(Image credit: Future)
As a sleep editor I get the opportunity to test a huge range of sleep tech and products, all geared towards helping us in our collective quest for a decent night’s sleep. I have everything I need for a good night’s rest, and yet I still struggle with middle insomnia. Middle insomnia is characterised by falling asleep with ease, only to then wake in the middle of the night. For me, I go through periods of waking up at 3 a.m., unable to fall back to sleep. While unpicking the root cause of my nighttime awakenings is an ongoing process, I’ve learnt that there are habits that make the issue worse. Below, three leading sleep doctors weigh in on the nighttime routine mistakes I’m making, like falling asleep in front of the TV. Plus, they share the three simple switches I can make in order to better manage my middle insomnia.Key takeaways: At a glanceDoctors shared three unlikely culprits of my middle insomnia, including falling asleep in front of the TV, and sleeping in on the weekendThey identified three routine switches I can make to better manage my 3 a.m. wake ups: sticking to a regular sleep schedule, getting plenty of moderate exercise, and learning to identify my natural sleep window.Jet lag is3 simple doctor-approved daily routine switches to help you sleep through the nightI strongly suspect that the underlying cause of my 3 a.m. wake ups is due to elevated baseline levels of cortisol, the 'stress' hormone. While there's no quick fix to dealing with stress and anxiety, there are several nighttime routine mistakes that I wasn't aware were contributing to my middle insomnia. Below, sleep doctors weigh in on why certain common daily habits wreak havoc on my rest, plus the simple switches I can try instead for better sleep.1. The 3 a.m. culprit: Sleeping in on the weekend
