Many of us will spend at least some time over the festive season visiting family and friends or simply getting away for a break. However sleeping in a hotel or someone else's home can be difficult and the fun of the time of year can quickly turn sour if you don’t get enough sleep.
An uneasy night or being woken early can put you out of sorts for the whole day - or longer - and can spoil your trip. One common but often overlooked sleep disruptor when staying in a hotel is unwanted light streaming into your room, and the solution might be hiding in plain sight according to sleep expert Adeel ul-haq from Comfy Beds.
"Exposure to light, especially during the night, interferes with the production of melatonin, the hormone responsible for regulating your sleep," explains Adeel.
"Even a small sliver of light sneaking through poorly closed curtains can send signals to your brain that it's time to wake up, making it harder to fall asleep or stay asleep."
But there's an easy fix according to the sleep expert. "Most hotels will provide you with clothing hangers, but you are going to need the ones with little clips at the bottom of them, not all hotels will have these so I would advise you to take your own when travelling.
"Once you have your hanger, clip the edges of the curtains together and you have created a light-blocking barrier in seconds," says Adeel.
Alternatives to keeping the light out
The clothes hanger costs as little as £1.68 to buy singly or less in bulk. However if you can't get your hands on one or simply don't want to use this method there are more expensive alternatives.
Adeel says "A sleep mask is a great alternative and can be packed when travelling, but they are more expensive and one that keeps the light out can cost upwards of £30. A clothes hanger on the other hand can be purchased for less than £2 online and can do a similar job."
Why keep the light out
The science behind light and sleep offers even more reason to keep your room dark. “Light exposure, even at very low levels, can suppress melatonin production and disrupt your body’s circadian rhythms,” Adeel explains.
The expert says this disruption can lead to difficulty falling asleep, waking up during the night, and even less restorative sleep overall. Studies show that a dark environment is essential for reaching deep, quality sleep.
However, it's not just light from the outside that can be disruptive, even something as simple as the light from an alarm clock can disrupt your natural sleep-wake cycle. "Studies have shown that people exposed to artificial light at night were more likely to experience poor sleep patterns, including falling to and staying asleep.
"If you block the light entering your room, you may also want to block any other artificial lights by turning electronics off at the switch," says Adeel.
