This is the conclusion of research by data and research agency Norstat. Six in ten Dutch people (61%) indicate that they feel more emotional and faster stimulated after a bad night’s sleep.
Sleep expert at LIJV (nice in your skin) Irma Leijten explains: “Normally the core temperature of our body drops at night. With heat, our body has more difficulty with that, making our system more ‘on’ and we are more alert than with cool nights. That makes it harder to sleep and our sleep quality diminishes.”
Mental recovery
According to the research, 83 percent of the Dutch experience a deteriorated night’s sleep during Plaknachten: 38 percent then regularly sleep poorly, 45 percent sometimes. “Sufficient good quality sleep is essential for mental and emotional recovery. In the event of a shortage, the chance of concentration problems or a shorter fuse is greater. After all, our brain has not had enough time to charge,” says Leijten.
Daphne has not been sleeping through for ten years and comes to discovery in the sleep Laboratory: ‘No wonder I wake up tired’
Young people between the ages of 18 and 24 in particular are unable to handle that, says the sleep expert. “They most often indicate that they sleep poorly and feel more emotional the next day. This age group has a higher combustion speed: their body makes energy faster and also produces more warmth. As a result, they notice heat stronger at night.”
We are fighting faster
Not only young people, but also other respondents (61 percent) say they feel more emotional or faster. According to more than a third of the cases, this even leads to irritations or a fight with a partner or roommate. Women in particular indicate this in the research. Leijten: “Women are generally more sensitive to sleeping problems, among other things due to hormonal fluctuations. That sensitivity increases around the transition.”
Introduction of the Siesta
A majority of the participants expect sleeping during warm nights becoming increasingly difficult due to climate change. Leijten: “If warm nights occur more often, we have to change our lifestyle. During the day our body can reasonably adapt to heat, but less at night. This requires more recovery moments during the day, such as a power nap. They already do that in southern European countries. We also have to accept that we can ask less of ourselves after a short night.”
Do children grow more during the summer holidays, or does that just seem so?
Invest in night’s sleep
The Dutch are willing to invest in long -term solutions. The three most popular investments mentioned are air conditioning (40%), sun protection (23%) and fans (19%).
If you have no money for that or it still warm, there are the following tips that do not cost you anything:
(Free) tips to get through the night
Don’t sleep with a sheet and don’t sleep naked. You can still cool off at night, so you can also wake up. Do not put your feet under the sheet, because they can best control your temperature.
Do not take a cold, but a hot shower. Because of the cold water, your blood vessels contract, so that your body can no longer lose heat.
Go sports in the morning. If you go in the evening, then you are still too active when you crawl into your bed, and also warm.
Do not be annoyed and remember that it is very normal for you to fall asleep more difficult when it is hot.