How to sleep in a hospital: 10 Best Tips for Better Rest

How to sleep in a hospital isn’t easy, but it’s crucial for your recovery and mental well-being. Here are a few quick tips:

• Use an eye mask and earplugs
• Respect hospital quiet times
• Avoid late naps
• Make your space comfortable
• Increase sunlight exposure during the day
• Limit stimulants
• Practice relaxation techniques

Good sleep can help your body repair itself, build immunity, and manage pain better. It also reduces stress for both you and your loved ones during difficult times. As Margaret Gallagher shares, minimizing noise and creating a soothing environment can greatly improve sleep.

I’m Ben Trapskin, creator of Yawnder and an advocate for better sleep. Having struggled with sleep myself, I know how vital sleep hygiene is, especially in challenging settings like hospitals.

Let’s explore understanding the unique challenges of hospital sleep and how to overcome them.

How to sleep in a hospital word guide:

• How to Sleep on a Plane
• Ideal Temperature for Sleep
• Most Soothing Sounds for Sleep

Understand the Challenges of Sleeping in a Hospital

Sleeping in a hospital can be tough. Here are some common challenges and why they happen:

Noise

Hospitals are noisy places. Beeping monitors, staff conversations, cleaning machines, and other patients can all disrupt your sleep.

A 2021 study found that noise and light caused frequent nighttime awakenings in hospitalized children, leading to a significant sleep deficit. Adults face similar issues, often waking up three times a night in the hospital compared to twice at home.

Bright Lights

Bright lights in hospitals can make it hard to sleep. Lights are often left on for medical reasons, and windows might not have blackout shades.

A Dutch study revealed that hospital patients woke up 44 minutes earlier on average due to environmental factors like light.

Nighttime Interruptions

Hospital routines can be disruptive. Medications, blood draws, and vital sign checks often happen at night, waking you up just after you’ve fallen asleep.

You can ask your medical provider to minimize nonessential nighttime tasks or adjust medication times to limit disruptions.

Medication Side Effects

Some medications can have side effects that make it hard to sleep. Pain medications, for example, can cause nausea or restlessness.

Discuss any sleep-related side effects with your doctor. They might be able to adjust your medication or suggest alternatives.

Anxiety

Being in a hospital can be stressful. Worrying about your health, family, or upcoming procedures can keep you awake.

Dr. Prabath Nanayakkara noted that many patients couldn’t sleep because they were worried about things outside of the hospital, like their pets or family members.

Pain

Pain is a common reason for poor sleep in hospitals. It’s easier to control pain before it gets bad, so don’t hesitate to ask for pain medicine at bedtime.

Trouble Breathing

Some patients have trouble breathing due to their medical condition or the hospital environment. This can make it hard to relax and fall asleep.

If you have trouble breathing, talk to your nurse or doctor. They can provide treatments or adjustments to help you breathe easier.

Understanding these challenges is the first step to overcoming them. Next, we’ll look at practical tips to improve your sleep in a hospital.

How to Sleep in a Hospital

Sleeping in a hospital can be challenging, but with a few practical tips, you can improve your sleep quality. Here are some strategies to help you get better rest:

Room Temperature

Adjusting the room temperature can make a big difference in your sleep quality. Hospitals often keep rooms cool to prevent infections, but you can ask to adjust the thermostat to your liking. Research shows that the ideal room temperature for sleep is between 60-67°F.

Fun Fact: According to Dr. Veasey, sleep-activated cells in your brain are temperature-sensitive. Some people sleep better in cooler temperatures, while others prefer it warmer.

Relaxing Music

Listening to relaxing music can help you unwind before bed. Music with a slow tempo can lower your heart rate and reduce stress. Many hospitals offer smart screens that can play relaxation music or soothing visuals right in your room.

Try This: Create a playlist with ocean sounds or meditation tracks. Use headphones to avoid disturbing your roommate.

Avoid Caffeine and Nicotine

Cutting out caffeine and nicotine in the afternoon and evening can help you fall asleep faster. Caffeine can stay in your system for up to 8 hours, so it’s best to avoid coffee, tea, and sodas after noon. Nicotine is also a stimulant and can interfere with your sleep.

Pro Tip: If you’re craving a hot drink, try herbal teas like chamomile or peppermint, which can help relax your body.

Bringing Comfort Items from Home

Bring items from home to make your hospital stay more comfortable. Familiar items can help you feel more at ease and promote better sleep. Consider packing:

• Earplugs to block out noise
• An eye mask to keep out light
• Headphones for relaxing music
• A bathrobe and slippers for comfort
• Your own pillow for better neck support

Optimize Your Daytime Routine

Get natural light during the day by opening your window shades. Light helps regulate your body’s internal clock. Try to do some light physical activity, like walking around the hospital floor or doing bed exercises.

Tip: Limit naps to 30 minutes and avoid napping late in the day to make it easier to fall asleep at night.

Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine

Develop a calming pre-sleep routine to signal to your body that it’s time to unwind. Activities like deep breathing exercises, meditation, or reading can help.

Deep Breathing Exercise:

1. Sit comfortably or lie in bed with your head raised.
2. Place one hand on your stomach.
3. Breathe out completely through your mouth.
4. Breathe in slowly through your nose, feeling your stomach rise.
5. Pause for a couple of seconds.
6. Breathe out slowly through your mouth or nose.
7. Repeat 5-10 times.

Control Your Sleep Environment

Make your room as dark and quiet as possible. Use blackout window shades, close curtains, and turn off TV and computer screens. Silence your cell phone and use earplugs or white noise machines to block out disturbances.

Case Study: The Pavilion at Penn Medicine designed their patient rooms with noise-reducing materials and personalized controls for lighting and temperature. This approach has significantly improved sleep quality for patients.

By following these tips, you can create a more sleep-friendly environment in the hospital and improve your rest. Next, let’s explore how to bring comfort items from home to improve your hospital stay.

Bring Comfort Items from Home

Bringing familiar items from home can make a big difference in your sleep quality during a hospital stay. These items can help you feel more comfortable and relaxed, making it easier to fall asleep. Here are some essentials to consider:

Earplugs

Earplugs are a simple yet effective way to block out noise. Hospitals can be noisy, with staff moving around and machines beeping. Using earplugs can help create a quieter environment, allowing you to sleep better.

Tip: Look for soft, comfortable earplugs that fit well and won’t irritate your ears.

Eye Mask

An eye mask can help keep out unwanted light. Hospital rooms often have lights from medical equipment or hallway lights that can disrupt your sleep. An eye mask can provide the darkness you need to fall asleep more easily.

Pro Tip: Choose an eye mask made of soft, breathable material for maximum comfort.

Headphones

Headphones are great for listening to relaxing music or white noise without disturbing your roommate. Many hospitals offer smart screens that can play soothing sounds or visuals, but having your own headphones ensures you can listen privately.

Fun Fact: Music with a slow tempo can lower your heart rate and help you relax before bed.

Bathrobe and Slippers

A bathrobe and slippers can make you feel more at home and comfortable. Hospital gowns can be uncomfortable and make you feel exposed. A cozy bathrobe and slippers can provide warmth and a sense of normalcy.

Tip: Choose a bathrobe with pockets so you can carry small items like your phone or earplugs.

Pillow

Your own pillow can provide better neck support and comfort compared to hospital pillows. Bringing your pillow from home can also add a familiar touch to your hospital bed, making it easier to sleep.

Pro Tip: If you have a favorite pillowcase, bring that too. The familiar texture and scent can be very comforting.

Summary

Bringing comfort items from home, such as earplugs, an eye mask, headphones, a bathrobe, slippers, and your own pillow, can significantly improve your sleep quality in a hospital. These items help create a more familiar and relaxing environment, making it easier to rest and recover.

Next, let’s explore how to optimize your daytime routine to set yourself up for a better night’s sleep.

Optimize Your Daytime Routine

Optimizing your daytime routine can make a big difference in how well you sleep at night, especially in a hospital. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your day and set yourself up for a restful night.

Natural Light

Let natural light in your room as much as possible. Open the window shades in the morning to help your body understand it’s daytime. Natural light helps regulate your circadian rhythm, which tells your body when to be awake and when to sleep.

Pro Tip: If your room doesn’t get much natural light, ask if you can spend some time in a common area with more windows.

Physical Activity

Get as much physical activity as you can. Light exercise can help you sleep better at night. If you’re able, try to walk around the hospital floor. If walking isn’t an option, ask your nurse about exercises you can do in bed or a chair.

Fun Fact: Even small amounts of physical activity can improve sleep quality and reduce stress.

Limit Napping

Limit your napping to avoid disrupting your nighttime sleep. If you feel the need to nap, do it earlier in the day and keep it short—no more than 30 minutes. Long or late naps can make it harder to fall asleep at night.

Tip: Set an alarm to wake you up after a short nap to avoid oversleeping.

Medication Schedule

Speak with your healthcare provider about your medication schedule. Some medications can make you sleepy during the day or keep you awake at night. Ask if it’s possible to adjust the timing of your medications so you aren’t woken up during the night to take them.

Pro Tip: If you take sleep medication, ask your nurse to bring it to you an hour before you want to go to sleep.

Summary

Optimizing your daytime routine by letting in natural light, engaging in physical activity, limiting naps, and adjusting your medication schedule can significantly improve your sleep quality in a hospital. These small changes can help you feel more awake during the day and more ready for sleep at night.

In the next section, we’ll dive into creating a relaxing bedtime routine to further improve your sleep quality.

Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine

Creating a relaxing bedtime routine can help signal to your body that it’s time to wind down, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep. Here are some simple steps to follow:

Limit Food and Drinks

Avoid caffeine and nicotine in the hours leading up to bedtime. Caffeine can stay in your system for hours and can make it hard to fall asleep. Nicotine is also a stimulant and can interfere with sleep.

Tip: Try to finish eating dinner at least 3 hours before you plan to go to sleep. Eating too close to bedtime can cause discomfort and make it harder to fall asleep.

Sleep Medication

Take your sleep medication if it’s part of your treatment plan. Ask your nurse to bring it to you about 1 hour before you want to go to sleep. This allows the medication time to take effect.

Pro Tip: Aim to take your sleep medication between 9 p.m. and midnight so you aren’t too sleepy the next day.

Relaxation Activities

Engage in relaxation activities to help calm your mind and body before bed. Here are some options:

• Deep breathing exercises: Sit comfortably or lie down. Place a hand on your stomach and breathe in slowly through your nose, feeling your stomach rise. Breathe out through your mouth, letting your body relax.
• Meditation: Guided meditations can be very effective. You can find free resources online, such as those from MSKCC.
• Massage: If possible, ask a family member or caregiver to give you a gentle massage.
• Soothing music: Listen to calming music or white noise. Use headphones if you have a roommate.
• Reading: Read a book or magazine to help distract your mind from worries.

Fun Fact: Deep breathing can help lower your heart rate and reduce stress, making it easier to fall asleep.

Deep Breathing Exercises

Practice deep breathing to help you relax. Here’s how:

1. Sit comfortably or lie down with your head raised on pillows.
2. Place one hand on your stomach, just above your belly button.
3. Breathe out completely through your mouth.
4. Close your eyes and breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose. Feel your stomach push up on your hand.
5. Pause for a couple of seconds, then breathe out slowly through your mouth or nose.
6. Repeat this exercise 5 to 10 times.

Summary

By limiting food and drinks before bed, taking your sleep medication at the right time, and engaging in relaxation activities like deep breathing, meditation, and listening to soothing music, you can create a bedtime routine that helps you fall asleep more easily. Next, we’ll look at how to control your sleep environment to further improve your sleep quality.

Control Your Sleep Environment

Creating the right environment is crucial for getting good sleep in a hospital. Here are some practical tips to make your room more conducive to sleep:

Keep the Room Dark

Lower blackout window shades if your room has them. This will help block out any outside light that can disturb your sleep.

Close the curtains to make the room as dark as possible. If there are no curtains, ask the staff if they can provide something to cover the windows.

Turn off the TV and computer screens at least an hour before you plan to sleep. The blue light from screens can interfere with your body’s production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep.

Use an eye mask if you can’t control the lighting in your room. An eye mask can block out light effectively and help you fall asleep faster.

Keep the Room Quiet

Silence your cell phone after 10 p.m. to avoid being woken up by notifications or calls.

Use headphones if you need to keep the TV on. This way, you won’t disturb your roommate or be disturbed by the TV.

Earplugs can be a lifesaver in a noisy hospital environment. They can help block out noises from staff, other patients, and medical equipment.

Listen to white noise or soothing sounds like ocean waves or rain. You can find playlists online. Make sure to use headphones to avoid disturbing others.

Additional Tips

Ask for a quieter room if possible. Sometimes, rooms near the nurses’ station or elevators can be noisier.

Close the door to your room if you can. This can help reduce noise from the hallway and create a more private and quiet environment.

Pro Tip: Hospitals like the Pavilion have implemented “on-stage/off-stage” designs inspired by Disney theme parks to minimize noise and disruptions near patient rooms. This approach involves placing medication rooms, supply rooms, and staff spaces at the core of each floor, away from patient rooms. If you’re staying in a hospital with such a design, you might experience fewer interruptions.

By taking these steps to control your sleep environment, you can significantly improve your chances of getting a restful night’s sleep in the hospital. Next, we’ll address some frequently asked questions about sleeping in a hospital.

Frequently Asked Questions about Sleeping in a Hospital

Why is it hard to sleep in a hospital?

Hospitals are busy places, and several factors can make it difficult to sleep:

Noise: Hospitals are often noisy due to beeping monitors, cleaning machines, staff conversations, and other patients. A Dutch study found that patients woke up three times a night in the hospital, compared to twice at home, mainly due to noise.

Bright Lights: Hospitals are well-lit for safety and operational reasons. Bright lights can interfere with your body’s natural sleep cycle.

Nighttime Interruptions: Medical routines like taking vital signs, administering medications, or checking IVs can wake you up. These interruptions are often necessary but can disrupt your sleep.

How can I sleep in the hospital?

Improving your sleep quality in a hospital involves a few simple steps:

Room Temperature: Hospitals often allow you to adjust the room temperature. Find a setting that’s comfortable for you, as temperature-sensitive sleep cells in your brain can affect your sleep quality.

Relaxing Music: Playing calming music can help you unwind. Some hospitals even offer relaxation music through in-room systems.

Avoid Caffeine and Nicotine: These stimulants can keep you awake. Try to avoid them in the hours leading up to bedtime.

Lift Legs: Elevating your legs can improve circulation and make you more comfortable. Use pillows or ask for a wedge-shaped pillow.

Wedge-Shaped Pillows: These can help you find a comfortable sleeping position, especially if you need to lift your head or legs.

What is the most comfortable way to sleep in a hospital bed?

Comfort in a hospital bed can be tricky but manageable:

Lift Legs: Lift your legs using pillows or a wedge-shaped pillow to reduce pressure and improve circulation.

Wedge-Shaped Pillows: These can provide support and help you find a more comfortable sleeping position. They are especially useful if you need to keep your head or legs liftd.

Room Temperature: Adjust the room temperature to your liking. Some patients sleep better in cooler environments, while others prefer warmth.

Relaxing Music: Playing soothing music can help you relax and drift off to sleep.

By addressing these issues, you can improve your chances of getting a good night’s sleep in a hospital.

Conclusion

At Yawnder, we understand that getting quality sleep is crucial, especially in a hospital setting where recovery is paramount. Our expert evaluations focus on providing you with the perfect mattress and bedding solutions to ensure you get the best rest possible, even in challenging environments.

Yawnder offers a range of mattresses designed to cater to various sleep needs. Whether you’re at home or in a hospital, our products are crafted to provide optimal support and comfort. We believe that a good mattress can make a significant difference in your sleep quality, and our expert evaluations ensure you find the perfect fit for your needs.

Our bedding solutions are not just about comfort; they are also about convenience. With direct-to-door shipping, you can get our high-quality mattresses and bedding delivered right to your home or hospital room. This ensures that you have everything you need for a restful night’s sleep without any hassle.

Sleep is vital for your overall health and recovery. By choosing the right mattress and optimizing your sleep environment, you can significantly improve your sleep quality, even in a hospital.

For more information on how to choose the right mattress for your needs, visit our Yawnder mattress selection page.

Sleep well, stay healthy, and let us help you rest easy.