Last week, SAHM brought you our best Tips To Get To Sleep. But what if you fall asleep just fine, but you wake in the middle of the night and can’t get back to the land of nod? A startling number of adults endure this “middle insomnia”, which can lead to intense lethargy, irritability and trouble concentrating as the day progresses due to lack of quality sleep.
Some people find solace in rephrasing this situation as being a “biphasic sleeper”, taking heart that interrupted sleep in two blocks is not unusual and after an hour or so, sleep will return. It’s less distressing than thinking something is wrong, but this kind of insomnia is often treated with medication as it is more difficult to address.
If you suffer from middle insomnia, try some of these tips to stay slumbering throughout the night:
- If you’re waking up in a hot sweat or are wide awake at an odd hour it may be due to a sugar-crash. If you’re having a dessert then going to bed, your blood sugar will rise and then drop, which can mean you wake up. Snack instead on peanut butter on apple, a slice of frittata, supper scrambled eggs or a handful of nuts.
- Practice good sleep hygiene go to bed and arise at the same time even on the weekend, only use the bed for sleeping, try a later bedtime and don’t use electronics in bed.
- Restrict fluids in the afternoon so that you’re not waking up to wee.
Some forms of therapy can assist with middle-of-the-night awakening, so talk to your GP if this is bothering you.
What helps you off to the land of nod? What’s backfired and left you staring at the ceiling til the small hours of the morning?
