Consider using earplugs or an eye mask to block out unwelcome noise and light or cracking the window to let in some cooler air. Ideally, your bedroom should be dark, comfortably cool, and quiet.
How to stay asleep: During lighter sleep, you’re more apt to wake up from environmental factors like noise from a passing truck or your bedroom being too hot or stuffy. And since your brain is more active during light sleep (the REM stage), it’s more likely that you’ll wake up. So, if you turn in at, say, 11 p.m., according to James C. Findley, Ph.D., clinical director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at the Penn Sleep Center in Philadelphia, by 3 in the morning you’re mostly out of deep sleep and shifting into longer periods of lighter sleep. Once you’re past the deep-sleep stage (the first four to four-and-a-half hours you’re asleep) and into lighter sleep, you’re more easily awakened. Your arousal threshold (meaning how easy it is for something to wake you up) varies depending on what sleep stage you’re in. You have longer deep sleep earlier in the evening and longer REM sleep - lighter sleep when dreams occur - as morning approaches. The length of each stage varies throughout the night. When you sleep, your body cycles through these sleep stages: Nighttime sleep involves multiple sleep cycles that occur throughout the 7 to 9 hours of rest adults typically need. Reason #2: You’re shifting from deep sleep to lighter sleep. Waking up often could signal that your hormones or blood glucose levels are fluctuating. Note: If you have diabetes, you’ll want to check with your doctor to make sure your blood sugar is properly controlled throughout the night. “Some of my patients have that 30 minutes before bed and it seems to help.” “It’s a little medicinal tasting, but the literature has shown it can help stabilize blood sugar,” says Breus. If you don’t want to eat, consider having a cup of guava-leaf tea. Many of my patients can make it through the night simply with a teaspoon of honey.” “I’ve found that raw honey is difficult for the body to metabolize and helps keep your blood sugar stable longer.
“Another option is a teaspoon of raw honey,” says Breus. Or a non-sugary cereal like oatmeal with some almond milk." An apple with some nut butter would be a perfect type of snack. "About 30 minutes before bedtime, think about having a 250-calorie snack… and here’s the key: It should be 70% complex carbs and 30% protein.
To be clear, you shouldn’t go to sleep with a full belly - the body isn’t meant to digest food lying down - but you don’t want to be starving either. How to stay asleep: “Don’t go to bed hungry,” says Breus. “That can be part of what’s going on,” says Breus. now it’s 3 in the morning-that’s 8 hours later-so guess what? They’re out of fuel.” When your brain senses your tank is close to empty, it spikes cortisol to help jumpstart the metabolic process, get you hungry, and wake you up to eat. “Often, they’ve finished their last meal at 7 p.m. When someone asks me, Why do I keep waking up at 4 a.m., or 2:30 a.m., “the first question I ask them is, ‘When was the last time you ate?’” says Breus. Assuming you have no underlying medical conditions, here are four possible reasons why you might find your eyes open at 3 or 4 a.m., and sleep experts’ tips on how to sleep through the night. for no reason, there most likely is a reason. But while it may seem like you're waking up at 3 a.m. wake up when you should be sleeping is stressful. Listen, we get it: Repeatedly enduring a 3 a.m. There are, however, a few reasons why it may be happening.Ĥ Reasons Why You Keep Waking Up at Night or at 4 a.m.? While your awakenings may be surprisingly precise -right down to the minute night after night - the time itself really isn’t significant, according to psychologist and sleep expert Alexa Kane, Psy.D. You may still be wondering: Why do I keep waking up at 3 a.m.
In fact, according to experts, most people wake up several times during the night, whether from noise, the room being too hot or too cold, shifting sleep positions, or to use the bathroom, without remembering it in the morning. Nighttime awakenings are quite common, and usually NBD - as long as you’re able to easily fall back asleep.
wake up, welcome to the club! You’re in good company. See if this sounds familiar: You wake up in the middle of the night and look at your phone to check the time…but you already know it’s too early to be awake.Īccording to sleep expert Michael Breus, Ph.D., one of the most common questions he gets is why do I keep waking up in the middle of the night - at 3 a.m.