Share your top sleeping tips with Dreams for the chance to win a £300 voucher! NOW CLOSED

[EmmaMumsnet]

A good night's sleep is something many of us long to have, and would go to great lengths to get. That’s why Dreams would like to know your top tips and successful methods for getting a great night’s sleep, whether that’s perfecting the temperature in your bedroom or a never fail tactic to keep children in their rooms.

Here’s what Dreams has to say: “At Dreams, we understand the importance of a great night’s sleep and we know this can seem like an impossible challenge for new parents or parents to be. That’s why we’re delighted to be working with Mumsnet and its community of parents to help you get the sleep you deserve.”

Do you have a routine that helps you to relax before bed so that you drift off easily - a relaxing bath or a no-phones period? Perhaps you have arranged your bedding so that it’s comfortable for both you and your partner? Maybe ear plugs have revolutionised your sleep or you meditate before bed to stop you overthinking and worrying about things? Do you avoid certain things like coffee or eating late at night or maybe you have a particular hot drink or music to listen to that works a treat?

Whatever you do to help you improve your quality of sleep please share it below. Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

The heating must be off, and a nice dark room, my sons have a chapter from their favourite book and then a dimmed to help them doze. We switch it off when they are asleep.

Sleepy time tea at around seven o'clock.

Lamp on downstairs, when ready for bed watch some TV in the bedroom and use a V shaped pillow to cuddle up to (DP too warm to cuddle) cold room with a thick duvet. Perfect

I almost literally fall asleep once my head hits the pillow.
The difficulty is staying asleep beyond the small hours. It's not worry, or illness, just the feeling that my body has enough sleep. But of course then I am tired by early evening the next day. My secrets - well, I'm working on it, but I get up, have a cup of tea and read. But it takes quite a while before I feel sufficiently sleepy to return to bed.

2 hot water bottles - one placed near the top end but not actually on top of the pillow, and one half way down the bed in the winter.
Plus a dog.

A fan on my bedside table directing air at my face when it's very hot, and also sleeping under a single cotton sheet.
No dog.

A hot water bottle really helps me. I'm actually lucky enough to never struggle to sleep, but being cosy makes me happy.

king sized duvet. Enough covers for us both without a fight!

A big bed, heavy duvet and a dark room are the key for me!

Firm mattress - always had a sprung mattress but have considered a memory foam one but still uncertain if it'll ever be as firm as sprung, cosy and warm bedding like brushed cotton (fresh clean on after being line dried is the nicest) only the sound of thunder/rain/ticking clock/waved allowed, complete darkness, medium firm pillow (not too flat/not to puffy): synthetic or feather don't mind, nice heavy quilt, room temperature only affects me if on a summers night it's hot and humid but basically due to having a circulation problem I need to feel warm, no media devices! Whether TV or phone are just utter pains in the butt, I swear I can hear the buzzing electrical current surging through the bloody things when all goes quiet! Super soft mat/carpet next to where you get out of bed (soft and luxurious) think fluffy cloud, although my kids slept through from moment they were born, to not be dive bombed every morning would make for a perfect sleep...Can't have everything!

I’ve stopped using technology in the bedroom and now read a book in bed before I turn the light out. I love lavender pillow sprays and have blackout curtains to stop the street lights making the room too bright.

Doesn’t always guarantee a good nights sleep but it helps!

No screens in bed, nice and dark. No caffeine, ever. Since becoming caffeine free my sleep has really improved.

On my side, my head resting on a right-angled cool pillow, another cold fluffy pillow at the foot of the bed, one leg out of the duvet with one foot on said pillow, the other leg under my warm duvet. Heating off. Zzzzzzz

Rain/storm noises and a slightly cold bedroom help me

Blackout blinds... I didn't realise I needed them until we got them. Excellent for getting rid of the street lights glare and for lazy summer lie-ins.

We have a double bed but a Queen sized duvet - so no fighting about the duvet or getting cold when DH takes some of the duvet with him if he rolls over.

I suffer from fibromyalgia and have issues with my neck/ spine (osteoarthritis) so i'm always very uncomfortable. I rarely get a great nights sleep but we just bought a teddy mattress topper which is super soft on my orthopaedic mattress and makes me feels cosy even when i'm not.

I usually just day dream until i fall asleep as my dreams just become extensions of those thoughts. It's usually about having a nice house in the country or being on the beach in the summer.

When my daughter was little and she couldn't sleep i used to tell her to pretend she was sleeping on a cloud and when her head was too full we would 'take' all the thoughts out of her head and put them in a 'jar' until the morning- that always helped her sleep restfully.

keep calm.if you cant sleep thinking this over and over wont help.your heart rate is contantly on this alert and panic then.if you really cant just say "ok but ill lie here and rest then." just letting that I cant sleep rush can instantly calm you.
4-8-7 breathing. in for 4 hold for 8 out for 7.calms everything down.relxes heart rate
body scan technique for when trouble really hits.
keeping it dark.
tv and book are both fine for me before bed.infact I love snuggling down with book or program just before sleep.
my pjs have to be thin.i cant stand feeling suffocated in bed!
don't take worries to bed.wrtie them down and leave them alone.you can fix anything once you go to be.thinking on it now wont help.you need rest.whatever comes tomorrow will come whether your anxiety is here or not.so just try to let it go.and rest now.
if ur partner snores work to sort it don't just seethe.this will only disturb your not not theirs and you will wake up in terrible moods and angry at them and the world!

This Works Pillow Spray!!! Maybe the two companies should team up.
It just smells like a spa, calms me down. As a bonus if my Dd 3 decides to sleep in my bed, she sometimes likes to fall asleep in our bed then be relocated to hers, it helps het go to sleep quickly to!

Also decent pillows that suit how each person likes to sleep. Firm, soft, extra support.

Listening to YouTube sleep hypnosis videos have really helped me get to sleep

Also, no naughty cat deciding he wants to sleep on my pillow! 😺

I don't have caffeine after 4pm, really difficult sometimes but I know it's worth it!
I also found I sleep much better since I started taking magnesium tablets.

I love a bath and warm milk before bed. Lavender pillow spray and quiet music. I don't sleep well but this helps a little.

Finding the right pillows has been what's helped me. Took me ages and lots of errors (whole cupboard full of pillows now) but it makes up for the lumpy mattress!

Oh, and 100% cotton bedding. No more polycotton, ever again. Makes an enormous difference to being warm or cool enough.

I’m one of those lucky people that doesn’t have much trouble falling asleep! Good routine is key and getting an early night always makes for a more restful nights sleep I find! My daughters (2 and 6) have always been extremely good sleepers too, like their Mum!

I do find that waking up too hot disturbs my sleep so never have radiators on in bedrooms (mine or the kids).

Putting the electric blanket on for 20 mins before going to bed (turn it off when I hop in) really relaxes me.

I need a cup of camomile tea before bed or I can’t sleep!