A 2006 study found that most 6th – 12th grade students don’t get enough sleep, so with that in mind here are some back to school sleep tips from the National Sleep Foundation.

- About two weeks before the start of school, work on returning your child to a sleep schedule that is appropriate for school.
- Maintain this sleep schedule once it is set – don’t use weekends to catch up on sleep.
- Establish a quiet and relaxing routine before it is time to go to bed.
- Limit electronic device use (television, video games, texting) before bedtime.
- Avoid big meals just before going to sleep.
- Limit caffeine use six hours before going to sleep.
- Maintain a sleep-conducive bedroom environment. Keep the room dark with a comfortable mattress and proper temperature settings (mid to upper 60s).
- Be a role model for your child and follow appropriate sleep guidelines yourself.

Read the full post on Sleep Tips for Back to School.

A study published in SLEEP found that sleep-deprived women are at greater risk for developing cardiovascular disease than men. The study consisted of 4,300 participants, and women who slept five hours or less displayed an increase in proteins associated with cardiovascular disease.

The lead author of the study stated that, “Short sleep is associated with an increase in cardiovascular risk and that association between sleep duration and cardiovascular risk factors is markedly different in men and women.” So, it’s important to get your sleep, especially if you’re a woman.

For more information on health and sleep, find us on facebook at: facebook.com/mattresstogo.

Getting proper sleep is especially important for children, as it is vital for physical and mental development. One of the many challenges facing a new parent is accommodating the sleep routine of newborns. While newborns tend to sleep a total of 14-18 hours a day, they wake up frequently and require attention, feeding or nurturing.

Read the full post on Sleep Advice for Parents of Newborns.

Here are a few numbers recently reported by the National Sleep Foundation:

Read the full post on America’s Poor Sleep Habits.

• 6.9. American adults average only 6.9 hours of sleep a night – less than the 8 hours recommended by most sleep experts.
• 75. That’s the percentage of adults who say their partner has a sleep-related problem. Snoring is the most common complaint, which can be a symptom of sleep apnea.
• 25. Sleep problems affect 25% of American adults in a negative way. While most adults don’t use any sleep aid, 11% say they use alcohol to help them relax. Another 9% use over-the-counter sleep aids and 7% say they use prescription medication.

Preliminary research from the University of California – Berkley suggests that a midday nap readies the brain to remember and take in new information. Researchers took a group and at noon presented them with a task to link faces with names. At 6:00 p.m., after half of the group had a 90 minute nap, everyone was presented with a similar task. The group that did not have a nap had performance declines of 10%. The group that was allowed to nap did not show such a decline in performance.

Read the full post on Attention College Students – Naps May Improve Your Memory.

A recent report on ABC News noted that American’s most common complaint about sleep is that they don’t get enough of it, and this can lead to serious health consequences. Researchers reported that a lack of sleep is connected to cardiovascular disease and hypertension. It also compromises your immune system, contributes to obesity and can impair your mental judgment. A new study from Sweden reported that heart attacks rose 5% during the springtime when clocks were changed and people adjusted to losing an hour of sleep; heart attacks dropped in the fall when the clocks were turned back and an extra hour was added.

Read the full post on Too Little Sleep Most Common Sleep Complaint Among Americans.

Getting deep and restful sleep is important to your overall health. One of the key factors to achieving deep slumber is maintaining a bedroom temperature that is conducive to rest.

In general, researchers found that most people are sleeping in a room that is too warm. Studies have come out with two different ranges, one from 60-65 degrees and the other from 65-72 degrees, as optimal in promoting deep sleep. Generally, you want your bedroom to be a bit cool, as your body lowers its temperature as you sleep, and a lower body temperature is a signal to your brain that it is time to rest. You’ll want to experiment a bit to find your personal temperature preference.

Read the full post on Setting Bedroom Temperature for Sleep.

Getting adequate amounts of quality sleep isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity for good mental and physical health. And a lack of adequate rest can cause decreased levels of daytime alertness, even causing people to fall asleep at work, at school, or when behind the wheel of an automobile.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drowsiness and fatigue cause more than 100,000 accidents per year, and young drivers are at the wheel for more than half of those collisions. Driving while drowsy not only creates a health risk to the drowsy person operating a vehicle, but also puts other drivers who come in contact with that person in danger. Recent surveys showed only 20% of adolescents get 8 hours of sleep a night, and 1/3 of them reported falling asleep while in school.

Read the full post on Sleep and Drowsy Driving.

For most people, while disgusting, dust mites are not harmful. However, their microscopic cast skins and waste can induce allergic reactions in individuals who were previously not allergic to dust mites. A typical mattress can contain tens of thousands of dust mites; one square yard of bedroom carpet can contain over 100,000. And studies have shown that up to 10% of the weight of a two-year old pillow can be composed of dead mites and their waste. Sick yet?

Read the full post on Dust Mites in the Bedroom.

A new study from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine revealed that not getting enough sleep can lead to increased accumulation of fat around your organs, which is more dangerous – according to researchers – than fat around your waist.

A clear association between people under 40 receiving less than 5 hours of sleep at night and large increases in visceral (organ surrounding) fat was documented.  The study also showed a similar, but smaller, association with people who sleep more than 8 hours a day in the same age group.  The researchers commented that it will be important in future obesity studies to document sleep patterns along with caloric intake.

Read the full post on Lack of Sleep Can Lead to Increased Fat.