5 tips against waking up at night

What really helps against waking up at night? 5 tips on how to sleep naturally through the night and wake up refreshed in the morning.

This is why you wake up at night
The day has taken its toll on you. You're dog-tired and really only looking forward to going to bed. Full of energy, more or less, you jump into your pajamas, brush your teeth and snuggle down between pillows and blankets. The day hasn't quite left you yet, even though your eyes are heavy. At first not bad. But minutes and minutes pass. Suddenly an hour; two. You become impatient. You fall asleep restlessly and... wake up.

Again from the beginning. Roll to the left, turn to the right, throw back to the original side.
Slowly, it's getting ridiculous.
You can't sleep.

You are not alone in this. Waking up at night is a problem for a lot of people. What you can do about it depends on where your sleep problems come from. Below you will find the most common reasons and the corresponding remedy.

Tip #1 against waking up at night: Turn off the mind carousel

So much to do, so little time. It's Sunday. Monday is the start of a new week. Everything you have to do the coming week is spinning around in your head, around your head, and then bouncing around on you. It doesn't let you sleep.

Get paper down in the morning or this will pile up. Urgently still have to do the week's shopping after work. And, oh yes. The important appointment is on Wednesday. You have to prepare for it in the days to come. And on Thursday you have to take the dog to the doctor.
The amount of to-dos overwhelms you. What to do? It's quite simple. There's a reason why writing in a diary is making a comeback: you're organizing your thoughts and getting them out of your head and onto paper. So, grab a pen and paper and write a list of what needs to be done and when before you go to bed. As soon as your head tries to prevent you from falling asleep and sleeping through the night, remember that you have everything written down and sorted. This gives you security and peace of mind.

Tip #2 against nightly waking up: Provide for you correct sleep temperature!

Imagine the perfect sleeping scenario, what does it look like? Thick blanket? Sure. Cozy pillows? But hello! In autumn and winter windows open or on tilt? Please! There are a lot of studies that prove that we simply sleep better at temperatures of maximum 16-18 degrees. If the body has the feeling of overheating, it wakes you up - no matter how nice the dream is right now. Waking up at night or not being able to fall asleep at all may therefore simply be due to a room that is too warm.
So cool down your bedroom a bit before going to bed.

Tip #3 against waking up at night: Listen to your needs 

It's 3 o'clock. You just woke up because your stomach is growling. You can think of nothing but the cold pizza from the evening. Biting into it while staring at the starry sky on the balcony would be great. But you can't do that. Can you? You have to get up in the morning!
And that's exactly why you should listen to yourself. You are hungry. You want fresh air. You also need to go to the toilet a little bit, as you realize right now.

Nothing will make you fall asleep so fast. So take the stress off. Go to the bathroom, then to the fridge and eat the pizza on the balcony. Once your needs are satisfied, you'll fall asleep faster.

Tip #4 against waking up at night: Relax

If your head just won't let you turn it off, your stomach is tingling with excitement and your ears are buzzing, not only will you not be able to fall asleep, but you're guaranteed never to sleep through the night.

But how do you switch off your head? Certainly not by putting pressure on yourself and constantly looking at the clock. Quite the opposite, in fact. You have to switch off and distract yourself.

The best way to do this is with audio plays. Either classic books and stories or special fantasy journeys with relaxation exercises and breathing sequences. This is guaranteed to get your head and body down.

Tip #5 against waking up at night: Melatonin supports your sleep

If these tricks don't help you wake up at night, you can also help your body with nutritional supplements and plants. You can also sleep through the night if your body gets help from the outside.

Melantonin, for example, is a drug that you can take as a capsule, spray or tablet. Wait, you already know the term? Of course you do. Melantonin is a hormone produced naturally in the body. Due to stress or simply aging, the body produces less of it at some point. The level in the blood drops, the sleep rhythm is disturbed. Suddenly you can no longer fall asleep or you keep waking up, i.e. you develop a sleep disorder.

To counteract this, you can start a therapy with melantonin. Or you can take it only when the problem of waking up at night is acute. This way the body develops a rhythm again. This works best for people over 40. But younger people can also try it. After all, every body reacts differently.