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Why Can't I Sleep Through the Night: 6 Reasons
5 min read
5 min read
Restless nights are far from fun, and if you can't sleep through the night, your days may not be the most enjoyable either. Luckily Miracle Made is here to bring you back to that sweet, blissful slumber.
Adults are advised to get seven to nine hours of sleep per night — anything short of that can lead to symptoms like constant yawning, grogginess, poor concentration, and more. Sleep plays a vital role in your health and quality of life. If you're tired of feeling tired, we can help.
Unless you're brand new parents dealing with a newborn baby or have a known medical issue, it may be challenging to narrow down exactly what's keeping you up at night. Rest assured, we have many ideas, possible reasons, and solutions to help you get better sleep.
1. Your Age and Sleep Problems
As a child, the last thing you wanted to do was go to bed or take a nap. But, as exhaustion creeps up on you in your older years, bedtime can't seem to come soon enough.
Even if you're craving a good night's rest, sometimes your body has different plans. As you age, a solid night's rest can feel more like a luxury than a part of your daily routine. Frequent awakenings throughout the night, sensitivity to blue light from electronic devices and loud noises in your sleep environment, and other factors can become bigger deals.
As people take more trips around the sun, they claim their quality of sleep digresses. It’s believed one root of this issue are the changes in the circadian rhythm (the body's natural sleep cycle) changes over time. However, if you're experiencing a sudden change in your patterns, you shouldn't immediately write off any other possible causes.
2. Your Daily Habits, Sleep Schedule, and Sleep Quality
Your lifestyle and bedtime routine has lots to do with your sleep cycle (circadian rhythm); almost everything you do daily plays a crucial role in how well you sleep at night.
Here are some everyday sleep disruptors you may be doing:
Late-Night Habits
According to sleep specialists, if you're a late-night snacker, chances are you don't always sleep the best. Eating spikes your blood sugar, making it difficult to fall asleep, even if you’re eating a healthy snack. Sometimes the snack isn’t the main issue, but the heartburn that pops in an hour or two later.
It’s not only the snacks that attack — blue light exposure is thought to be a main culprit of tossing and turning. Blue light from digital devices suppresses melatonin production, disrupting sleep cycles and making us groggy.
Instead of chilling on phones before bed, sleep-centric relaxation techniques might prove more helpful.
Heavy Caffeine Consumption
It may not be easy to kiss your afternoon pick-me-up goodbye, but it may be the only way you regain your sleep and overall well-being.
Heavy caffeine consumption is a common cause of sleeping issues. Everyone's body processes caffeine differently, so what works for one person may not work for you. Even if you've been a heavy coffee or soda drinker your whole life, things can change when you're older — you may not be able to handle as much caffeine as you once could.
There's no need to cut out caffeine completely; just cut back slightly and see if that stops the sleep deprivation.
Cat-Naps
Everybody loves a good nap, but moderation is key to avoiding poor sleep and keeping your sleep patterns consistent. If you're someone who takes multiple naps daily, this may cause restless nights. Napping is nice occasionally, but if it becomes a part of a daily routine, it can disrupt the body's natural sleep cycle.
Try shortening your naps or limiting them to days where you're really struggling; this might help you get back to your old sleeping habits.
Alcohol Before Bed
Some say a nightcap helps them fall asleep quicker, but the side effects of drinking may be why your beauty rest is getting interrupted — and why you feel that “jet lag” the next day. Try cutting out your nightly glass of wine and see if you can stay asleep through the night.
3. Some Medications Can Interfere With Healthy Sleep
Usually, if sleeping issues are a symptom of prescription or over-the-counter medication or medicine, your health professional will give you a heads-up.
Some medicines like antidepressants, beta blockers to treat high blood pressure, and corticosteroids to treat inflammation or asthma can all affect the sleep cycle.
4. Health Conditions
Along with their other symptoms, health issues can seriously affect your sleep.
Here are two medical conditions that can keep you up at night:
Anxiety or Depression
Besides causing trouble sleeping, anxiety and depression have many other very serious symptoms. Both are difficult to deal with, but their other symptoms can worsen with a lack of sleep.
Sleep Apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea is often a condition that goes undiagnosed. Essentially sleep apnea occurs once you have reached a deep sleep. It's a condition where your breathing continuously stops and starts during sleep.
Sleep apnea is a health condition that shouldn't be taken lightly.
You might want to contact your healthcare professional if you experience any of these symptoms:
- Loud snoring
- Instances that you stop breathing during sleep
- Waking up to a dry mouth
- Inability to stay asleep (sleep disorders like insomnia)
- Daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia) or constant napping
- Difficulty paying attention while awake
- Irritability
- Gasping for air in the middle of the night
5. Your Bedding Isn't Breathable
Your body's temperature has a lot to do with your ability to sleep through the night. Nobody can sleep well when waking up soaking in sweat five times a night.
Regulating your body's temperature while sleeping can be tricky but not impossible. If you've tried every trick in the book when trying to keep yourself cool at night, Miracle Made has a few more suggestions.
Breathable Pajamas
While snuggling up in warm, cozy pajamas may feel comfy at first, once you finally hit the hay, chances are they won't be breathable enough to last you through the whole night. Wearing breathable pajamas to keep you cool is crucial to a good night's sleep.
If you live in a warmer climate, you want to avoid thicker fabrics like wool; instead, opt for materials like cotton. Sleeping in more breathable fabrics may help you stay cooler for longer.
Temperature-Regulating Bedding
Ever wondered why you get so hot at night? Well, there could be many causes of that unwanted extra heat, but just as your pajamas can affect your body temperature, so can your bedding. If your bedding isn't breathable enough, it could lead to many restless nights.
If you want to stay cool while you sleep, we suggest steering clear from super heavy comforters and thick synthetic sheets. We get that your bedroom has a particular aesthetic and ambiance you're trying to uphold, but style and practicality can go hand and hand!
It may be time to swap out those old sheets and comforters for something more breathable. Extra Luxe Pillowcases and The Miracle Sheet Set will treat you kinder and help you get through the night without having to pull your comforter on and off.
The same logic applies to your comforter. You want something that will keep you as cool as possible, which is why our Miracle Comforter would be a great option.
6. Co-Sleeping
Sometimes the cause of your sleep issues could be steering your right in the face (literally)! Sleeping with a partner (whether a significant other or furry friend) can be great sometimes, but co-sleeping can be why you cannot keep a deep sleep throughout the night.
Even though co-sleeping can be super beneficial to your mental health, if you aren't able to get all your needed shut-eye in, it can be doing more harm than good.
Goodbye Restless Nights
Not being able to sleep through the night can be frustrating, and determining the cause of these restless nights can be even more difficult.
Getting enough sleep can mean the difference between a productive day and daydreaming (or literally dreaming) about sleep at your office desk. When that bright light peeks through our curtains and the birds are chirping, we want to feel refreshed. To get the Zzzs you need, hit the hay and try a few of our suggestions out!
Sources:
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Top 4 reasons why you're not sleeping through the night | Harvard Health -
Meditation for Sleep: How to Use Meditation for Insomnia, Better Sleep | Healthline
