5 Things to Help You Get a More Restful Sleep

Experts recommend seven to nine hours of sleep every night for adults, but more than a third of Americans report getting less than that. We live in a time of rapidly developing tech, which is both a blessing and a curse for the chronically sleepy. Our phones, tablets, and laptops may be aggravating our insomnia, keeping us from falling or even staying asleep. Fortunately, science can support restfulness, too: Some products even help us tap into our natural biorhythms for falling and staying asleep. If you want to keep tech out of your bedroom, there are some cozy, less-intrusive options to prepare your space and calm your mind. From innovative lights to functional decor, these five products might help you finally get a little shut-eye.

_{Prices are accurate as of October 1, 2024. Subject to change.}

Sunrise Alarm

Do you have to drag yourself out of bed kicking and screaming? Maybe it’s time to give your body a little more time to transition into wakefulness. Sunrise alarms mimic the light output of an actual sunrise, targeting your body’s natural rhythm. Many of them can help you sleep, too, with sunset functions and other bells and whistles.

Phillips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light

The Phillips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light is an enduring classic, which uses light and sound to wake you up in the morning and ease you into bed at night. It comes stocked with five preset sounds but also has access to FM radio, too. For weekend mornings, you can silence these with a one-tap snooze button.

Casper Glow

The Casper Glow Light simulates sunsets and sunrises, and because it’s rechargeable, you can take it with you throughout the home as you wind down for the day. 

Hatch Restore 2

If you want a bedside light that does everything, the Hatch Restore 2 has a sleep-friendly light at night and cozy sounds to listen to as you drift off — plus a sunrise alarm with gentle sounds like forest birds to greet you as the day breaks.

Humidifier

It’s true: If you wake up feeling dry or with a dry mouth, it’s unlikely that you slept well. To counteract this, you can introduce a humidifier, which will regulate the moisture levels in your bedroom, ensuring that you feel refreshed (and hydrated) by the time morning comes around because a humidifier doesn’t just deliver moisture to your skin. It can alleviate respiratory discomfort, reduce nosebleeds, and even act as white noise given most machines give off a subtle hum while they work.

Canopy Bedside Humidifier

At first glance, most don’t even notice Canopy’s design-forward Bedside Humidifier. Available in five colors, it looks a little bit like a toaster, which is a good thing given how gaudy traditional humidifiers can be. This one isn’t just a step up in aesthetics, though. It inhibits mold growth, is dishwasher safe, and can dispense aroma infusions, too, not just plain mist.

Blackout Curtains

If you live in a city, light pollution could be affecting you more than you realize. It might be time to upgrade your window shades. Blackout curtains are exactly what they sound like: curtains designed to block out most exterior light. They’re also useful for people who have to go to sleep when it’s still light out. 

Blackout curtains vary in size, quality, and price. You can get a plain one for as little as $10 at IKEA, while fancier curtains have thermal features to help control a room’s temperature, too. Just remember to read the reviews before purchasing—some curtains that advertise themselves as blackout still won’t quite cast your room into total darkness on a brighter day.

NICETOWN Blackout Curtains

Blackout curtains vary in size, quality, and price. You can get a plain one for as little as $12 at IKEA, but fancier curtains have thermal features to help control a room’s temperature, too. NICETOWN’s luxe curtains cast your room into total darkness on a brighter day and stabilize the climate inside.

Weighted Blanket

Do you feel restless when you try to sleep? Weighted blankets can help soothe your nervous system as if you’re being swaddled or held. They originally gained traction as a sleep support for people with autism, but they’re equally beloved by those with ADHD, anxiety, insomnia, and other mental health-related conditions. It’s possible that weighted blankets help the body produce the sleep hormone melatonin, too.

The general guideline is to get a blanket that weighs about 10% of your body weight—so if you’re 150 pounds, get somewhere around a 15-pound blanket—but some people like them lighter or heavier. You’ll want to check the blanket’s contents and washing instructions, too, to make sure you’re able to clean it.

Bearaby Weighted Blanket

Available in several materials (cotton, tencel, and velvet) and weights (10, 15, 20, 25 lbs), Bearaby’s Weighted Blankets are designed to spread weight evenly over your body and trigger the release of the aforementioned hormones, which help you get deeper, longer sleep sessions in each night.

Ear Plugs

Whether you live on a busy city block or sleep beside a snoring-prone partner or pet, earplugs come in handy no matter the situation. They help you (literally) seal out the noises around you while your body focuses on falling asleep, not the uncontrollable distractions happening around you. Plus, most earplugs nowadays are comfortable enough to wear all night and designed to be relatively customizable, too, ensuring they stay in your ear, not lost in your bed sheets. That said, they don’t block out close-up noises, meaning you’d still hear your smoke detector or an impending intruder.

Loop Earplugs

Packed with four sizes (XS – L) designed to fit all ears, Loop’s super-soft earplugs block out mid-level noises up to 14 dB, which covers snoring, bird calls, and even garbage trucks (so long as they’re at the end of your driveway, not right outside your window).

Pillowcases

Besides your sheets and pajamas, your pillowcases are the only other thing you touch all night. As such, they better be soft — because nothing is worse (or more distracting) than dry, scratchy, or even crusty pillowcases. The best ones help regulate your body temperature and prevent unwanted oils from sticking, soaking in, and causing pimples.

Brooklinen Silk Pillowcases

Silk pillowcases are more than simply luxurious. With regular use, the material helps keep you cool and thus dry (no more night sweats), prevents bedhead, and helps diminish fine lines and wrinkles.

Sleep Mask

If you can’t install blackout curtains, a sleep mask is your next best bet. In some cases, the lightest of sleepers need both. But they’re for more than simply blocking out distractions: Sleep masks help with dry eyes, can boost your mood, and help you get more REM sleep, which lets you wake up feeling more energized and strengthens your immune system.

Drowsy Sleep Co Mask

You won’t feel claustrophobic in Drowsy Sleep Co’s super-soft silk sleep mask. It offers unprecedented coverage but still keeps you cool. Plus, it’s not just a flimsy strip of fabric. The mask itself is squishy, even cloud-like, and easy to wear whether you sleep on your side, back, or stomach.

Cooling Mattress

Sometimes the only solution to your sleeping problems is to upgrade to a new mattress. For some, it’s a proverbial white flag they refuse to wave, but we spend an average of one-third of our lives (equal to 229,961 hours) sleeping, so why not spoil yourself a little? The mattresses of today are nothing like the stiff, loaf-like pads of yore, which means things like top-notching cushioning and support, cooling technology, and more come standard.

Casper Snow

Research shows nearly 40% of people battle night sweats, which means nearly 40% of people sleep hot. The Casper Snow offers a solution. It’s ice cold, just like the underside of your pillow, but that sensation never fades, thanks to the top layer, which is cool to the touch, and the embedded tech designed to expel body heat as you release it.

White Noise Machine

While a weighted blanket soothes your body, white noise lulls your brain. Think of it like an audio blanket, if you will. When faced with steady background noise, your brain is less disrupted by sudden noises in the foreground, like footsteps from above, doors opening and closing beyond yours, or even the mid-morning activity of your energized cat or dog. Even more so than external interference, white noise helps drown out your inner monologue, pushing stress, anxiety, and other worries to the side while you doze off.

Sonos Move 2

The perfect size for a bedside table, Sonos’ high-quality Move 2 speaker comes with the popular Calm app, meaning you can play white noise and other sleep-friendly sounds with just a few taps on your phone. And if it’s too much right next to your bed, you can, as the name implies, move the speaker across the room for a more indirect soundscape, or take it with you throughout your house to play your favorite music, podcasts, and more.

Dog Bed

You love Fido. We know, and so does Fido, but that doesn’t mean Fido needs to sleep with you. It’s time you get your dog a bed of their own so you can have your bed back. Nowadays, dog beds are as nice as the ones we sleep in, so don’t feel guilty for giving Fido the boot. They’ll be cozy as a clam in their personal pup-sized bed. (It can go on the floor, right next to yours.)

Casper Dog Mattress

Made from memory foam with a removable, machine-washable cover, the Casper Dog Mattress comes in three sizes for all types of pups. And three colors, too, for all types of interiors. Plus, sewn-in pockets conceal the metal zippers to protect your floors, and the durable all-over cover is nearly impossible to scratch or bite through.  

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