The idea of sleeping in the cold is downright haunting to me; I’d feel more comfortable in a haunted house with Nosferatu or Dracula. I like to bundle up under piles of blankets with the thermostat at a balmy 70 degrees. But my personal preference is technically the opposite of what doctors recommend.
I spoke with Dr. Austin Perlmutter, a board-certified internal medicine physician, to learn more about sleeping in the cold and how it can help us get a better night's rest. “Our body naturally decreases core temperature about two hours before we fall asleep through circadian rhythms. This drop in temperature supports the onset of deep sleep, but if we’re too warm in our bedrooms, this may impair this process,” he says.
Experts suggest a temperature between 65 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Sleep Doctor, a wellness company focused on sleep-improvement education. You can cool your room down before slumber by doing simple things like opening the window, using fans or running the air conditioner. Dr. Perlmutter also says a hot shower can work wonders, “when we immerse ourselves in hot water before sleep, it decreases the time to fall asleep, increases the depth of sleep and enhances slow wave sleep.
