How to sleep through the night
Fed up with nights that feel chopped into pieces? Nobody truly sleeps through the night without waking, and brief wakings between sleep cycles are normal. The goal is to drift back off quickly instead of lying awake. A cooler, darker, quieter room, less evening alcohol and a calm response to waking all help.
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Waking in the night is normal
Sleep runs in cycles of roughly 90 minutes, moving from light sleep into deep sleep and then dream sleep. Most deep sleep happens in the first half of the night, while lighter and dream sleep take over towards morning.
Most adults wake briefly at the end of each cycle, often several times a night. These wakings are usually so short you never remember them. They can become more common with age, which does not mean anything is wrong.
Broken sleep becomes a problem when those brief wakings turn into long spells awake. It is also worth tackling if you keep waking up in the night and feel unrefreshed every morning.
Why you keep waking up
If you wake every 2 hours or so, something is often nudging you out of light sleep at the end of a cycle. Common culprits include:
- Noise from traffic, a partner or the house
- Light from street lamps, early dawn or standby lights
- A bedroom that is too warm
- Alcohol, which can help you drop off but disrupts sleep later in the night
- Needing the toilet, especially after drinks late in the evening
- Stress, worry or menopause symptoms such as night sweats
Set up your bedroom to stay asleep
The Sleep Charity suggests a bedroom of around 16 to 18C. Rooms above about 24C tend to make people restless, so lighter bedding or a fan can help on warm nights.
Use lined curtains or a blackout blind, and cover small lights from chargers and clocks. An eye mask helps if your room is never fully dark.
If you are a light sleeper, foam earplugs or steady white noise can soften sudden sounds. Soft rugs and curtains also absorb noise in a busy home.
Things to try tonight
Cut back on drinks in the last couple of hours before bed, especially caffeine and alcohol. You will be less likely to wake for the toilet. If you do get up, keep the lights low and get straight back into bed.
When you wake, resist checking your phone or the clock. Tell yourself this is just a normal break between cycles. If you are still wide awake after what feels like a long while, get up and do something calm until you feel sleepy.
How to sleep deeper over the next few weeks
Keep a regular wake time every day, and avoid lying in or napping. This builds a steadier sleep drive, which tends to give you more settled, deeper sleep earlier in the night.
Daytime habits matter as well. Regular exercise during the day can help. Avoiding big meals late in the evening also stops discomfort or heartburn from waking you.
Avoid caffeine, alcohol and smoking in the 6 hours before bed, and keep hard exercise for earlier in the day. If you are spending hours awake in bed, CBT for insomnia can help. A GP can point you to it, including online versions.
When to see a GP
Speak to your GP if you snore loudly and someone has noticed you stop breathing, gasp, snort or choke in your sleep. This matters even more if you are tired all day. These can be signs of sleep apnoea, which needs treating.
See your GP too if an urge to move your legs, with tingling or crawling feelings, keeps you awake. This may be restless legs syndrome, which can be linked to low iron. Also get advice if waking to wee more than once or twice a night bothers you. The same goes for night sweats that disturb your sleep.
If your nights feel broken
If you wake several times a night and feel the frustration build each time, you are not alone. The waking itself is rarely the real problem. It is the jolt that follows, which wakes your mind fully.
What helps is a softer response. With hypnosis you rehearse waking, noticing it calmly and sinking straight back into sleep, almost like practising a soft landing. Many people find that this calmer response, along with deep relaxation before bed, makes the night feel far less broken.
I am Adam Cox, a clinical hypnotherapist with 17 years in practice and post-graduate qualifications in clinical hypnotherapy. Sleep sessions are among the most listened to on my podcast, The Hypnotist, which has been downloaded more than 20 million times.
Sleep hypnosis downloads for this
Recorded sessions from my store. Download once, keep them, and play them in bed with your phone on night mode.
Questions people ask
How do I stay asleep all night?
You will still wake briefly between cycles, so aim to fall back asleep quickly. Keep your room cool, dark and quiet, cut evening alcohol and caffeine, and keep your wake time the same every day.
Why do I wake up every 2 hours?
Each sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes. Waking every couple of hours often lines up with the lighter sleep at the end of a cycle. Noise, light, heat, alcohol or needing the toilet can turn those natural wakings into full ones.
How can a light sleeper sleep better?
Block out what wakes you with earplugs, white noise, a blackout blind or an eye mask. A cooler room and a regular routine also make your sleep steadier.
Does alcohol help you sleep through the night?
Alcohol may help you drop off, but it disrupts sleep later in the night and may block deeper sleep. It can also send you to the toilet, so it often leads to more broken sleep, not less.
Is waking up in the night a sign of something serious?
Usually not. See a GP if you snore with pauses or gasping, or feel very sleepy in the day. Also see one about restless legs, waking often to wee, or night sweats.
Could hypnosis help your sleep?
Take my free sleep hypnosis suitability test. Tell me what keeps you awake, try two quick hypnosis experiments and get an honest answer, with your next step.
Want help sleeping more soundly?
If recordings are not enough on their own, we can work on what is waking you together. Start with a £49 consultation call over Zoom. We talk through your nights and whether hypnotherapy is right for you, and the fee comes off your first session. If poor sleep has lasted 3 months or more, please see your GP too.
Further reading: The Conversation: An unbroken night’s sleep is a myth · The Sleep Charity: Sleep environment · NHS: Sleep apnoea · NHS: Restless legs syndrome