Overheating at night? These 6 unexpected factors may be the cause

We are currently experiencing record heat waves. Walking in the heat is not only uncomfortable, but it is also difficult to sleep. Especially for hot sleepers, this heat wave can be irritating. When your temperature rises, it disrupts your body’s thermoregulation process. In short, you toss and turn and it’s hard to get comfortable enough to go back to sleep.

If you’re a hot sleeper, there’s probably something making you hotter at night, like your mattress, pillow, or even what you wear to bed. Here are six things to consider when you find yourself sleeping hot.

6 things that make you extra hot at night

There are many things that affect the quality of your sleep. Let’s start with the bedding.

Your pillow

Every aspect of your bedding, from your sheets to your pillows, can act as an insulator. Having a pillow with thicker material or memory foam can raise your body temperature and cause you to wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat.

When choosing your pillow, look for cooling pillows. They work by often containing perforated gel or foam, chopped poly foam, or a material that doesn’t absorb your body heat. Instead, there is usually a cooling cap or cooling layer that spreads the heat away from you. You can also check out our guide to the best pillows and find the right one for you.

Your sheets

Sheets can also be the reason you toss and turn or wake up in a puddle of sweat. When choosing your sheets, stay away from ones made of polyester or fleece – and keep thread count in mind, the higher the thread count, the warmer it can make you feel.

Instead, opt for cooling sheets or ones made of breathable material. Cooling sheets, like cooling pillows, draw heat away from you, spreading it around. This way you stay cool and comfortable.

Your comforter

Hot people should choose duvets made of cotton, silk or bamboo. Each one offers natural breathability so you don’t wake up wet. You can also buy a cooling blanket that distributes the heat from your body evenly, allowing you to sleep well without overheating.

What do you wear to bed?

You want to choose pajamas or other clothing with breathable material. PJs made of cotton, linen, silk or lyocell can keep you cool by letting your body heat escape.

Meanwhile, when the temperatures rise, you may feel the temptation to sleep without clothes. However, this means your body will sweat without any material to wick it away like you would with cooling PJs. So while sleeping in your birthday suit seems like a smart option, it can actually keep you warm at night.

Your partner

Having a partner or four-legged companion snuggled up next to you can be divine—until the body heat combines to resemble a Florida afternoon in July.

Here are some ways to keep cool while you cuddle: Place fans on each nightstand to keep each person cool. You can put the hottest bed next to the window, put fans on each nightstand to keep you cool, make sure everyone is properly hydrated before bed, or forgo the larger comforter instead of two double cooling comforters.

Your top mattress

Finally, if you need extra comfort but don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for a new mattress, consider a mattress topper. Cooling top mattresses like the Saatva Cooling Graphite Top Mattress offer you three inches of blissful foam. And the graphite layer draws body heat from each sleeper, dispersing it evenly throughout. You get a comfortable nights sleep without waking up in puddles, and your wallet can rest easy since you didn’t fork over a kidney for a new bed.