Our Expert Sleep Tips: The Gift of Sleep
When you have a break or go on holiday, your sleeping patterns and general routine can get thrown off. Even when you’re off work or spending more time with your family, it’s important to look after your sleep.
We know that great sleep helps boost our energy and helps us to manage worries and stress. We’ve partnered with Sleep Expert Natalie Pennicotte-Collier for the best tips to make sure you get a good night’s rest on your breaks.
Your Premier ‘S L E E P’ Sleep wellbeing tips for everyone
Sleep Nutrition; need to know eating to protect your sleep wellbeing
- Be mindful to try not to eat too late in the evening ideally leave a few hours between your evening meal and sleep. If you can, try to avoid too much of anything that raises your blood sugar levels and choose healthy carbohydrates where possible; these can help you sleep by not putting excessive strain on your digestive system and promote healthy sleep through a healthy gut microbiome.
Light
- Choosing a daily wake up time over your time off; this is one of the easiest freely available ways you can help optimise your sleep for everyone in your family. By choosing a consistent wake up time this will help your body get into a healthy rhythm day and night for your best energy and mood boost. Routine is especially helpful for children & teens during this fun festive, but sometimes chaotic, time.
Tip: Your Healthiest Sleep loves a consistent wake time, if you want to boost your sleep further then keep a regular bed time in order to protect your sleep wellbeing for a healthy mind, body & energy boost.
- From our research we know kids love the fact they can stay up late on holidays, however it is super important to stick to regular bedtimes throughout a break for children in order to make it easier for them to drop off to sleep. Switching up and altering their bed time during breaks can actually have the same effect as ‘holiday’ jet lag, meaning it will throw off their body clocks and make it harder for them to drop off and stay asleep, and more challenging for everyone on your days off
Environment
- Environment is the invisible hand that shapes our sleep behaviour; your bedroom is the foundation of great sleep. If you are home, near or far on your break, create a new extra special Sleep Sanctuary with a new pillow or pj’s, and make a Dedicated Sleep Calm ZONE in your bedroom
- As tempting as central heating is, be sustainable and keep your heating on for better sleep health at around a cooler 18 degrees, and super dark, as these elements will help to promote and sustain good sleep
Exercise
- Exercise or simply aim to move every day for 30 mins ideally before midday for better sleep quality. This sleep science habit of moving really helps protect healthier sleep & improved sleep quality sleep at night by as much as 15%
- Seek the daytime light; you can boost your sleep further by moving ideally in powerful winter daylight, as a daily dose of fresh air and nature will naturally strengthen your sleep wellbeing
Preparing to unwind; find your best strategies to unwind your stress and take time for you
- Whilst most of us know to step away from screens at night, you should also take time to talk together and really connect away from your usual small screen habits in the morning too. It takes our minds on average 30mins to wake up out of ‘sleep inertia’ and science shows we can feel more reactive to stress in the morning if we don’t sleep well, so take some tech free time for wellbeing and switch up your small screen habits to start your day right.
- Build a new habit of Screen Free time – ideally an hour earlier than usual for you and Increase the Calm zone with festive stories, or an audiobook in a cosy, calm, dimly lit bedroom. Check out the new collection of Premier Inn Sleep Sounds or choose reading over small screens; ideally a new story time or audio book / podcast to listen to.
- Time for your Mind. For those looking for some peace and quiet, take 10 minutes to enjoy a new healthy habit with some Tech free moments. Focusing on yoga, stretching, your own breath or mindfulness techniques have all been proven to help sleep by taking the stress away, and teaching your body and mind to unwind during the day, strengthening your relaxation skills for better sleep
- Make time for some sleep health nutrition wellbeing mornings. Choosing a healthy breakfast helps strengthen your awake systems and starts the signals for our body clocks. Taking your time in the morning by enjoying a healthy breakfast sends a healthy AWAKE signal to your internal body clocks boosting your sleep health rhythms (your sleep circadian clock).
- Time to Dim the Lights. Welcome the sleep hormone melatonin by choosing to dim the lights especially in the evenings – engage in a new cosy dim or candlelight relaxation and switch up your sleep time habits.
- Be sleep kind but don’t stress too much with kids, as long as they have a good routine and wake up at a similar time every day, they’ll switch back to their usual sleep behaviours soon enough
Additional tips ahead of ‘THE BIG HOLIDAY’
Gift of Sleep; Family Wellbeing Habits for holidays
Focus on the sleep boosting ‘power of the big 3’:
Get going outside; a big energy busting day, nature, fresh air and healthy nutritious foods.
Help sleep wellbeing by keeping it focused on a mega holiday eve/daytime. Tonnes of fresh air, outside movement & play, and a mega dose of cosy movies, games and fun. With a third of children said that playing with mum and dad more is one of their favourite things
Enjoy the afternoon as you wind down
Bring on an earlier tech time. We know that the tech blue light alerts your mind to be powered on and awake particularly at night, so welcome an earlier Family ‘cinema’ movie time. As well, manage the sugar rush and celebration foods well before the later afternoon so they don’t interfere with sleep fuelling more of the excitement when you really want to sleep well in the evening. Simple switches that make a big difference.
The night before the big day
Support your children’s sleep amidst any holiday excitement by relaxing your expectations of their ability to sleep. All we can do to help tiny excited minds is help acknowledge excitement with the promise of Sleep for the BEST day ever to come. So, forget strict strategies and take a sleep kind approach … cosy, safe and dark. Science also shows that we need a drop in temperature so an extra-long wind down with a bath or long shower really helps trigger the natural process of the transition to sleep.
Sleep SOS Bedtime Support
Try not to rush or stress it is the best sleep wellbeing approach; take an extra hour special cosy wind down and make it count.
Build a Screen Free Sleep Power Hour and Increase the Calm zone with festive stories.
Choose together to step away from screens …. Sharing together how its healthy for sleep & your brain to welcome Melatonin (the sleep VIP hormone) by switching off an hour earlier than you usually do.
Sleepy mindset
Share with your young minds that getting more sleep and rest = more time to play all day (which was at the top of our survey wish list) and a healthier body & mind. Together move the focus of mind to the special day and power up a dream imagination game. Acknowledging excitement & wide awake feelings & zooming out to having the BEST day together is a great mind strategy.
Science also shows that simply breathing in sync together in the safe calm dark helps us all power down to the best VIP deeper sleep pathway. Learning to focus their mind on the senses, especially Breathing & Sounds massively helps sleep time. As opposed to lying there worrying & striving to fall asleep.
Be Kind and Clear about what time the FUN starts and how early you ‘dare’ to start your holiday fun and unwrap your best day together.
So, CHOOSE HEALTHY SLEEP ON YOUR NEXT BREAK. Bring on the gift of sleep no matter where you’re heading with our sleep wellbeing habits and ideas.
