Cinderella’s Hearth: Dark as a Cave, Cold as a Meat Locker, by Kate Wolford

Is your bedroom stuffy? Do you find yourself tossing off your bed covers in frustration at 3 A.M.? If so, you’re probably suffering from too much heat in your bedroom. Along with too much light and the wrong bed linens, hot, stuffy bedroom air is a sleep killer. 

Your body needs to cool down to sleep readily and well. A hot, airless room will ruin good sleep. This is why people who live in big cities or can’t afford whole house air conditioning get window units. It’s why people used to sleep on fire escapes in New York before AC window units became available, and who can blame them?

So how cold should your room be for optimal sleep? The best temperature is 65 degrees, but experts say anything between 60 and 67 is good. I personally like 65, because it’s cold enough for me to feel that I must cocoon under my bedding. The need to cocoon releases my body into relaxation and a kind of mini hibernation. Most people are like me, although their perfect temp may vary.

Understand that 65 degrees is quite cold for a bedroom. If you’re outside, 65 degrees it’s a bit chilly, but it feels a lot colder inside, because houses are built to be warmer than the outdoors. Obviously, it’s not as cold as a “meat locker,” but I use that term to impress upon you how important it is to cool down at night. Ideally, your room should be extremely dark and chilly.

What if you are sharing a bed with a person who hates the cold? First of all, if they don’t much like the cold, but sleep easily and well, then they just need to adjust. After all, the insomniac is the one who is truly suffering.

You and your partner could also try the Scandinavian Sleep Method, which allows each sleeper to have their own duvet/blankets, creating their own sleeping nest. Or, if you are really motivated, you can try separate bedrooms, which I strongly advocate. Todd and I haven’t shared a bedroom for most of our long marriage, and it’s made us closer and more affectionate, because we don’t resent each other at night. He piles on the blankets in his room, and I snuggle under my own top sheet and cotton blanket in my own very cold room.

Separate bedrooms are on the rise. Married couples sleeping separately is now at 35 percent and rising. The practice is called “sleep divorce,” a term I don’t love. Anyway, Todd is a thrasher and a snorer with serious chronic pain since his teens. I’m a chronic insomniac who wakes at the slightest noise, and who must have a cold room, so we both are advocates of this method.

Cinderella was probably too dead tired to notice if the ashes were cold or still held warmth from the fire, but those of us who struggle with sleep need a cold, dark room. Period.

Next time I’ll tackle air quality and freshness. Until then, sleep easy and dream deeply.

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Kate Wolford was the publisher and editor of The Fairy Tale Magazine for many years. She’s now enjoying being Resident Fairy Godmother.

Image from Pixabay.