mortality than those with low scores, and was a stronger predictor of all-cause mortality than sleep duration.

Additionally, the Vitality and LSE study of more than 47 million nights of sleep data, published in January 2026, concluded that getting seven hours of sleep per night, while maintaining a consistent bedtime within a one-hour window, can lead to 24% lower mortality risk when compared to people who don't do either.

In terms of lifespan, they translated that to up to potentially four more years of life.

Miller, who is on a journey to reach 130 years old, explains: "Consistent sleep allows your body to predict when to repair tissue and flush toxins.

"When our circadian pattern is disrupted too often, we pay the short-term price (inflammation, brain fog, lack of energy) and the price long-term (early death and a great chance of diseases).

“​​Quality is a byproduct of consistency," he adds. "If you want to live longer, stop chasing the amount of sleep and start mastering the timing of it."

So below, we'll cover habits that can improve your sleep regularity, and look into how the best sleep trackers can help you ace that consistent sleep schedule...

How to find your sleep consistency score

As I mentioned earlier, my sleep tracker, an Oura Ring, doesn't let me get off lightly when I have a late night. It sends me notifications reminding me I should be asleep and deducts points from my sleep score if I sleep at irregular times, even if I clock eight hours.

That's why a reliable sleep tracker is such a handy tool for maintaining that all-important, and potentially life-extending sleep schedule. All the best trackers measure sleep regularity and take consistency into account when calculating your nightly sleep score.

“Sleep tracking can be useful because it turns something invisible into measurable data," emphasises Dr. Ro. "Wearable trackers can highlight patterns such as bedtime variability and sleep timing drift. When people see those patterns clearly, it often motivates them to create more consistent sleep habits.”

Here's how to find your sleep consistency metric on popular health trackers:

Oura Ring

Oura measures sleep consistency by tracking the regularity of your bedtime and wake-up times. You'll find a dedicated sleep timing measurement in your sleep report.

After 90 days of constant wear, Oura learns your natural chronotype and will align your sleep timing with this data under the 'Body Clock' tab.

Apple Watch

Your bedtime is one of three key metrics that go into calculating your Apple sleep score. In the sleep section of the Apple Health app, you can view how close your bedtime was to your average.

Whoop

The fitness and performance focused Whoop band delivers a 'sleep consistency' percentage under the sleep tab. This percentage reflects how similar your bed and wake times are over a rolling four-day period.

Garmin

Although there isn't a dedicated sleep consistency measurement in the Garmin sleep report, you can view your detailed breakdown of sleep times and stages to manually cross-check your consistency.

How to improve your sleep consistency score

So, you know sleep regularity enhances your chances of living a longer, healthier life, and you know where to find the metric on your sleep tracker of choice. But what can you do, starting tonight, to improve your sleep consistency?

Strap in, I've got the tips and tactics from the experts...

The 7:1 Rule

Of course, it's nigh-on-impossible to fall asleep at the exact same minute every night, so experts recommend a one hour window around sleep and wake times.

Obtaining 7 hours of sleep per night within a 1-hour window is one of the key sleep behaviours recommended by Vitality researchers for extended life expectancy. Dr. Ro also highlights that avoiding large timing swings helps maintain circadian stability.

This one hour window takes the pressure off falling asleep as soon as you get into bed. Instead of panicking about getting to sleep right on time, prioritise maintaining a calming nighttime routine. Once this routine is established, your body should get used to winding down at roughly the same time each night.

Anchor your morning

Dr. Ro says locking in a stable wake time, and exposing yourself to sunlight soon after waking, is the best starting point for avoiding sleep deprivation and getting better sleep.

“Natural light exposure within the first thirty minutes after waking helps reinforce the body’s internal clock,” he explains. Essentially, the sunlight tells you brain it's time to be alert.

Light, along with waking at roughly the same time each day, signals the brain when to release cortisol in the morning and when melatonin should rise later that evening. "Once that rhythm stabilizes, the body naturally begins to develop sleep pressure at a predictable time at night," says the Texas-based physician.

That means you fall asleep fast and reap the health benefits of a consistent sleep schedule. It's a double win.

Don't over-correct

Now, I had a pressing question for the experts: There are people who cannot perfectly control their sleep schedule (new parents and shift workers, I'm thinking of you), so what is the most important anchor for them: bedtime or wake time?

"The biggest anchor is a consistent wake-up time," confirms Miller, and you should "protect this at all costs." Experts now agree it's better to wake up at your usual time, even if you have a late night, and take a 20-minute nap later than to "sleep in" and shift your rhythm.

The founder of Eternum Longevity Center advises: "Try to schedule 7 to 9 hours in bed if possible, but wake up at the same time every day, even weekends, regardless of bedtime."

Admittedly, skipping a couple of hours sleep one night isn't great, but throwing off your circadian rhythm for the following few nights can lead to accumulating a bigger sleep debt.

The best tech to help you maintain regular sleep times

As tech gurus here at Tom's Guide, we're always keen to wax lyrical about gadgets that improve our sleep routines.

Focussing on the fact light and temperature are two of the biggest factors that influence sleep, here are our tried-and-tested products — all of which can help you get to bed, or get up, on time...

A SMART BED: With features like temperature monitoring to enhance your sleep quality, smart beds like the Eight Sleep Pod, can help you drift off and wake up at consistent times. "I’m a massive advocate for bed coolers like the Eight Sleep Pod 5. Being able to thermally regulate your environment is a game-changer," says Miller.

SMART LIGHTING: If you're looking to upgrade your home for better sleep, Philips Hue lights are a great place to start. With built-in sunset features, these lights can be programmed via the accompanying app to dim in the evening. Being in a darker room can to help promote melatonin release and aid you in feeling sleepy on time.

A SUNRISE ALARM CLOCK: Come morning, the best sunrise alarm clocks, like the Hatch Restore 3 or Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300, can help you hone a consistent wake up time. Gradually getting brighter over a set period of time, they are particularly effective on dark mornings as they simulate a sunrise and help you wake more naturally compared to a blaring alarm.

SMART BLINDS: And when the mornings naturally get brighter, smart blinds are a great home improvement. Typically controlled via apps or home smart assistants, you can set them to let in light at the same time every morning.

I've tried plenty of sleep crazes during my three-year tenure as a sleep writer, but two trends stand out to me: using a best-selling Japanese floor mattress and sleeping on a mattress topper on the floor. But despite enjoying these simple sleep set ups, I've never tried putting my actual mattress on the floor.

Putting your mattress on the floor has become a TikTok trend in recent years, drawing inspiration from Japanese floor mattresses and Boho styling to create a minimalistic yet supportive sleep space. I decided to use a recent stay at my family home to test this viral sleep hack.

It wasn't just about trying a TikTok fad — my childhood room has a bed frame that's way too high, so this seemed like a perfect solution that might benefit my sleep. After five nights sleeping on a spring mattress on the floor, here's how my sleep fared, plus my advice for getting floor beds right.

The 5 things I discovered when putting my mattress on the floor for 5 nights

1. When you're in bed, you forget you're on the floor

While those who have never tried sleeping on the floor before (or have unsettling flashbacks to lying in a cold, damp sleeping bag during a horrendous camping trip) may think putting a floor mattress sounds awful, a mattress is still a mattress. Just because its on the floor, doesn't mean it loses all the comfortable cushioning you need to help you drift off.

Having previously slept well on a Japanese floor mattress and a bed topper on the floor — both much thinner than my eight-inch mattress — I had no trepidations. And my instinct was right. From the first night, I had no trouble falling or staying asleep, and I woke up feeling completely refreshed.

2. It's incredibly supportive in all sleep positions

Your floor — especially hard floors like wood or tile — provides a firm base for your bed. This means your mattress is well supported, creating an even and unyielding sleep surface.

A firm surface is particularly important if you're a back or stomach sleeper (I switch between back and side sleeping), as it encourages healthy spine alignment to prevent lower back pain.

When I slept on the floor, I felt well-supported when lying on my back yet I didn't feel any pressure build up when side sleeping. (However, some side sleepers might need to opt for a thicker mattress for more cushioning at the shoulders and hips.)

3. It draws from a Japanese sleep tradition

The notion of putting a mattress on the floor to improve sleep isn't just some new-fangled TikTok sleep fad. In fact, the traditional Japanese floor mattress (known as a shikibuton) is is an integral part of Japan's rich history and culture.

As mentioned above, I tried a Japanese floor mattress and loved it, and putting a mattress on the floor reminded me of the futon. This time-honored sleep tradition is also backed by experts, with Neurosurgery and Spine Consultants arguing that a "Japanese style sleeping futon can be a great way to experiment with back pain reduction".

If you don't have a Japanese floor mattress, you could also try putting one of the best mattress toppers on the floor (a sleep method I've tried and loved) as long as it's at least two inches thick.

4. It's good Feng Shui

If I sleep on a bed frame that's too high, the spacial disorientation triggers a vigilant response similar to the first-night effect. Basically, the unfamiliar height keeps me alert and causes me to experience insomnia.

By contrast, sleeping close to the floor helps me feel more grounded and (as silly as it sounds) safer. It creates a cozy, minimalistic space so I can fall asleep fast.

And this grounding effect is promoted by ancient philosophical system Feng Shui (just make sure you don't have a mirror facing your floor bed.)

5. You get used to it quickly

While there was a little strangeness at first to tucking myself in at ground level, I found I adapted to my new, lower sleeping space quickly. Once I turned off the lights and settled in, I hardly knew I was on the floor at all.

By the second night, hitting the hay (or hitting the floor) seems second nature. I wondered why I'd always bothered with the bed frame.

My advice for anyone who wants to put their mattress on the floor

1. Clean the spot you want to put your mattress on

One of the drawbacks of putting your mattress on the floor is that dirt and dust can accumulate easily, creating an unhygienic sleep space prone to allergens.

So, it's important to vacuum and clean the floor where you plan to place your mattress, including surroundings (such as baseboards). Keep the space clear of obstructions as well, so you don't bump into things in when moving around during sleep.

And if you've recently mopped, allow everything to dry completely before placing your bed. Never put your mattress on a damp or wet floor, as moisture can cause mold or mildew.

2. Consider a Japanese floor mattress or thick bed topper instead

Putting your standard mattress on the floor can become a trip hazard (they take up a lot of space) and you do risk voiding the mattress's warranty.

However, floor mattresses can be a compact sleep solution for those with limited space, particularly if you switch to a memory foam mattress topper or Japanese floor bed.

Foam mattress toppers in a twin or twin XL size are easy to tuck away during the day, while many Japanese floor mattresses, such as the best-selling MAXYOYO Japanese Floor Mattress at Amazon, can be rolled up or folded into a complementary storage bag.

3. Use a tatami mat if you have a carpet

Sleeping on hard flooring, such as wood or tile, can help boost air circulation for a cooler night's rest. However, putting your mattress on carpet often has the opposite effect; it traps heat for stuffy sleep.

If you only have carpet, you can counteract any heat buildup by using a tatami mat, like this option from $95.99 on Amazon. A tatami mat is a type of straw mat that usually accompanies a Japanese Floor Mattress, providing a solid base to absorb any moisture and add support.

While you wait for your tatami mat to arrive, you can use cardboard as a short-term solution.

From night one, I knew I was going to love the Bear Elite Hybrid. Not only does this luxury hybrid mattress actually keep me cool while I sleep, it eases any pressure points along my body too. The Bear Elite Hybrid is down to an all-time low price right now at $1,370.40 (was $2,427) for a queen with the code TOMS40, plus you get two pillows, a mattress protector, and a Celliant cooling cover upgrade thrown in for free.

After coming top in our temperature regulation mattress tests, the Bear Elite Hybrid is one of the top-rated options in our best mattress of the year guide. I recommend it to all hot sleepers, whether you're dealing with hot flashes or hot sweats.

Despite mattress price hikes across the market thanks to tariffs and general rising costs, Bear has remarkably pushed against the grain with such an incredible Memorial Day mattress deal. Here's a closer look at the deal below, and for further options we’re tracking the best value Memorial Day mattress sales of 2026 LIVE.

The cooling mattress that helps me ace my sleep scores

I've spent seven months sleeping on the Bear Elite Hybrid mattress, which is marketed towards people with an active lifestyle. As a marathon runner, I'm an ideal candidate to review the Bear Elite Hybrid Mattress.

What exactly makes it so great for active people? Well, the Celliant cover is infused with synthetic fibres that capture body heat through the night and convert it into infrared energy that supposedly improves physical recovery through the night.

While it's difficult to quantify exactly how much the Celliant tech is helping my muscles repair, what I can say is I've spent many a peaceful night on the Bear Elite, clocking sleep scores in the high 80s most nights and waking up refreshed and ready for a run most mornings.

Excelling in our thermal Sleep Lab tests, the Bear Elite Hybrid comes out on top in our best cooling mattress guide. Essentially, the mattress absorbs body heat quickly (pulling it away from your body) and showed the fastest cooling rate among our top five rated beds, shedding 1.82°F per minute. It's safe to say hot sleepers are in good hands at Bear.

Want something cheaper?

As great value as it is, the Bear still falls in the premium mattress price tier. If you want a cheap bed that will keep you cool, it's worth considering the Siena Signature mattress, which sleeps surprisingly cool for a memory foam bed that costs just $294 for a queen in current sales.

So you’ve found a mattress you want to buy, but you’ve never tried it. So, how will you know you like it? With a growing number of mattress manufacturers shifting their stores to online-only, it’s more common than ever to buy your new bed and have it delivered to your door before you’ve even felt it.

And that’s no bad thing. In fact, 54% of people now buy mattresses online rather than in-store, and the majority of the best mattresses we’ve tested this year are only available online.

Plus, there are some great perks to buying a mattress online that you’d miss out on if you opt to shop in person. Before you shopthis month's mattress sales, we'll dive deeper into the benefits of buying a mattress online vs in-store and the non-negotiables you should look out for.

Memorial day mattress sales: Quick links

• Saatva Classic — save up to $400
  Reduced to $1,779 (from $2,179) for a queen at Saatva
• Zinus 12" Memory Foam — save up to $49
  Reduced to $190 (from $239.99) for a queen at Amazon
• Bear Elite Hybrid — save up to $1,142
  Reduced to $1370. 40 (from $2,284) for a queen at Bear
• Linenspa 7" Hybrid — save up to $36
  Reduced to $204 (from $239.99) for a queen at Linenspa
• Helix Midnight Luxe — save up to $789
  Reduced to $1,751 (from $2,399) for a queen at Helix
• DreamCloud Classic Hybrid — save up to $1,584
  Reduced to $649 (from $1,892) for a queen at DreamCloud
• Tempur-Cloud + Ease Power Base — save up to $1,759
  Reduced to $1,998 (from $2,998) for a queen at Tempur-Pedic
• Plank Firm — save up to $499
  Reduced to $932 (was $1,332) for a queen at Plank

Easy, quick and simple: tips for buying a mattress online compared to in store

Make the most of generous sleep trials

While most people will sit on a mattress for a few minutes in a shop to test how comfortable it is, it’s rarely enough to truly gauge how the bed will support your body and your sleeping position.

Even if you follow the recommended advice and lie on a mattress for 20 minutes before committing, a full night’s sleep might feel completely different. This is because materials are designed to soften around, contour and support your body.

However, when buying a mattress online, you’ll be offered a sleep trial. This means you can sleep on a mattress for at least 30 days and still be entitled to a full refund if you find it’s not quite right for you.

So, you’ll never have to commit to spending thousands on a mattress that doesn’t suit your sleep style. These sleep trials vary from brand to brand, but with an average of 100 nights promised, you'll know whether the bed is the right fit.

Enjoy lower prices and better sales

Without the costs that come with brick-and-mortar stores like rent, employees and general running fees, exclusively online brands are able to offer incredibly competitive pricing.

We’ve tested some of the best cheap mattresses of the year and have been wowed by beds that cost under $500 for a queen.

In 2019, mattresses-in-a-box were responsible for 12% of the whole mattress industry, and since then, this number has only grown. These mattresses are vacuum-packed and rolled to fit in a box, making shipping easy, cheap and practical — again, pushing overall prices down online.

Lower running costs for businesses mean regular, monthly mattress sales. But there are some specific times of the year that are better to shop than others.

In general, Black Friday usually sees the best discounts, but if you’re shopping now, it’s worth waiting for the Memorial Day mattress sales in May. Here, we’re likely to see some of the lowest prices brands offer throughout the year.

Check for simple (and often free) returns and warranty

Because most brands offer a free sleep trial, they also make returns nice and easy. Rather than trying to squeeze your mattress in a car and dragging it to a shop, most mattress companies will organize hassle-free collections for you.

Some companies, like DreamCloud and Helix, offer these returns free of charge, but other brands will often charge a small cost — so be sure to check this before you buy.

A long warranty has become a common perk across online mattress brands, with some of the best hybrid mattress brands like Saatva offering a ‘lifetime’ warranty. The average warranty covers the mattress’s lifespan, which can be anywhere from 10-25 years, depending on the type of mattress it is.

The best organic mattresses, for example, often come with a 25 year+ warranty, because of the durable, natural materials used like latex.

Non-negotiables for buying a mattress online

If you’re feeling better about shopping for your mattress online, I’m glad. But make sure you look out for these non-negotiables. If a brand doesn’t offer them, it’s a red flag and could indicate that the actual quality of the mattress won’t be as high as it needs to in order to last 10+ years:

• A sleep trial lasting at least 30 days, but ideally 90-365 days: While a month should realistically be enough for you to decide whether you like your bed, a 90-365 day sleep trial is ideal. This way, you’ll be able to see how it performs over multiple months.
• A warranty of at least 10 years: A 10-year warranty sounds a lot, but a good mattress is built to last. Check what’s covered in the warranty, too, and always read what voids it.
• Good reviews: Read reviews from websites that really test mattresses. To create our mattress reviews, we have a rigorous testing methodology and sleep on each bed for at least three weeks to get a real understanding about how it performs.
• Easy returns: If a company makes returning a mattress an impossible task or too expensive, then there is no point in having a sleep trial in the first place. Look for easy, free returns or returns that only have a small cost.

Larke Nature's Blend Duvet: Review in brief

Can sustainability and comfort go hand in hand? Larke has proved it's possible with their Nature's Blend duvet, crafted using breathable eucalyptus tree fibres and pure cotton.

The duvet, which is OEKO-TEX and FSC certified, is made to feel luxuriously comfortable no matter the season. It has a lightweight build with pretty seashell-inspired stitching and holds its shape well, even if you're someone prone to tossing and turning during the night.

Thanks to the natural materials, it's also naturally hypoallergenic and temperature-regulating — features that could earn it a spot in our best duvets guide. You can choose from three tog ratings (4.5, 10.5 and 13.5) and four sizes (single, double, king and super king) to suit your bed dimensions and comfort preferences.

While in our tester's experience, it delivered on the promise of luxury comfort and breathability, very hot sleepers should look for duvets with more actively cooling elements, which can prevent night sweats and help you stay cool.

That's the summary of our findings. Scroll down to know about the Larke Nature's Blend duvet in detail:

Larke Nature's Blend Duvet: Price and deals

Compared to most options in our best duvets guide, the Larke Nature's Blend is more expensive; this premium duvet starts at £120 RRP. Here's the current price list:

Single: £120 to £155
Double: £140 to £205
King: £160 to £230
Super King: £200 to £265

The prices for each size vary according to the tog rating you opt for. You can choose from three options: 4.5, 10.5 or 13.5 tog, with the price increasing the higher the tog rating.

For reference, the all-season Nectar Duvet is 10.5 tog and starts from £49 for a single size (read the full Nectar Duvet review to know more details).

However, the Nature's Blend duvet comes with benefits like a 30-night trial period, five-year warranty covering manufacturing faults (stitching, filling and outer fabric issues except those due to normal wear and tear) and free delivery in the UK, which is excellent for bedding.

The brand also promises a full refund if you're not satisfied by the end of your 30-day trial period.

Larke Nature's Blend Duvet: Design and materials

The Larke Nature's Blend duvet is OEKO-TEX and FSC-certified (the former meaning it's free from harmful substances, and the latter indicating raw materials sourced from responsibly managed forests) and features a lightweight Tencel-Lyocell (which is eucalyptus tree fibre) filling. The outer shell, meanwhile, is made from 280 thread count, 100% pure cotton.

According to the brand, the moisture-wicking tree fibres provide temperature regulation, while the top cover adds a layer of soft-to-touch, breathable comfort. However, it's worth noting that the Larke is not going to feel like your typical fluffy down duvet.

For those who struggle with allergies, Larke also highlights that the duvet is naturally hypoallergenic and "free from dust mites and skin-irritating synthetics."

The Larke duvet comes in a lovely creamy white colour with seashell-inspired stitching, which ensure an even distribution of the fill at all times. The stitch design and the piped edges add to the overall premium look of the duvet.

Larke Nature's Blend Duvet: Performance

I tested a king-size Larke Nature's Blend duvet with a 10.5 tog rating, which, according to the brand, can be used all year round.

Let's take a closer look at how it performed during the month-long testing period:

Setup

The Larke Nature's Blend duvet arrived in a cardboard box, rolled and packed in a reusable, adjustable cloth bag. It does not require any expansion time, and there was no off-gassing smell once it was out of the bag.

I did, however, notice that it's flatter and less fluffy compared to the microfiber duvet I was using before.

Our score: 5 out of 5

Temperature regulation

I tested the 10.5 tog Larke Nature's Blend duvet during British springtime when temperatures fluctuated considerably over 24 hour periods; anywhere between 5℃ and 20℃ (41F and 68F).

It's useful to note that I'm someone who tends to sleep cold and goes to bed with cold feet (unless it's peak summer). I wore a pair of socks and breathable pyjamas during the testing period. I also used a top sheet, which helped me gauge the softness of the duvet's outer shell to some degree, while still creating a barrier in between.

The Larke duvet, however, surprised me with its temperature regulation. While I slept all night snugly, I never woke up due to stuffiness or discomfort, even when the temperature soared.

The initial doubts I had about its flatter build also disappeared when I realised how comfy it is, regardless of the weather.

That said, if you are a hot sleeper, Larke does not advertise this duvet as actively cooling, so it would be better to opt for a lower tog rating or consider cooling bedding.

Our score: 5 out of 5

Care and maintenance

Maintaining the Larke duvet seems like an easy task. The brand recommends washing it at 40℃ (104 F) using a gentle detergent and tumble-drying on a low heat setting or air-drying, laying it flat.

If air drying, I'll also suggest using a dehumidifier, which can speed up the process.

Trying to redistribute the fill evenly after washing a duvet can be a nightmare, but Larke underlines that no shaking is needed — thanks to the stitches made to hold its shape.

Our score: 5 out of 5

Should you buy the Larke Nature's Blend Duvet?

The Larke Nature's Blend duvet is designed to be hypoallergenic, breathable, lightweight and most importantly, durable.

We felt, after testing it, that it largely kept its promise. It looks beautiful draped on the bed, feels comfy and is easy to handle and maintain (no running to the dry cleaners).

The downside, in our opinion, is the price. If you're someone who values quality sleep and are able to stretch your bedding budget, the Larke Nature's Duvet is a great purchase that justifies the higher spend.

Plus, there is a safety net: if you're not satisfied after the 30-day trial period, you get a full refund.

Buy the Larke Nature's Duvet if...

✅You want a naturally breathable duvet: The highlight of the duvet is that it does not include any "nasties". The eucalyptus tree fibre filling and pure cotton outer cover make a breathable duvet for all sleepers.

✅You want more options: The Larke duvet comes in 4 different sizes and three tog ratings to suit your bed size and preferences.

✅You want an easy-to-care-for duvet: You can machine wash the duvet at 40℃, and it's tumble-dry friendly. Plus, there'll be no shape shifting or bunching up, thanks to the sturdy stitching.

✅You want added benefits: The Larke duvet also comes with a 30-night trial, five-year warranty and free shipping.

Don't buy the Larke Nature's Duvet if...

❌You want a cheap duvet: Starting at £120 for a single size, the Larke duvet is a premium purchase.

❌You like a fluffy duvet: Unlike down or down-alternative variants, the Larke Nature's Blend is not your typical fluffy duvet. It is a bit on the flatter side, although this is no compromise on the comfort.

The mattress market has changed drastically over the past decade, with innovations specifically within the mattress-in-a-box and smart bed sector challenging what we thought we could ever expect from our beds. A mattress that can stop your snoring, anyone?

That means that if you haven’t bought a mattress within the past eight or so years, the landscape could seem a little confusing.

But we — a team of mattress reviewers who have tested 120+ mattresses across every category to bring you our guide to the best mattress you can buy online — are on hand to help cut through the noise and the marketing jargon.

If you’re mattress shopping this month's mattress sales, these are the four main types of beds you can buy and who they might be best for.

• Saatva: save up to $400 on luxury mattresses
• Bear: 40% off our favorite cooling mattress with code TOMS40
• Helix Sleep: 27% off mattresses for all sleep styles with code TOMS27
• DreamCloud Mattress: Up to 60% off luxury hybrids
• Nectar Mattress: Up to 50% off + up to 66% off bundles
• Brooklyn Bedding: 30% off sitewide
• Tempur-Pedic: 30% off closeout luxury mattresses
• Siena: Budget mattresses from just $99

Memory foam: The ‘body-hugging’ mattress

A memory foam mattress is a mattress made entirely of viscoelastic polyurethane, more commonly known as memory foam.

Once warmed by body heat, the best memory foam mattresses offer soothing body contouring support and excellent pressure relief by molding to the shape of your body as you sleep.

This sink-in support of all-foam beds gives them their ‘hug’ sleep feel, which makes them an excellent option for those who sleep on their sides and require extra pressure relief across the hips and shoulders.

That makes them a popular choice among those with joint pain, too. After testing it, we found that the Nectar Premier Memory Foam mattress offers a keen blend of body cradling comfort and support, with the lighter-weight side sleeping member of our testing panel finding it most comfortable.

Another excellent example of an all-foam bed offering the typical ‘hug’ you can expect from some memory foam mattresses is the Zinus Green Tea mattress, a bed that our tester likened to a Tempur-Pedic mattress, thanks to its cushioned feel.

Pros:

• Excellent pressure relief
• Absorbs motion very well, which is ideal for couples
• Best for side sleepers and those with joint pain

Cons:

• Cheaper foams can sleep warm. However, modern foams often use gel or charcoal infusions as well as open cell-foam structures to combat the traditional heat trap issues.

Hybrid: The best of all mattress worlds

The best hybrid mattresses are a sophisticated mix of pocketed coils and layers of memory foam, resulting in a blend of a responsive sleep feel and plenty of body cradling comfort.

This blend of comfort and support makes them best for practically every type of sleeper, but especially those who like to change sleep positions easily during the night, as well as those who favor a luxury hotel aesthetic.

While traditional innerspring mattresses rely on interconnected coils (which give them that bouncy, trampoline-like sleep feel), many modern-day hybrid mattresses use individually pocketed coils. That allows them to provide body contouring support, reinforced support around the perimeter and superior motion isolation.

Although it is technically a luxury innerspring hybrid, the Saatva Classic mattress is the best example of what a hybrid mattress can offer, with its dual-coil support system for support and durability, soothing foam layers for pressure relief and outstanding performance across all key metrics, including temperature regulation.

While we’d say it’s worth every cent, the Saatva is a little pricey (around $1,800 for a queen, depending on Saatva mattress sales), but the DreamCloud Classic mattress is an excellent cheaper alternative. You won’t get the customizable firmness or height options you’d get with the Saatva, but you will get a great mid-range option that will suit most sleepers.

Pros:

• Combines the support of sturdy innerspring and the soothing pressure relief of a memory foam mattress
• Best for all sleepers, especially combination sleepers

Cons:

• Due to their more complex construction, hybrid mattresses tend to be more expensive than memory foam mattresses
• The inclusion of coils can make them more responsive (bouncy) than memory foam
• Also heavier than all-foam mattresses

Latex: The greener mattress

Natural latex mattresses are made from the sap of rubber trees, while other latex mattresses are crafted from synthetic latex. Both types are antimicrobial and hypoallergenic, which means that they repel dust mites, mold and bacteria.

Latex mattresses offer a relatively firm and responsive sleep feel (no memory foam ‘hug’ here), making them best suited to combination sleepers who like to shift positions without feeling trapped.

As our lead tester noted in her Nolah Natural 11 mattress review, the Nolah does this beautifully, offering excellent ease of movement. Like the best organic mattresses on the market, latex mattresses boast naturally cooling properties, which make them a safe option for hot sleepers, as well as eco-conscious shoppers.

A mattress of this calibre doesn’t have to cost a fortune, as evidenced in our Avocado Green mattress review. As a mid-range organic bed, our tester was impressed by its blend of temperature regulation, sturdy support and PETA approval.

Pros:

• Incredibly durable — can last 15+ years if well looked after
• Naturally cooling
• Naturally antimicrobial and hypoallergenic
• Best for eco conscious shoppers and hot sleepers

Cons:

• Expect a distinct bouncy feel that doesn't contour like memory foam
• More expensive than other bed types, but last longer too

Innerspring: The traditional mattress

Traditional innerspring mattresses employ the classic design of a network of interconnected metal coils, which is usually topped with a thin layer of fiber or foam. This structure gives them a trampoline effect, which — as its moniker indicates — results in a bouncy sleep feel.

This open structure makes them light, breathable and easy to move around on. Their simple construction means they’re often pretty cheap. As such, they’re best for back and stomach sleepers who prefer to sleep on top of their mattress as opposed to sinking into it.

However, they aren’t very durable, and a spring protruding through a thin layer of foam is a sure-fire sign that it’s ready to be replaced. If you’ve ever wondered why no one really bounces on their bed anymore, it’s because innerspring mattresses are being phased out in favor of the hybrid mattress.

Pros:

• Very breathable
• Easy to move around on
• Cheap
• Best for back or stomach sleepers who prefer a firm sleep feel and maximum airflow

Cons:

• They offer the poorest motion isolation out of the four mattress types
• Issues with durability

What’s changed since you last shopped?

While the mattress-in-a-box market started out as something of an oddity, the pandemic accelerated the shift to buying mattresses primarily online. Now, hundreds of thousands of the best mattresses in a box are compressed, rolled and packaged up for delivery on our doorstep every year.

This new method of mattress shopping comes with its unique set of pros, cons and challenges. On the plus side, mattress-in-a-box manufacturers save on brick-and-mortar stores, and this saving trickles down to the consumer. That means you can buy mattresses more cheaply.

The cons include often being unable to try your mattress in store before you buy, although longer sleep trials mean you can often return or change it if it’s not quite right. Buying a mattress-in-a-box online can also take approximately 24-48 hours to fully inflate, as well as ‘off gassing’ after being opened, which is the release of VOCs into the air.

Of course, you can still buy mattresses in store and not all mattresses bought online are compressed before shipping. Saatva still prefers to deliver their mattresses traditionally flat before setting them up in your room of choice.

There are also Saatva viewing rooms dotted around the country, in case you would prefer to try before you buy. Compared to eight years ago, memory foam, hybrid and latex mattresses are the most common types of mattresses bought today.

The Saatva Solaire and Eight Sleep Pod allow you to customize your bed to suit your sleep needs — but they tackle very different problems via very different builds. If you're looking to give your bedroom a tech-makeover, there's a lot to learn about the Saatva Solaire Adjustable Firmness Mattress vs the Eight Sleep Pod 5.

The Pod 5 is the latest temperature-controlling, sleep-tracking smart mattress cover from Eight Sleep, using water tubes to heat or cool the bed on demand. The Saatva Solaire, on the other hand, uses dual air chambers to adjust the feel of the mattress. And it does so via a luxury build similar to this year's best mattresses.

So, one prioritizes temperature, the other firmness. But that's just the start and below we'll dig into how these smart beds vary in terms of price, comfort, support, and temperature control, to help you decide whether the Saatva Solaire or Eight Sleep Pod is the smartest investment for you and your sleep...

Saatva Solaire vs Eight Sleep Pod: Price & Trial

• You'll pay around $4,000-$4,500 for a Solaire in the Saatva sales
• A queen Eight Sleep Pod 5 is cheaper at $2,999 MSRP but you must buy a mattress separately
• Saatva has better benefits: a 365-night trial and lifetime warranty

The Tom's Guide team of sleep and mattress gurus rate the Saatva Solaire and Eight Sleep Pod as two of the best smart beds you can buy. With this prestige, and loaded with world-first tech, you must expect to splurge if you're eyeing up either of these smart bed systems.

When you shop at the right time, you can score a great price on the Solaire smart bed in Saatva mattress sales — a queen has an MSRP of $4,599 but look out for $400 off and 15% off sales to bring that down.

Frankly, Eight Sleep mattress sales are rarely as generous. But you can frequently save $100 on the Pod 5, cutting a queen to $2,899 from $2,999. Signing up to the mailing list can sometimes score you an extra discount.

But although the standalone price of the Solaire is more expensive than the Pod, remember you must budget for the extras at Eight Sleep, too.

Because the Eight Sleep Pod is just a mattress cover — you need to buy a mattress as well. For the best cooling comfort, we recommend pairing it with a top-rated hybrid mattress. Depending on how luxe you're going, this might set you back between $649 (the price of a queen DreamCloud Classic) and $1,879 (the usual sale price of a queen Saatva Classic).

Plus, to access all smart features like automatic temperature adjustments and sleep tracking, you must pay a subscription fee for Eight Sleep's Autopilot software. This has a three tier pricing system starting at $17 per month, going up to $25 and $33 per month.

When it comes to perks, Saatva is more generous. You can't get much better than a lifetime warranty, one-year sleep trial, and free White Glove delivery. As standard, the Pod comes with a 30-night trial and a two-year warranty, although that bumps up to five years if you fork out for the Enhanced Autopilot plan.

Saatva Solaire vs Eight Sleep Pod: Materials & Design

• Solaire is a luxury mattress, Eight Sleep Pod is a mattress cover
• The Eight Sleep Pod features a hydro climate control system controlled by a bedside hub
• The Solaire pairs a layer of air chambers with latex, foam, and cotton

When it comes to design, the Saatva Solaire and Eight Sleep Pod 5 have some major differences. For a start, the Solaire is a complete mattress. The Pod, on the other hand, is a smart cover that fits over an existing mattress like a fitted sheet.

The Saatva Solaire has six internal layers. The tech, including the air inflator and hoses, sits at the base, followed by the air chambers and a moisture barrier. Next is a later of gel memory foam followed by natural latex foam, finished with a Euro pillow top. Like the best Saatva mattresses, it's all wrapped in an organic cotton cover.

The Eight Sleep Pod 5 pairs a mattress cover with a bedside control hub (at 16 inches long and 17 inches tall, it's bulky but still slips by your nightstand.) Water pipes run through the mattress cover, cooling and heating as required, while integrated sensors track your sleep metrics. There's also a touch panel to operate the thermal alarm, for a gentler wake up..

The Pod 5 is compatible with Eight Sleep's catalogue of smart accessories including a hydro-powered thermal blanket ($999), cooling pillow cover ($999), and adjustable bed base ($1,899 for a queen). The base offers zero-gravity positioning and upper-body elevation for snoring reduction.

Saatva Solaire vs Eight Sleep Pod: Support & Comfort

• With 50 firmness levels, the Solaire accommodates a variety of sleep needs
• The Eight Sleep Pod offers thermal comfort, between 55°F-110°F
• Both offer dual control, to adjust comfort independent of co-sleepers

The Saatva Solaire and Eight Sleep Pod offer comfort and support in different ways. The Solaire excels in customizable firmness (providing 50 comfort levels for you to pick from), while Eight Sleep wins for advanced, automated temperature control (take note, hot sleepers).

The inflatable air chambers in the Solaire allow you to adjust the mattress firmness to suit your needs. This is particularly useful for those with reoccurring pain, who might have different comfort preferences nightly. The lead in our Saatva Solaire mattress review says that; "Living with chronic back pain, I appreciated being able to tweak firmness on a day-to-day basis."

You can also store your ideal firmness level in a 'memory' setting to return to night after night. And with layers of latex and foam completing the build, the Solaire still boasts the hotel-quality feel of Saatva's other models.

The dual air chambers in the Solaire also helps couples avoid compromise (you don't have to suffer through a too-firm mattress so they feel comfortable.) But our Saatva Solaire reviewer noted a "hill and valley" effect when one side is set significantly softer than the other. This might cause some unwanted rolling or sinking.

Honestly, it's difficult to compare the Eight Sleep Pod in this aspect, considering it's a mattress cover. While temperature is an important factor in sleep comfort, when it comes to support, the Eight Sleep mattress cover has little impact — that's down to the mattress beneath it.

But what we can say is that, thanks to the cover's dynamic contouring surface, it adds cushioning to any mattress. While we haven't tested the 5, in our Eight Sleep Pod 4 review the tester noted it gave a pretty worn out IKEA mattress a welcome plusher feel.

Saatva Solaire vs Eight Sleep Pod: Temperature control

• Our hot-sleeping reviewers slept comfortably cool on both beds
• The Solaire has ample airflow for good cooling, but lacks active temperature controls
• Manual and automatic temperature regulation is the Eight Sleep Pod's main selling point

The Saatva Solaire may not feature any active cooling technology, but it is built with air chambers, a breathable cotton cover, and gel foams to support airflow and disperse heat. Our reviewer tends to sleep hot but neither her nor her husband overheated on the Solaire. It maintained a neutral temperature, making it ideal for average sleepers.

However, if you or your partner overheat at night — be that due to menopause, medication, or natural body composition —the Eight Sleep Pod is what you should be buying.

Temperature control is the primary function of the Eight Sleep and the dual control hydro climate system allows you adjust the temperature on each side of the bed between 55 and 110°F (13 and 43°C.)

Working with natural circadian cues, the pod cools down at your pre-set bedtime (signaling that it's time to sleep) and heats up at your alarm time to gently stir you awake and fight off morning grogginess.

And it takes control while you sleep. During the night the thermal sensors lining the mattress cover keep track of your body temperature. This data is fed into an algorithm which makes adjustments accordingly to keep you at an ideal sleep temperature (between 65 to 70 F / 18 to 21 °C.)

This feature seriously impressed our reviewer who slept on the Pod through British heatwaves last summer. That's what makes it one of the best cooling mattresses on the market.

Saatva Solaire vs Eight Sleep Pod: Which should you buy?

Buy the Saatva Solaire if...

✅ Aches and pains are keeping you awake: With 50 different firmness levels you can find your ideal balance between contouring and support so your joints are cushioned and body is aligned through the night.

✅ You and your partner can't agree on firmness: If you and your partner have significantly different body weights, or even just different sleep positions, you'll likely disagree on mattress firmness. With dual control, the Solaire settles the debate.

✅ You don't want too much tech in the bedroom: Controlled via a humble remote control rather than a smart phone app, the Solaire is better for less tech-savvy sleepers.

Buy the Eight Sleep Pod 5 if...

✅ You struggle with night sweats: Climate control is the standout feature of the Eight Sleep Pod. You can manually cool down the surface of your bed and it'll make adjustments through the night to keep you comfortably sweat-free.

✅ You've got a little more to spend: Although the Solaire has a higher price tag, the extras that come with the Eight Sleep Pod (remember it's just a mattress cover and requires a subscription fee) bulk up the overall investment.

✅ You want to learn more about your sleep habits: The Eight Sleep Pod comes complete with sleep tracking sensors and algorithms that provide nightly sleep reports and scores. It's a fitness fanatic's dream.

I developed a bad habit of doomscrolling in bed once the lights were out, and it's been ruining my sleep and energy levels the next day. And I'm not alone in this: over one-third of US adults doomscroll in bed, according to a recent survey by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Hunting for a solution to kick my bedtime doomscrolling habit, I downloaded the Google Clock app to my Pixel phone. I wasn't expecting much at first, but since using five overlooked sleep features in the app, I've finally kicked my in-bed phone use habit. The pay-off? I'm now falling asleep faster and sleeping through the night.

Here are the Google Clock features that fixed my messy nighttime routine to sleep better than I have in months...

Key takeaways: At a glance

• The Google Clock app acts as a hub for key features that help me fall asleep faster and sleep through the night: Bedtime Mode, Sleep Sounds, Sunrise Alarm, Google Assistant Routine, and Bedtime Activity Audit.
• You can find these features by downloading the Google Clock app from the Google Play Store (your device needs to be running Android 4.4 or higher).
• Bedtime mode, in particular, can help you unwind faster at night. The more relaxed you are falling asleep, the more you'll boost your chances of sleeping through the night (because you won't have any cortisol-fuelled 3 a.m. wake-ups) and feel full of energy in the morning.
• While the Google Clock Sunrise Alarm brightens your phone's screen over a period of 15 minutes until your alarm goes off, it isn't as effective as a 10,000 lux sunrise alarm clock for waking you up gently in the morning.

5 Google Clock features that help me quit doomscrolling to fall asleep faster and sleep through the night

For the longest time, I ignored these bedtime Google Clock features and used the app to just set an alarm and sync it with Spotify so I could wake up to my favorite songs.

However, the following features have reduced the time it takes me to fall asleep (sleep latency), and they're helping me to get a good night's sleep by putting an end to my bedtime doomscrolling:

1. Bedtime Mode

• This feature silences notifications and turns your screen grayscale. While it technically uses Android’s Digital Wellbeing engine, you set it up and toggle it within the Google Clock app.

A 2025 medical report published in Frontiers of Psychology revealed that insomnia levels increase by 59% per hour of using screens in bed.

My mental note on stopping doomscrolling at a particular time worked for a few days, until it didn't. What actually made it an achievable goal was switching on the bedtime mode on the Clock app.

By setting the time you go to bed and wake up in the Clock app, you automatically pause all app notifications, calls and messages for the duration.

The best part? You can still allow selected contacts to interrupt your bedtime in case you're expecting emergency calls or messages.

2. Sleep Sounds

• You can choose to play sounds directly from the Bedtime tab. It integrates with Spotify, YouTube Music, or the Calm app, but the play/stop controls and sleep timer live inside the Google Clock app interface itself.

Falling asleep to soothing sleep sounds is more than a viral trend now. Generally, white, pink, green and brown are the popular sleep sound categories.

These basically include sounds at different frequencies which help set up a relaxing and calm environment, perfect to wind down and fall asleep faster.

If you're someone who finds relaxing sleep sounds to help you fall asleep faster, on the Clock app, you can choose from existing options like waves, deep spaces or contemplation, record your new sleep sound or sync it with your YouTube Music Premium or Spotify playlists.

3. Sunrise Alarm

• This feature is native to the Google Clock app. Over a period of 15 minutes, before your morning alarm sounds, it brightens the screen on your phone from black to yellow-orange.

This is perhaps the biggest feature for Google to introduce, considering how sunrise alarm clocks can help convert the dread of waking up into a much more relaxed process.

All you have to do is switch on the sunrise alarm feature while setting up your bedtime routine. This brightens up the screen gradually, 15 minutes before your alarm goes off, simulating a sunrise.

Pairing this up with my favorite morning song makes waking up less of a chore and more of something I actually look forward to.

However, don't expect the Google Clock Sunrise Alarm feature to compare with an actual sunrise alarm clock that emits 10,000 lux of light to wake you up.

4. Google Assistant Routine

• You'll find this within the Google Clock app’s alarm settings. When you tap it, it lets you 'attach' an action to your morning alarm (like having Google Assistant read out your calendar for the day ahead). Once you've set it up in the Google Assistant menu, you can manage it via the Clock app.

Is productivity something that keeps you up at night? For me, thinking about the next day, the list of tasks I need to finish or even the weather, often delays my bedtime.

Google Assistant comes to the rescue by helping you build a morning routine which works with you to have a great start to the day, sans worrying or rushing.

To activate it, click on the 'routines' feature when you set up your bedtime mode. This will give you several options like enabling the voice assistant to tell you about the weather, your daily calendar, tasks or straight open up media and play the news or music, once your alarm goes off.

5. Bedtime Activity Audit

• This is the graph in the Bedtime tab that shows you how much time you spent on your phone after you were supposed to be sleeping. It takes data from Digital Wellbeing, but you can view the graph and a Recent Bedtime Activity card inside the Google Clock app.

Tracking your sleep can be a good way of understanding your habits and tweaking them along the way to ensure you're getting enough hours of rest your body and mind deserve.

While it does not give data on the specific metrics like the best sleep trackers do, the Clock and Digital Wellbeing app together tell you which apps you use during your scheduled bedtime and provide a bar chart view of your estimated time spent in bed.

If you did not use your phone during bedtime mode, it will say "Didn't use phone."

You can also go the extra mile and activate the cough and snore feature. This will allow the Digital Wellbeing app to use your device's microphone to detect coughing and snoring during your scheduled bedtime.

To do this, click on the three dots next to 'recent bedtime activity', choose the manage data option and select cough and snore info.

How does Google Clock compare to a sunrise alarm clock?

The Google Clock sleep features have successfully helped me fix my bedtime routine, wind down faster and get enough hours of rest to tackle my tasks the next day.

However, there are certain limitations I've noticed.

While the Google Clock app sleep features have significantly reduced my doomscrolling and helped me reduce my phone use at night, I've still been reaching out for my phone as soon as my eyes open in the morning.

Experts say that the sudden overload of notifications can lead to mental exhaustion, brain rot and low energy levels even before you start the day.

On the other hand, using body clock with built-in alarms gives me time to gradually take in my day and move at my own pace, without being suddenly exposed to huge to-do lists.

The simulation is also much closer to a natural sunrise, unlike the one by the Clock App, which isn't bright enough to wake you up on its own.

In fact, I use the Lumie Bodyclock Glow 150, one of the best sunrise clocks we've tested in 2026, as a nightlight— something I can't achieve with my Pixel phone.

The Google Clock app definitely offers a good sleep package, which is convenient while travelling, but on days when you'd prefer a phone detox, relying on specialised sleep tech such as a sunrise alarm clock is the way to go.

3 sleep products I recommend for better sleep

The downside of having your whole job revolving around testing pillows, bedding and sleep health products is that you're hyper-aware of your sleep needs and rarely impressed by what the market offers.

Which is why I went into testing one of the most popular side-sleeper pillows with low expectations. The main highlight of the Eli and Elm Side Sleeper pillow is its curved shape, similar to big names such as the Tempur-Neck Pillow and the Nest Bedding Easy Breather Pillow that feature in our best pillows guide.

Available in two variants, latex and shredded memory foam, the Eli and Elm Side Sleeper Pillow is designed to eliminate neck pain and keep your spine aligned. Here's what you need to know about it, and my thoughts after a week of testing...

Today's best pillow sales

• Save up to $60 on pillow pairs at Saatva
• Save 25% on pillows at Helix with email sign-ups
• Save up to $129 on pillow bundles at Tempur-Pedic

How much does the Eli and Elm Side Sleeper Pillow cost?

• The Eli and Elm Side Sleeper Pillow costs from $139.99
• It comes with a 45-day money back guarantee
• It also coms with a 5-year warranty and free shipping

The Side Sleeper Pillow is one of Eli and Elm's top sellers, and is currently priced at $139.99 for a queen and $145.99 for a king, irrespective of the fill you choose (latex noodle or shredded memory foam).

For reference, this is a premium price point when compared with pillows such as the queen size Coop Original Adjustable Pillow ($89) and the standard size Purple GridCloud ($149).

The good news is that you can often find it on sale with up to 20% off, including bundle offers. Right now, you get 15% off a single Side Sleeper Pillow, which drops the MSRP from $134.99 to $114.99 as part of Eli and Elm's Spring bedding sales. Buy a pair, and you can take advantage of the brand's Buy One Get One 50% off discount.

While the benefits aren't as impressive as our top pick overall for all sleepers, the Coop Original Adjustable, the brand offers a 45-day return policy, a 5-year warranty and free shipping.

Unboxing my Eli and Elm Side Sleeper Pillow

• No expansion time, arrived ready to sleep
• No off-gassing scent
• Fully adjustable fill

The Eli and Elm Side Sleeper pillow arrived at full size, ready to sleep on. Many top-rated pillows are vacuum-packed and require at least a few hours to a full night to expand. But with the Eli and Elm, there was no expansion time required.

The fully adjustable fill can be customized to create your ideal pillow feel and loft. So, like the other memory foam adjustable pillows I've reviewed, the Eli and Elm Side Sleeper also needs to be fluffed up to suit your sleeping style before you sleep on it.

I also didn't notice any off-gassing. This refers to the strong chemical smell that can be released when unpackaging memory foam products. While it's not dangerous or toxic, it can irritate the airways. As your airways are in direct contact with a pillow, it's a massive perk that the Eli and Elm Side Sleeper pillow doesn't produce this smell.

What it's like to sleep on

Night 1: Soothing neck comfort

I tried the Eli and Elm Side Sleeper pillow in its shredded memory foam and polyester version. Unlike the Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Neck pillow, known for its firmer feel, this ergonomic-shaped pillow has a soft to medium-firm feel.

As a combination sleeper who alternates between back and side sleeping during the night, I was unsure about the support it would give my neck and shoulders. For my first night, I decided to use it without any fill adjustments as it already seemed rather flat, and a low-loft is best for back sleepers.

To my surprise, the cutout design exactly filled the gap between my head and the mattress, easing my neck and shoulder muscles and reducing strain — a feature often found in the best side sleeper pillows we've tested so far.

The shredded memory foam and polyester fiber fill held my head in a comfortable position, contouring to my form without letting me sink too far into the pillow.

In the morning, I found myself rolled over to the side, clutching the slightly elongated edge, which made it easier to rest my arm as well (a constant annoyance for side sleepers).

I was also impressed to see it had maintained its shape, support and feel throughout the night without the need for shifting or adjustments.

Night 2-7: Perfect for my combi sleep style

Even though it features a dedicated U-shaped design for side sleepers, I think the Eli and Elm model could easily become a strong contender for our best pillows for back sleepers guide. The reason? Because the cutout design contoured my shoulders when back sleeping, which meant my neck and shoulders instantly relaxed and avoided strain.

The consistent support during the night without flattening, sagging or uneven shifting meant there was no risk of neck or shoulder pain.

The soft, removable top cover made from a blend of cotton, spandex and polyester remained at a neutral temperature throughout the initial testing period. But it is important to note that I'm not prone to overheating at night. So far, it's difficult to tell whether it would keep a particularly hot sleeper, whether experiencing night sweats or hot flashes, cool enough. Although the cotton is naturally breathable and moisture-wicking, which will help regulate temperatures.

If I were to nitpick, my main criticism would be the size of the pillow. It seems a lot wider than most of the pillows I've previously tried. While this did provide a lot space to move around on, I found the pillow took up too much space on the bed. It was also heavier than a down or microfiber pillow, meaning it could feel a little cumbersome if you wanted to move it during the night.

Is the Eli and Elm Side Sleeper Pillow worth it?

After a week of testing, my first impression is that the Eli and Elm Side Sleeper memory foam pillow is a solid choice for back and side sleeping.

Due to its fully-adjustable build, I'd recommend it to everyone, including side, back and stomach sleepers. Although those who sleep on their front will want to remove a lot more fill to achieve a lower loft to suit the position better.

The ergonomic curved shape, gentle contouring of the memory foam and the consistent support make it ideal for sleepers who are looking for soft comfort over the firmer support pillows like the Tempur-Neck provide.

While I need more time to fully assess the benefits, based on my early experience, I largely agree with the rave reviews for the Eli and Elm pillow. But watch this space, because I'll be following up with my full review soon.

A mattress is quite the investment, but your purchase can really pay off if the mattress you choose is built to last. However, as beds come in a variety of designs and prices, it can be tricky to figure out how long a mattress should last.

That's why we've created this comprehensive guide to mattress lifespans, exploring how long you can expect your mattress to last based on its type and price tier. In this breakdown, you'll find the life expectancies of the best mattresses and most popular designs – including memory foam, hybrids, and the classic innerspring – and how their price tags can influence their durability.

Using this guide, you'll not only be able to tell how long your current mattress has left but also how long a prospective mattress will last when you're browsing this month's mattress sales. Here's a look at how long every type of mattress should last, plus the key feature that guarantees long-lasting quality.

• Saatva: save up to $400 on luxury mattresses
• Bear: 40% off our favorite cooling mattress with code TOMS40
• Helix Sleep: 27% off mattresses for all sleep styles with code TOMS27
• DreamCloud Mattress: Up to 60% off luxury hybrids
• Nectar Mattress: up to 50% off + up to 66% off bundles
• Brooklyn Bedding: 30% off sitewide
• Tempur-Pedic: 30% off closeout luxury mattresses
• Siena: Budget mattresses from just $99

Key takeaways: at a glance

How long a mattress lasts by type

1. Innerspring

Let's begin with the humble innerspring, a classic spring mattress that we're all familiar with and likely grew up sleeping on. An innerspring mattress is made up of a supportive coil base and an outer comfort layer of padding, a simple design that makes the beds inexpensive, bouncy, and supportive.

However, an innerspring is the mattress type with the shortest lifespan. Its materials, particularly its springs and relatively thin comfort layer, can wear out easily. Worn-out springs can diminish support through sagging and cause that annoying mattress creak. Meanwhile, a thin padded layer can make the feel of the coils more noticeable.

The quick-to-deteriorate materials reduce life expectancy of an innerspring mattress to five to eight years.

2. Memory foam

Memory foam was invented by NASA in the 1960's, but memory foam beds didn't become popular until the 21st century. Thanks to its body-cradling pressure relief, memory foam is found in most mattresses, with the best memory foam mattresses usurping classic innerspring as the best cheap mattress.

While an all-foam bed lacks easily-worn-out springs, memory foam can slowly lose its elasticity (the ability to spring back after pressing down on it) and start to sag after repeated use. However, you should aim to upgrade your all-foam bed every 10 years, and you may even have to replace your memory foam mattress after eight years if it came with a budget price tag.

Overall, a memory foam mattresses should be replaced every eight to 10 years, with most memory foam beds lasting for a decade before deterioration.

3. Hybrid

While memory foam mattresses offer body-molding comfort, innerspring beds offer support, breathability, and a responsive bounce. That's why, over the past decade, we've seen the emergence of hybrid mattresses: a bed that combines foam and spring layers.

Because they offer "the best of both worlds", hybrid mattresses tend to cost more than their innerspring and all-foam counterparts. However, that doesn't mean they last forever – in fact, you can expect even the best hybrid mattresses (luxury ones included) to last no more than 10 years – as their springs can lose tension, just like the ones found in your classic innerspring.

The lifespan of your hybrid depends heavily on the quality of the springs or coils it uses, but most will last around seven to 10 years.

4. Latex

While the 10-year rule applies to most mattress types, latex mattresses are outliers. Latex is found in the best organic mattresses on the market, which tend to be luxury buys as latex is more expensive than standard foams. However it has a lot of natural benefits: it's cooling, supportive, hypoallergenic, sustainable and (most importantly) durable.

The premium, long-lasting quality of latex means organic mattresses tend to last around 15 years on average. However, if the latex mattress is made entirely of latex foam and no springs, it can last up to 20 years (yep, it's that durable).

How long a mattress lasts by price

1. Budget

Budget mattresses are any beds that are sold under $400 for a queen. We're seeing more and more high-quality budget mattresses, but you can't expect the same durability as offered by premium or even mid-range designs.

For instance, a budget memory foam mattress may not hit the 10-year mark if its foam layers aren't as dense as higher-priced models. They also lack the level of temperature regulation found in mid-range and luxury memory foam beds, leading to heat and moisture build-up over time.

Budget hybrid mattresses are also more likely to fall at the lower end of the 7-10 year life expectancy range, as their coils and springs are less likely to withstand a decade's worth of concentrated body weight.

2. Mid-range

The best mattresses under $1000 for a queen are often worth buying, with some of the most popular and reputable mattress brands offering good-quality mid-range beds.

As for durability, mid-range mattresses can differ from model to model, so it's best to check the materials. For instance, we found that the hybrid-designed DreamCloud Classic Mattress outperformed its mid-range price tag and offered luxury-level quality, mostly due to its coils being individually-wrapped in fabric to prevent coils from rubbing against each other.

Of course, if you spot any red flags that tell you to replace your mattress, then you should immediately do so. Otherwise, if you have a mid-range bed, it's best to follow the 10-year replacement rule.

3. Luxury

The best luxury mattresses cost over $1,000 for a queen, and they justify the price by using premium, long-lasting materials. For example, we voted the Saatva Classic Mattress to be the best bed in the world, and that's due in part to its durability.

Despite being a hybrid mattress, its coils are more resistant to wear and tear as they're made from industrial-strength 13-gauge tempered steel for "maximum durability" meaning it can most likely last a decade's worth of repeated use.

Plus, the majority of latex mattresses are luxury, so if you're put off by the high prices of an organic mattresses, you should know that they pay for themselves with their natural durability.

Most luxury mattresses should last at least 10 years, with some organic mattresses lasting up to 20 years.

The one sign that your mattress is built to last

Most mattresses today come with mattress warranties, which guarantee that a bed will be replaced, refunded, or repaired if there's a manufacturing issue. Not only do warranties cover a wide range of problems (from loose seams to broken coils), they also provide a pretty good indicator of how long a mattress will last.

For example, a standard warranty lasts 10 years, and this length is found in both luxury and budget mattresses. However, many reputable and premium brands, such as DreamCloud and Saatva, offer lifetime warranties. While a mattress of any quality is unlikely to last a lifetime, a long warranty (anything over 20 years) is clear sign that a mattress is built to last.

I recently started tracking my sleep with an Apple Watch, and it's told me something I already knew: I sleep for around six hours a night. While expert guidelines recommend that adults should sleep seven or more hours a night for optimal health, my sleep tracker consistently awards me high sleep scores.

So, does this mean six hours of sleep is enough?

To find out, I recently showed my Apple Watch's sleep tracking data to board-certified sleep medicine physician and medical director at Dreem Health, Dr. Joshua Roland. My aim was to find out if I could be part of a small percentage of people whom research finds are genetically predisposed to sleeping less than seven hours a night.

Here's what Dr. Roland had to say about my sleep, the rare short sleeper trait, and whether sleeping for six hours is ever enough. He also breaks down the ramifications of sleeping six hours a night, plus the benefits of sleeping for seven hours or more.

Key takeaways: At a glance

• My high sleep scores from my sleep tracking device don’t mean my average sleep duration of six hours is enough — most research still supports seven hours as the minimum for long-term health.
• Only a very small number of people are true 'short sleepers' genetically; for most, consistently getting less than seven hours is linked to higher health risks and reduced life expectancy.
• Chronic sleep deprivation impacts the whole body, including cardiovascular, immune, and hormonal systems — even if you feel mentally fine in the short term.
• Sleep quality matters (stages, consistency, few awakenings), but it doesn’t replace sufficient duration; the best outcomes come from both good quality sleep and at least seven hours of sleep a night.

My average sleep time and sleep scores

When I began tracking my sleep, I knew I'd be getting sleep duration averages of around six hours — maybe even five or four on nights when I'm pulling an all-nighter or experiencing a bout of insomnia.

My average sleep duration varies. Some weeks my average sleep time is around 6 hours and 11 minutes. Other weeks, particularly during my menstrual phase, I get an average of 5 hours and 52 minutes. Basically, I'm getting nowhere near the amount of sleep that sleep experts recommend.

However, my Apple Watch sleep scores are consistently high. For example, on Tuesday, April 7, I was awarded a high score of 90 on just 6 hours and 24 minutes of sleep. On Wednesday, April 15, I got an 86 on 6 hours and 2 minutes of sleep. So, what gives?

Is 6 hours of sleep enough?

While there has been research that found six hours or more of sleep is actually markedly better at reducing the risk of serious health issues, compared to less than six hours sleep, Dr. Roland says that there's an overwhelming amount of studies that warn seven hours is actually the minimum.

"There's definitely variation, genetics and age and health conditions that affects the sleep need but, as a ballpark, we recommend at least seven to eight hours minimum for most people," he tells me.

"Genetically, maybe some people can get away with six, but probably very few can chronically get away with it without it impacting health and cognitive function," he adds.

So, how does sleeping for less than seven hours affect our health? Dr. Roland points to recent research that highlights sleep deprivation's impact on life expectancy, such as a 2025 study that reported sleeping less than seven hours decreases your life expectancy more than poor diet or lack of exercise.

"Studies on duration show that mortality goes up if it's less than seven," he says.

The sleep expert also points out that even those who don't feel the effects of less than seven hours of sleep "cognitively" may be overlooking the effects a lack of sleep can have on the body.

"If you go a long time where you're not sleeping enough, you might feel like you're getting used to it, but sleep is such an ingrained part of our biology that every organ system needs sleep to recover and repair," he warns.

"Even if you feel OK mentally, your cardiovascular system, your immune system, your endocrine system, pretty much every system in the body needs sleep to restore itself and recover from day-to-day damage," adds the board-certified doctor.

Dr. Roland warns that, while a night or two of sleeping less than seven hours is unlikely to do any substantial harm, years of sleep deprivation can accumulate serious sleep debt.

"Over the course of years, it takes a major toll on life expectancy and long-term health if you're not getting the sleep you need," he warns.

But what about those who experience short sleeper syndrome? Do they need at least seven hours of sleep for their bodies to recover, even if they have an innate tendency to sleep for less?

"In a lot of ways, the short sleeper syndrome is kind of a sleep myth as short sleep is usually behaviorally driven," he argues.

According to Dr. Roland, modern life, from social obligations to media consumption, have driven us to stay up late and follow an "unnatural" schedule which shortens our sleep.

"The way we live now is very different than our ancestors lived for millions of years, and our bodies aren't built to live this way quite yet. " he warns.

The sleep medicine physician also explains that there are certain groups of people who need more sleep than others.

"Anyone growing or recovering needs more sleep, so infants, kids, teenagers, even some in their twenties need higher than that, along with anyone recovering from illness or requiring more energy for athletic performance," explains Dr. Roland.

The benefits of sleeping for 7+ hours a night

Okay, so we've established how sleeping for less than seven hours a night can affect our overall and long-term health, but what are the benefits for sleeping seven hours or more?

Dr. Roland says that one major benefit of sleeping for at least seven hours is increased metabolism.

"The way we regulate glucose and really most hormones in the body are regulated on based on sleep, he says.

In fact, a study found that sleeping for around 7 hours and 18 minutes every night may be the ideal amount of time for reducing the risk of insulin resistance, which can lead to type 2 diabetes.

Another benefit is a boosted immune system, as Dr. Roland explains.

"A boosted immune system is important to fight off disease and can look at our cells and identify cancer cells," he tells me.

However, probably the most talked-about benefits is increased life expectancy.

Earlier this year, a groundbreaking study by Vitality and The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) discovered that getting at least 7 hours of sleep and going to sleep within a 1-hour window can help you live up to four years longer. This has led to a gold-standard sleep guideline: the '7:1' sleep rule.

3 sleep scores just as important as duration

While it's clear that I need to boost my average sleep duration for better long-term health, what isn't as clear is why I'm consistently achieving high sleep scores.

As it tuns out, sleep duration isn't the only sleep metric that's worth paying attention to. Here, Dr. Roland explains why sleep quality, a consistent sleep schedule, and the number of nighttime awakenings are just as important as sleep duration.

1. The quality of my sleep

After looking at my sleep tracking data, Dr. Roland says one major factor for my high sleep scores is the quality of my sleep.

"It's not just how much sleep you get, it's also the quality of your sleep," he tells me.

"You can be getting a good 8 hours of sleep, but if it's poor quality sleep, it's not the same as getting a good healthy 8 hours of sleep," Dr. Roland adds.

One of the key metrics I always pay attention to is my sleep stages (in other words, the type of sleep I'm getting throughout the night): core (light sleep), deep sleep, and REM sleep. According to Dr. Roland, these sleep stages all serve specific functions that are crucial for optimal health.

"REM sleep is really important for cognitive functioning, and deep sleep is important for the immune system," he explains. "In nights that you didn't have as high a score as others, you had a little bit less REM sleep and deep sleep and that's because those are important for health."

2. Number of nighttime awakenings

Waking up during the night is a normal part of sleep (most of the time, we have no memory of it the next day), and my sleep tracking data shows that my nighttime awakenings are minimal and last no more than a minute.

However, waking up at night can become an issue if nighttime awakenings become frequent.

"If sleep is fragmented, you're not getting the uninterrupted sleep that allows you to get the amount of REM sleep and deep sleep the way that you should," warns Dr. Roland.

3. Consistent bedtime

My sleep score is always boosted when I go to bed within a 1-hour window, and that's because a consistent sleep schedule is in line with my circadian rhythm.

"Your body is on a 24 hour cycle, and even if you're taking a long sleep period during the day, it's not quite the same as a consistent sleep period where your entire body is resting and synchronised," explains Dr. Roland.

Bottom line

After looking at my sleep data, Dr. Roland has left me some words of advice — and it turns out I'm not wired to be sleeping as little as I am after all.

"My guess is you probably need a little bit more than you're getting, so try to get to bed 15 minutes earlier for a couple of weeks, and add another 15 minutes if that's going well," he advises.

"See if you can shoot for a half hour to an hour earlier," he adds.

However, he also advises that I don't push myself by trying to extend my sleep duration too much.

"You don't wanna create a goal that's really high and then get stressed out over trying to get eight hours when you're averaging six," he warns.

As for whether six hours is enough, Dr. Roland says that for the majority of people, it's a hard "no".

"The literature really points to at least seven hours for long-term health and longevity the board-certified doctor explains. "For most people, six hours is not enough for overall health, lifespan and the body to repair itself.”

Tech that helping me get enough sleep

We're all guilty of utilizing our under-the-bed storage for old, unused or forgotten items, but this (in theory) harmless habit could cost you precious hours of sleep.

"Under the bed is a prime site for dust to accumulate. Skin cells, fibres from bedding and pet dander also gravitate to the floor and waft under the bed," says Dr. Deborah Lee, medical writer at Dr Fox Online Pharmacy.

With the addition of items kept in storage, the space under the bed becomes an ideal breeding ground for pests and rodents. To help make your spring cleaning easier, we spoke to pest-removal specialists to understand the main culprits that lure in pesky mites and bugs under the bed. Read on to find out more:

Key takeaways: At a glance

• Prime site for dust: It's easy for dust, debris and pests to accumulate under the bed.
• Allergic reactions: The breeding of pests and dust mites under the bed can cause respiratory issues, skin problems, and disrupted sleep quality.
• Biggest mistake: Out of the 7 common things stored under the bed, cardboard is the worst when it comes to pests.
• Musty, humid conditions: Most materials like clothes, paper, shoes and leather provide the right environment for pests to hide and thrive.
• Selective storage: Treat under-the-bed storage as a premium space and not a dumping ground.
• Regular cleaning: Vacuuming the space, storing items in sealed containers and reducing clutter are non-negotiable practices.

7 things to never store under your bed

"House dust mites are tiny insects that feed on shed skin cells. They live happily in warm, humid conditions such as carpets, mattresses, bedding and other soft furnishings," explains Dr. Lee.

It’s not so much the mite itself but its droppings that cause allergic reactions in humans, like allergic rhinitis, eczema and asthma. Symptoms caused by these allergies can make it harder to fall asleep, cause 3am wake-ups and reduce sleep quality.

While you can refer to our step-by-step guide on deep cleaning mattresses to keep a check on your bed, here are seven other things we tend to store under it that can attract pests:

1. Clothes

According to James Rhoades, who runs the London-based ThermoPest Bed Bug Treatment company, stored clothing, spare duvets, cushions, and anything made from wool, cotton, silk, or cashmere can be very problematic.

"Natural fibers serve as a primary food source for carpet moths, which can destroy expensive clothing and textiles over time without clear signs," he says.

It's also tricky to spot dust on clothes and fabric, but a quick shake can tell you if it's there. The nooks and folds of the material are perfect for dust mites to settle in and breed.

As such, under the bed might not be the best storage spot for clothes and fabric.

2. Cardboard

The space under the bed might seem like the perfect place to keep your cardboard boxes out of sight, but according to experts, this is perhaps the number one mistake to make.

"Honestly, it's hard to find anything worse than cardboard boxes for storing under your bed. Cardboard provides rodents and insects with both a nest and material to chew. It is a kind of universal material that most pests can make use of," says Nicole Carpenter, president at Black Pest Prevention in North Carolina.

Cardboard's corrugated structure offers many narrow spaces that resemble the tight gaps bed bugs like. Similarly, paper absorbs moisture, creating a cozy, humid environment for bugs and dust mites to thrive in.

3. Shoes

Research at Arizona University found that an average of 421,000 units of bacteria attach to the soles of our shoes. While one review of studies pointed out that some of the microorganisms that are transferred to the soles of shoes are drug-resistant infectious agents.

Anyone who owns a pair of shoes is probably aware of the odor they can produce, which is generally a mix of our sweat, dead skin cells and the bacteria that thrive on it all.

Kicking them under your bed is like giving an invitation to pests, bugs and rodents to find shelter in your shoes and breed.

4. Wooden items

"Old furniture, photo frames, and wooden toys provide natural hiding places for bed bugs, who prefer to conceal themselves in joints and crevices," says Rhoades.

Older wooden items, especially second-hand ones, pose a significant risk. These might contain termites, which feed on cellulose, the main component of wood.

A good way to check this is to look for holes in your wooden furniture or items, but often this is a tricky task.

5. Food and wrappers

Snacking in bed while catching up on your favorite show feels like the ultimate in self-care, but it's also got the potential to create a festival for pests, bed bugs and rodents under the bed.

"Any food attracts pests, but bags with sugar, cereal, flour, and pet food are exactly what ants, rats, mice, and roaches love," says Carpenter.

"While ants and roaches prefer sugary foods and things rich in protein, rodents are not picky at all and will eat almost anything," she adds.

It's not just the actual food; the wrappers you leave behind contain crumbs, which are basically enough for pests and cockroaches.

6. Leather items

"Leather holds onto animal scent long after it's made, drawing in insects and rodents," says Rhoades.

Carpenter also points out that used leather items pose another risk: An old leather bag or jacket can hold sweat, body oils, skin flakes, hair, and mold.

"This is exactly what carpet beetles, clothes moths, silverfish, and roaches feed on," she says.

What's more, natural leather goods can dry out and crack in the dusty environment under the bed, which can completely ruin them over time.

7. Pet beds and toys

Pet beds and toys are just a paradise for small pests as they tend to collect organic material like pet hair, dander, skin flakes, saliva, and food crumbs.

"In other words, they are a big buffet that never runs out of food for pests like dust mites, carpet beetles, fleas, and even roaches, " she says.

Even if you wash pet beds and toys at high heat and use a dryer after that, they can accumulate dust and dirt again very quickly, attracting all sorts of pests, including silverfish and cockroaches.

On a similar note, experts recommend to sharing your bed itself with your furry friends.

What are the early signs that items stored under the bed are attracting pests?

Worried that some of the items under your bed have already quietly lured in pests, or even rodents? These are some of the things you should check for to make sure.

"Unusual sounds, gnaw marks, and droppings are most common early signs of pests like mice and rats," says Carpenter.

With tiny pests like dust mites, carpet beetles, and fleas, you might notice holes in fabric, shed skins, and sometimes allergy symptoms when you’re near your bed, or skin irritation.

"Roaches stay quiet, and you usually know about them by noticing droppings, shed skins, or when you turn the lights on in the bedroom and find them running to the corners," she adds.

"For pests like bed bugs and fleas, early signs also include being bitten, finding blood spots on sheets, and having bites on your skin," Rhoades explains.

7 ways to safely utilize under-bed storage

While experts recommend avoiding storing anything under your bed, we understand that in houses where there's limited space, it's unlikely you'll be able to avoid it completely.

Here are a few expert tips to store things safely, without ruining your sleep quality.

• Store only seasonal essentials in sealed containers and avoid anything that collects dust, such as loose fabrics, paper bags or open baskets.
• Never mix under-bed items with other things in your house as a precautionary measure to prevent pests from spreading.
• Clean these items regularly to prevent dust buildup.
• Wash what you can (checking the care tag is key for fabrics and bedding) and use a dryer at high heat.
• Don't forget to vacuum the area thoroughly every two weeks, including the underside of the mattress.
• Allergy sufferers are recommended to use a vacuum with a HEPA filter, which filters out 99.9% of tiny particles, including house dust mites and pollen.
• Fresh air is one of the simplest ways to refresh a bedroom. Regular ventilation helps reduce stale air, moisture and airborne dust, creating a cleaner-feeling environment that’s far more conducive to rest.

There's nothing like warm weather to motivate you to clean the seldom-touched areas of your home. Hopefully that includes your mattress, as dead skin cells, body oils, sweat, bacteria and even mites will have built up over the past months without a deep clean.

But before you start spring cleaning your bed, remember that improper care risks voiding your mattress warranty. Sleep brands typically have guidelines on how to care for and clean your bed but not following proper care instructions can leave your pricey mattress unprotected by a warranty.

'Abnormal' cleaning methods to avoid include harsh chemicals that damage the mattress and excessive moisture that causes mold and mildew growth.

What's more, these improper techniques can impact the comfort of your bed. But if you notice your mattress has started to sag way before the end of its lifespan, you might be unable to claim a replacement if there's evidence your cleaning has gone against the warranty. Here's what to avoid and the safe methods that leave your mattress sparkling clean and your warranty intact.

3 spring cleaning mattress tasks that could void your warranty

1. Using a steam cleaner

Using a steam cleaner on your mattress might seem like a quick cleaning solution, but you run the risk of voiding your warranty if you do.

"A steam cleaner set too hot will leave excess moisture, which is how you get mold and mildew growing inside the mattress where you can't see it," Taylor Riley, expert at Stay Clean Solutions, told us.

This is particularly important for memory foam mattresses, as heat and moisture can damage the structure of internal foams, cause them to break down (cue a sagging mattress), and lead to mold, which will typically void the warranty. So if you have one of the best memory foam mattresses, avoid steam cleaning altogether.

However, many warranties from popular brands, such as Tempur-Pedic and Purple, cover hybrid mattresses as well as memory foam options and state mold, mildew or damage from liquid will void the warranty. So practice caution when steam cleaning a hybrid, as well.

While hybrid innerspring mattresses feature significant support springs, they also feature comfort layers, often made of foam. Steam cleaning runs the risk of pushing moisture into these layers, sometimes resulting in mold.

In the UK, mattress brand Otty’s warranty is voided if mold from ‘abnormal care’ including liquid spillage is present, while Simba Sleep’s warranty bans “attempt[s] to clean the mattress with improper cleaning products or techniques.” Indeed, its cleaning advice does not include steam cleaning.

Using a powerful steam cleaner can also cause damage the glues that bond mattress layers together, known as delamination. As a result, the layers may shift, reducing the support and integrity of your bed.

2. Cleaning with bleach and other harsh chemicals

It may be tempting to use the strongest chemicals, such as bleach, to thoroughly clean your mattress.

But be warned, bleach can cause discoloration and damage the fibers of the mattress. Harsh chemicals in general are typically discouraged in mattress brands’ cleaning guidelines.

That’s because, as UK bed retailer Dreams explains, "Bleach, ammonia-based cleaners, strong solvents, and harsh detergents chemically react with polyurethane foam, causing discolouration and structural breakdown."

Why does this matter for your warranty? Well, most mattress warranties are voided if the mattress is stained or damaged (including the warranty provided by Saatva.)

Always check the care instructions and cleaning advice for your mattress, and consider safe alternatives to harsh chemicals (which we'll get into below).

3. Removing the mattress cover

You might think that because you can see a zipper on your mattress, it means the cover can be removed and popped in the washing machine.

While this is true in some cases — the Simba Hybrid, for example has a machine washable zip-off cover — removing the cover often voids the warranty. So it's essential to check the terms before unzipping.

And there are some good reasons why you shouldn't unzip and take off the cover of certain mattresses.

“If a mattress has a zippered cover, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should ever remove it,” Claire Davies, Tom’s Guide Sleep Editor and Certified Sleep Coach says. “In fact, if you remove the cover on a mattress that contains fiberglass you will expose your bedroom and clothing (and potentially your wider home) to fiberglass."

Indeed, Zinus' warranty, specifically states that removal of the mattress cover voids its 10-year warranty, and says that "removal of the cover will expose the protective fire barrier and may cause exposure to glass fiber."

Even fiberglass-free DreamCloud mattresses state in the US warranty that removing the cover for any reason voids the warranty. Check your specific warranty, but as a rule of thumb, don't remove that cover.

Safe cleaning methods that won’t void your mattress warranty

While you should always consult your mattress warranty and the care instructions before cleaning, the below methods are generally safe.

1. The baking soda method

You might be surprised to learn that baking soda (also known as bicarbonate of soda) is ideal for mattress cleaning. It's natural, non-toxic, and removes bad odors.

It's also absorbent, helping lift stains, all of which makes it an ideal method to freshen up your bed and one that's generally safe to use on all types of mattresses. As such, it's unlikely to void your mattress warranty.

To use, vacuum your mattress thoroughly, sprinkle the baking soda over the full surface (you can pre-mix it with a little essential oil if you want to add some fragrance), and gently work the mixture into any stained areas with a cloth or brush (but be careful not to be abrasive).

Then leave for 30-90 minutes before vacuuming it up thoroughly.

You can find our more detailed guide to cleaning a mattress with baking soda here, including how to tackle specific stains like sweat, blood and urine using baking soda-based mixtures.

2. Spot cleaning and vacuuming

Another generally safe method for mattress cleaning (and one that's unlikely to lead to a voided warranty) is to spot clean stains, as this tackles the problem without oversaturating the mattress with liquid.

Our comprehensive guide to cleaning a mattress includes how to spot clean stains safely plus the safe solutions to use on each type of bed (and advice on vacuuming and pest removal.)

For example, we recommend a solution of water and mild detergent in a spray bottle for memory foam beds, and for organic mattresses, a cup of water, a teaspoon of mild laundry detergent and half a cup of white vinegar, together in a spray bottle.

Irrespective of mattress type, it's key to remember that when you're spot cleaning, never saturate the mattress with liquid and always blot the area gently to lift the stain.

Even if you don't have stains to remove, we recommend vacuuming your mattress (unless it's a wool mattress), using the upholstery attachment, at least monthly to avoid build up of nasties like dead skin cells, dust and any grime that has accumulated. Vacuuming is also a weekly cleaning task that can reduce the risk of bed bugs in your mattress.