Insomnia has been an issue for many people for years. Dr. Rebecca Robbins, sleep scientist and co-author of 'Sleep for Success,' joined Cheddar News to provide tips on what to do before going to bed and how to successfully implement those steps for a good night's sleep.

<div class="block">Insomnia has been an issue for many people for years. Dr. Rebecca Robbins, sleep scientist and co-author of &#39;Sleep for Success,&#39; joined Cheddar News to provide tips on what to do before going to bed and how to successfully implement those steps for a good night&#39;s sleep.</div>

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What to Do Before Going to Bed and How to Get the Best Night's Sleep

Do you toss and turn at night, wake up, then struggle to get back to sleep. We've got the advice that you need to get the best night's sleep possible. Dr Rebecca Robbins is a sleep scientist. She's also the co author of Sleep For Success Doctor. Thanks for joining us. Thank you for having me first up. What should we be doing before we go to bed to get ready for that? Perfect sleep. Great question and believe it or not, good sleep release starts. As soon as we wake up, we want to be filling our days with plenty of exposure to the natural sunlight around us. That's the strongest input to our circadian rhythm and then the absence of light allows the hormone melatonin, tore to secrete in the brain after the sun sets and we enter a dark environment. So plenty of sunshine. We wanna be monitoring how much caffeine we're getting over the course of the day, making time for exercise. And we do also see a really strong link between nutrition and sleep. So the old adage, if you've ever heard it from nutrition, have a, a big hearty breakfast of Kings, a lunch of Poppers and a or a lunch of Princes and a dinner of Poppers actually works really well for sleep because we want to have our smallest meal right before that. It's good to know. And you say when it comes to bedtime, consistency is key. Why is that? Absolutely not only how much sleep we get. The average adult uh adults typically need between seven and nine hours somewhere in that range. But consistency of sleep is one of the most important things. And that's because our sleep is in part governed by our circadian rhythm. And that in turn governs the secretion of melatonin, the sleepy hormone. And so, keeping our sleep consistent actually gives feedback to the system on when we should be tired and when we should be alert, varying ideally, no more than one hour if you want to sleep in a little bit, but try to get your butt out of bed, uh not too far from your normal wake up time. So no more than one hour variability on the weekends to get up after that extra hour, try, you try you exhausted if you're really exhausted, the best way to make up for lost sleep is with a nap in the afternoon that will pay back any lost sleep without damaging that circadian system that we just talked about and then maybe risk um sleep difficulties. The next night, you mentioned food uh in terms of having that dinner of poppers, but what other things should we be eating and drinking in order to promote better sleep around bedtime. Uh We really actually want to stop eating and drinking close to bedtime. So you really wanna be done with dinner ideally two and 2, 2.5 hours before bedtime and then really having a glass of water and then really trying to kind of move into a different mindset, do some relaxing uh activities and try to stop again, eating and drinking too close to bedtime. That could cause our bodies to kind of resist sleep by just virtue of it needing to digest. Um the other what you just drank or ate alcohol. The night cap is a myth. Alcohol might help you fall asleep, but unfortunately, it destroys the, the quality of your sleep when consumed in excess and for the vast majority of us, that's just about one glass of wine or beer and eating too much or too little. Does that play a role as well throughout the day? You really want to structure your nutrition? So you're having a hearty breakfast, hearty lunch and then a lighter dinner and an early dinner. I'm all for the early bird special if you have kids eat with your kids at five or 5 30. And there's actually remarkable evidence that that's not only good for our sleep, but it's good for our waistline if we just allow for a little bit more time before sleep between the last meal. And so you mentioned waistline, I'm covering mine with this pillow, so I'm gonna have to go to the exercise. What about exercise? What's the ideal time? Stress is one of the biggest sources of sleep disruption. So we can mitigate mitigate stress. The best way is with exercise, making time for it is the most important thing over the course of the day. It actually turns out that it doesn't really matter when you work out as long as you get it in. Now, do you want to be doing a hit, you know, hard core workout right before you want to be falling asleep? Probably not. So if you can only exercise in those few minutes right before bedtime or not a few minutes, but in the, the time close to bedtime, then I'd opt for something maybe a little bit more soothing. But the key thing is getting it in and the other really important thing and I think this is hard for us as Americans is really thinking about sleep as a process. We're, we're so accustomed to, you know, getting what we want, you know, turning off a switch, we want to go to bed and having that happen and then being frustrated when it doesn't. And so really give yourself space and, and realize that falling asleep is part of the process if you want to set yourself up for success. So in the 2030 minutes before bedtime, fill that time with things you love, talk to your spouse about one good thing that happened in your day, consciously, slow down your thought process, wash your face. And then if you do have time for a mindfulness exercise, a breathing exercise that can be a really good way to ease into sleep. Doctor, we have about 30 seconds left. But I do want to ask you, let's say we follow all your advice. Still can't go to sleep. What should we do? Great question. A lot of people struggle with a really busy mind and struggling to fall asleep. So um really come back to the things that help you fall asleep and they're all individuals. So if that's for you reading a couple pages in a book, get out of bed. If you're experiencing any insomnia, tossing and turning a couple of pages of, of a book in an armchair and the key is coming back when you're tired. It's a, it's another myth that if we stay in bed, we'll get some sleep. So you must stay in bed but wrong because then that starts to condition our brain to look at our, our bed as a place where we haven't yet and we don't sleep. So we want to reverse that cycle. That is such an important tip. I'm thinking about that for my kids. I should get them out of bed and not keep them in bed if they can't sleep. Rebecca Robin. Thank you so much. Really great advice. I'm gonna use that tonight.