Why Remaining In The Dark Is The Key To a Perfect Night’s Sleep

The perfect guide to a great night’s sleep

A look at why making your room dark helps you sleep better, whatever the time of day

Every year our sleep is interrupted and put out of sync with the move into British Summer Time (BST) at the end of March. With lighter evenings approaching, we are going to look in a bit more depth at how you can make your room darker, helping you sleep better.

Wondering how to create the perfect room for sleeping? Our tips will help you get the right environment, whether for resting in the night, or during the day for night workers and children alike.

Reasons Why Your Children Need Good Sleep
How To Sleep Better In The Day If You Work The Night Shift
How Sleeping Less Can Affect Our Health
What Is The Perfect Sleep Environment
A Shutter And Solution Helps You Sleep Better

Getting the best setting to help you relax means taking into consideration light levels, temperature, furnishings and furniture. Blocking out the majority of external light can make the world of difference in the bedroom for both you and the ones you love.

Reasons Why Your Children Need Good Sleep

Did you know that between 20 – 30 % of children have experienced sleep problems?

An incredibly important part of life for people of all ages, getting a good night’s sleep is even more essential for the development of your little ones.

Sleep promotes growth
Sleep helps the heart
Sleep helps beat germs
Sleep reduces injury risk
Sleep increases kids’ attention span
Sleep boosts learning

An additional benefit of getting your children to sleep for longer is that it gives you more time for yourself, allowing space to watch TV, relax with loved ones, read or even eat in peace!

Following the switch to BST at the end of March, kids can start to wake earlier, as their body clock will take longer to adjust, especially if their room is filled with sunlight during those earlier mornings. This can be a problem for working parents, and especially for those on night shifts, who are already trying to maintain different circadian rhythms (your 24 hour internal clock that regulates when you need to sleep).

Obviously children of different ages will require varying amounts of sleep, and every child is unique in how and where they become tired! Getting the right environment for sleep, at a temperature and brightness to suit them, may help prevent health problems, behavioral issues and promote good development.

How to sleep better in the day if you work the night shift

Did you know that over 3 million Britons now work night shifts?

Getting your room right for sleeping is much more than just for the nighttime. Plenty of jobs come with hours outside the typical 9 to 5 day. If you are one of the 3 million people, you will have no doubt discovered how an irregular work schedule can be taxing on the body. It confuses the brain, disrupts the circadian rhythm and can make for sleepiness, insomnia, and other health problems.

When dawn approaches, and especially at the peak of the day, light seeping through windows can be a real problem and interrupt your sleep, keeping you constantly feeling tired and more irritable as a result. Research from Oxford University has shown how different colours of light can affect sleep patterns, so it is best to keep out as much as possible when it is time to slumber.

Many shift workers have rotating schedules, which means that their bodies are constantly forced to readjust to new rhythms. If you need to sleep and wake at atypical hours, managing the light in your bedroom can help. Use special room darkening shades or curtains to block daylight and make your room completely dark for sleeping, or try wearing an eye mask.

Sleeping better means you can focus better while working, too, so it is particularly important for people working shifts in the emergency services, care staff and that operating machinery at all hours.

How sleeping less can affect our health

Don’t lose the spring in your step when daylight saving arrives

Professor Matthew Walker, director of the Centre for Human Sleep Science, has written about how between 60 and 90 minutes extra sleep can boost the learning capacity of the brain. It is therefore so important to maintain the same volume of rest when the clocks change to BST.

As well as potentially affecting how we think, losing sleep when the clocks change could also increase the risk of heart attack. A study published by the British Medical Journal showed an increase in heart attack admissions in hospitals following the spring time change, while there was an attendant decrease in submissions when the clocks went back in the Autumn.

Every person is unique, and so the levels of sleep required every night are different for every person. Some can naturally require less than others, although it is important to get as much as your body requires to keep you healthy.

What is the perfect sleep environment?

How to create the perfect sleeping room for night and day time sleepers alike

An increasing amount of detailed studies and accessible information means that we’re constantly becoming more aware of the importance of sleep. People are recognising why it is beneficial to rest well, with a strong understanding of why a perfect bedtime routine should be combined with exercise, relaxation and healthy eating.

Have you ever wondered the body finds it natural to sleep at night? When it is light, our bodies automatically assume that it is time to be awake. The body then releases melatonin in mid-to-late evening, a hormone that helps control your daily wake-sleep cycle, relaxing the body and helping us to drift off. It’s therefore no surprise that many more of us struggle to adjust to a new sleeping pattern when BST kicks in!

Helping our bodies overcome this daily release of melatonin, we can invest more in our bedrooms, and make a few changes which would impact positively on the way we sleep. Changing temperature levels, getting a comfier mattress, switching off electronic devices, blocking out sound and adopting a relaxing routine are all important ways to create the perfect sleep environment.

Another key way is to get your room as dark as possible. Obviously for younger children that isn’t always possible, but creating a really dark room helps our bodies release melatonin. There are numerous curtains and blinds available which help darken a room, though you may even need to try an eye mask if you’re still being affected light levels.

A Shutter and Shade solution helps you sleep well with Shuttercraft

When room darkening becomes a must in the bedroom

Are you affected by:

Streetlights outside your home
Trying to balance sleep with working shifts
Simply trying to get your children to doze during the day

A Shutter and Shade solution will transform your room as dark as possible, blocking out the majority of external light and leaving you to enjoy that well-earned quality sleep you deserve. It can also help your child sleep by controlling light or, if you’re working nights, dreamily doze during the day.

The beautiful bedroom Shutter and Shade solution from S:CRAFT which includes a room darkening blind and a stylish shutter, blocks out most outside light. Available in a range of colours, both for the shutter and integrated fabric blind, the Shutter and Shade combo helps create the perfect sleep environment for you to rest, no matter what the time of day. Practical and styled to suit your interior, it’s a choice that truly transforms your home.

Are you looking for a good night’s sleep?

Do you want high-quality rest undisturbed by external light?

Shuttercraft is here, ready to help you get the rest you deserve with the right window coverings.

Click on the link below to find your local Shuttercraft today, and let us make light work for your home!