Menopause sleep problems: How to sleep better

The menopause can affect women of various ages, with the average age of 51 in the UK. Whether you experience it early or late, the biological changes that occur around this time can impact many aspects of your life – not least your quality of sleep. You cannot prevent those changes from occurring, but good preparations will allow you to reduce their impact on your life. Here’s all you need to know.

How does the menopause affect sleep?

In a word, negatively. The menopause can lead to hot flushes, night sweats, and bouts of depression. All of those factors can translate to a worse quality of sleep. In fact, anywhere between 28% and 63% of women experience poor sleep as a result of the menopause. Once the problems start, it is likely to see sleep patterns lose sync with your natural cycles too.

Poor quality sleep attributed to the menopause may be exacerbated by hot weather in the summer. Specifically, the hot flushes and night sweats become more uncomfortable due to the high temperatures and lack of air circulation. In turn, disrupted sleep may become a nightly occurrence during the warmer months.

Finding a mattress to help with the menopause.

If the menopause has made it difficult to sleep, a new mattress could be the smartest investment of all. Ultimately, you will be looking at mattresses suited to hot sleepers. For starters, you may find that a larger mattress is better for you as this means that you can spread out without encountering your partner’s body heat.

It is also very important to look at the material and firmness level of the mattress. Memory foam mattresses are known to make you sleep a little hotter, with a gel or latex alternative offering a cooler sleep. Our range of LEO mattresses, with their CooLEO foam, is 400% cooler than a memory foam alternative.

As for the firmness levels, a medium mattress is often a good choice. For starters, it will not trap body heat in the same way that a sinking soft mattress will. Moreover, it will enable you to feel comfortable when sleeping on your back or side. This versatility can be particularly useful when you switch between positions throughout the night.

The goal is simple: find a mattress that offers comfort and temperature control.

What other steps can help you sleep better in the summer

The right choice of mattress will make it far easier for you to get a good night’s sleep – irrespective of whether you are going through the menopause or not – but other steps can be taken to aid your cause. When you use these tips along with a better choice of mattress, the menopause doesn’t need to put an end to your healthy sleep habits, even in the summer.

• Switching to a duvet with varying tog ratings to adjust throughout the year, particularly with a low tog option

• Linen and Egyptian cotton covers are also comfortable on the skin during the summer months. You may even find that you simply use those bed covers without a duvet inside

• Habitual changes, such not eating big meals close to bedtime, exercising in the daytime (but not the evening), reduced caffeine intake, and melatonin supplements

• Perhaps the best tip is to embrace a bedtime routine at around the same time each night