You may experience nights where no matter how tired you feel, your mind refuses to let you sleep. This could happen despite going to bed at a reasonable hour after a tiresome day. You might even buy a mattress from popular brands like Tempur-Pedic, Sleep Number, Saatva, Essentia, or Wilderness RV Mattress and yet lack eight hours of sleep. So, if you want a good night’s rest, avoid doing these five things before sleeping:

5 things to stay away from before going to bed

Using electronics
Nine times out of ten, people scroll through various social media sites after getting into bed. The blue light from the gadgets and the constant stimulation from the media keep your mind awake and make it difficult to fall asleep early. Instead of reaching for your phone or laptop before bed, reach for a calming book to get a good night’s sleep.

Eating a large, heavy meal
Consuming an entire pizza or a couple of tacos may not be the best idea to eat right before hitting the bed. Our digestive system is meant to rest while we sleep. The process of digestion is also the slowest at night, and a heavy meal can cause complications like disturbed sleep. Additionally, eating a heavy meal just before sleeping can trigger heartburn, acidity, and acid reflux. Acid reflux is characterized by the stomach occasionally sending digestive acids to the esophagus.  Avoid having more than a few drinks five to six hours before bedtime if you have bladder problems.
Large, heavy meals have also been associated with daytime sleepiness. Consuming foods high in fats may increase the likelihood of post-meal tiredness, while carbohydrate-rich foods could increase the perceived amount of postprandial fatigue. Moreover, foods rich in tryptophan could promote sleep. Therefore, eating meals loaded with these properties could make one sleepy or cause one to sleep during the day and stay awake through the night. As a result, one might feel tired the following day when they need to work.

Sipping on caffeinated drinks
A cup of coffee may make you feel energized in the morning, but as the day ends, it could result in restless nights. Caffeine has a half-life of about six to eight hours, which means any caffeinated drink you drink after 3 pm could make your nights uncomfortable and leave you will a feeling of tiredness when you wake up.

Watching horror films
You may want to end your tiring day by watching a movie, but avoid watching slasher or horror genres. Watching scary movies before you sleep could trigger the stress hormone cortisol, which will then keep you awake at night. Choose a nature documentary instead. Practicing meditation can also help you relax.

Getting into serious conversations
Having a serious conversation or an argument just before bed is not a good idea. You may keep playing the conversation in your head and think of clever comebacks or even rationalizations. All these thoughts can stimulate you and keep you from falling asleep at night. Also, avoid discussing important decisions to be made or anything work-related if possible.

Besides the abovementioned factors, poor sleep posture could affect one’s sleep patterns. An unhealthy posture could result in one waking up in pain, which could limit mobility, cause injuries, and deteriorate spinal health. These symptoms might hamper one’s ability to get a proper night’s rest in the long run. A potential way to ensure good posture while sleeping is to invest in good-quality sleeping essentials like mattresses.

Layla® offers a variety of best-in-class mattresses. Popular products include those with copper-infused memory foam and hybrid mattresses that blend memory foam and coil springs.

A comfortable bed is also essential for a good night’s sleep, and the ChiliPad is the perfect product to make your mattress feel just right. ChiliPad is a cool mesh pad by Sleepme that allows you to control the mattress temperature as per your preference so that you don’t feel too cold or too hot. You can get a half pad for one person or a full bed pad for two people that lets you choose two different temperatures.

Another mattress brand you must consider adding to your comparison list is Keetsa. The brand designs an assortment of mattresses for various types of sleepers. What’s more, Keetsa is offering up to 15% off on all mattresses. Use the Keetsa discount code “HALLO15” at checkout.