With summers getting hotter and weather patterns becoming increasingly unpredictable, getting a good night's rest during the warmer months feels harder with every passing year.
According to sleep researchers, even a modest rise in core body temperature can significantly disrupt sleep architecture, reducing the amount of deep sleep you get. Because of this, you might notice that you toss, turn, and wake up feeling more exhausted than when you went to bed.
With that said, good sleep during summer nights is far from impossible, it just requires some adaptation.
To help you with this, we've put together 8 tips to help you sleep better this summer.
Keep your bedroom as dark as possible during the day
Sunlight streaming through your windows all day long turns your bedroom into an oven by nightfall. To combat this, use blackout curtains or thermal blinds to block out direct sunlight during peak afternoon hours.
This can lower your room temperature by several degrees before you even get into bed, so you're already ahead by the time your head hits the pillow.
Use fans to cool down your room
Place one fan facing outward in one window to push hot air out, and another facing inward in a second window to pull cooler night air in (a technique known as cross-ventilation).
If you only have one fan, position a bowl of ice or cold water in front of it to create a DIY cooling mist that lowers the ambient temperature around your sleeping area.
Use thin bedsheets
Heavy duvets and synthetic sheets trap heat against your body and turn a warm night into a miserable one.
Swap them out for lightweight, natural-fiber options like linen or cotton, which are far more breathable and moisture-wicking.
Take a lukewarm shower before bed
It might be tempting to jump into an ice-cold shower to cool down, but a lukewarm shower is actually more effective for better sleep. While both lower your skin temperature, ice-cold water triggers a fight-or-flight response, causing the body to release adrenaline and cortisol which spikes your heart rate.
In other words, your body interprets the sudden cold as a threat and actually works to raise its internal temperature in response, which is the opposite of what you need for sleep.
Stay hydrated throughout the day (not just at bedtime)
We're sure you've heard it a thousand times before, but it truly cannot be overstated how important hydration is for sleep quality.
A study published in the journal Sleep found that adults sleeping only six hours per night showed a higher likelihood of being dehydrated compared to those sleeping eight hours, highlighting just how tightly the two are linked.
Separate research tracking healthy adults across different hydration states found that mildly dehydrated participants took longer to fall asleep, slept about an hour longer overall, but woke up feeling more tired.
Cool your pulse points
Your body has several pulse points where blood vessels sit close to the skin's surface. They are located at the wrists, neck, temples, and ankles.
Because blood vessels are so close to the skin at these spots, cooling them directly chills the blood flowing through them, which then circulates through your body and brings your overall temperature down faster than cooling other areas would.
Adjust your meal and exercise timing
When you eat a big meal, your digestive system kicks into high gear, increasing blood flow to the gut and ramping up metabolic activity, which produces heat.
The same goes for intense exercise, which elevates your core body temperature and keeps it raised for a significant period afterward as your muscles repair and your cardiovascular system winds down.
Your body needs time to shed this heat before it can begin the natural cooling process that triggers sleep, and if you eat or train too close to bedtime, you're essentially asking it to do two demanding things at once.
On top of that, going to bed with a full stomach can cause discomfort and acid reflux, which only adds another layer of disruption to an already restless night.
Try to finish vigorous workouts by early evening and keep dinner light and easy to digest. Foods with high water content, such as cucumbers, watermelon, and salads can also contribute to hydration and help your body stay cooler overnight.
Use scent therapy to help you get better sleep
Cooling your room and your body down is one part of the equation, but heat also leaves your nervous system in a more alert, activated state that doesn't simply switch off once the temperature drops.
Deep, restorative sleep requires your body and mind to be genuinely calm, and on hot summer nights that can be harder to achieve even when your environment is comfortable.
Kimba is an AI scent therapy system that connects to your wearables, including the Oura Ring and Apple Watch, and monitors your sleep in real time. When it detects restlessness, it automatically releases calming, therapeutic scents to ease you back into deeper sleep, without you ever needing to wake up and intervene.
These scents are scientifically proven to calm the nervous system, lower heart rate, and reduce anxiety — all of which are critical to transitioning out of light sleep and into the deeper, more restorative stages your body needs to recover overnight.
