What can I do to avoid waking up at night after falling asleep?

To avoid waking up once you have fallen asleep at night, there are a few things you can do to stay in slumber mode. Sleep specialist Michael Breus, PhD, shares some great tips for drifting back to sleep if you happen to wake up.

Transcript

00:00

If you do need to go, remember, put nightlights along the way. You don't need to turn on a light. Because the second you turn on a light,

00:06

you stop that production of melatonin, and your brain thinks it's morning. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:22

If you wake up in the middle of the night, and you need to try to get back to sleep, a couple of things to think about. Number one, if you don't have to go to the bathroom, don't go.

00:30

Don't just say, well, I'm up. I might as well go, because then you start your autonomic system up and going by walking and going to the bathroom.

00:37

So try to stay away from that unless you need to go. If you do need to go, remember, put nightlights along the way. You don't need to turn on a light.

00:43

Because the second you turn on a light, you stop that production of melatonin, and your brain thinks it's morning.

00:52

If you wake up, you don't need to go to the bathroom, and you're staying in bed, a great technique to use is to distract yourself from really starting that brain

00:59

thinking. Number one complaint that I hear from people is I can't turn off my brain, especially in the middle of the night. A couple of different things that you can do.

01:06

One of my favorites is to count backwards from 300 by threes. Try that for a second. It's no easy feat.

01:13

And it keeps your mind so occupied you can't think of anything else. And it's so doggone boring, you're out like a light. [MUSIC PLAYING]