How have you been sleeping lately? Are you getting a full eight hours of uninterrupted sleep? Kids, anxiety, excitement, stress, and pain can all interfere with a good night’s sleep. But believe it or not you can get a great night’s sleep with a few pillows, a cozy comforter, a few other tips.
This post may contain products and affiliate links, but it didn’t start out for that purpose. Actually, I never write posts with that in mind. I write to share information that has helped me in some way and I get so excited, I want to share it with you!
This post began because it was time for me to purchase a new comforter and pillows for our bed. Very practical I know; but trust me! New, fresh, clean, soft pillows and blankets can make a world of difference in how you sleep.
Comforter
How old is your comforter? How many times have you washed it over the years?
Our comforter was 20 years old and washed over a hundred times. It was finally showing signs of wear.
Actually, I find it pretty amazing that it lasted so long and that the color is still as vibrant as the day I purchased it. It was a Ralph Lauren floral print called Persimmon. Well worth the original purchase and I would buy another Ralph Lauren if I found a color I loved just as much as our original blue. Ralph Lauren’s Tamarind pattern is fairly close.
There was one problem with that comforter though. It was really heavy and the king size just barely fit in our washing machine — and I wash our comforter alot — at least every few weeks because our adorable beagle likes to snuggle with us in the winter.
Needless to say, even though the Ralph Lauren held up incredibly well for twenty years, it was time for a change.
The new comforter had to meet a few requirements. It had to be warm, soft, and not too heavy or too thick because it had to fit in my washing machine. Oh! And it could NOT be down filled.
Am I the only one in the world that hates down? I got so tired of down feathers coming out of pillows, cushions, and blankets and covering my floors that I rid my house of down-filled products.
(Home Design Down Alternative Comforter from Macys)
I chose this Home Design Down Alternative comforter from Macy’s for our master bedroom. I purchased it the week before Thanksgiving when they were having their Daily Deals and it was 85% off!
Best tip ever: Always do the majority of your Christmas shopping the week before Thanksgiving for the steepest discounts.
To be honest, because of the price, I wasn’t expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised and really happy with it. This comforter met all of my requirements – soft, thin, warm, and filled with a down-alternative fiber fill.
I highly recommend this comforter!
I’ve never liked the idea of duvet covers. The thought of stuffing a king sized comforter inside and then removing it every time I wanted to wash, seemed like a hassle; but since the new comforter is bright white and we do have a dog that snuggles on the bed, a duvet seemed like a good option this time around. My mom happened to have a brand new, king sized duvet in her linen closet that she passed along to me. I’m so grateful because it worked out so well.
Pillows
Next up were the pillows. Not decorative pillows. The actual pillows we sleep on at night. Just this week as I was changing the sheets on the bed, I decided we couldn’t sleep on our old pillows for another night! All I’ll say is that sometimes even bleach can’t help a pillow after a few years of use. Do you hear me? Can you relate? If you can, then it’s time for you to change out those pillows.
Over the years, I’ve purchased new pillows only to stuff them in the closet and continue using our old ones because they were never comfortable. I was determined that wouldn’t happen again.
Yesterday, I set out on what turned out to be a three hour shopping trip to find four perfect pillows. One of my favorite pillows to sleep on at night is a very soft king sized quilted pillow. There’s something about the square quilting that just makes the pillow more comfortable.
The other thing you have to consider when shopping pillows is whether you’re a back & stomach sleeper or a side sleeper. This really does make a difference in the right pillow for you.
Back and stomach sleepers like myself sleep better with very soft, squishy pillows. Side sleepers do better with firmer pillows. Pillow packages are clearly labelled for each so read the labels!
TJ Maxx was my first stop. I didn’t find any quilted pillows but was determined to find pillows to sleep on that night. What I did find was two standard size super-comfy, soft, squishy pillows made by Carpenter for back sleepers.
Carpenter also makes a SleepBetter Beyond Down pillow for side sleepers. Both are 300 thread count synthetic down pillows with 100% cotton covers.
(SleepBetter Beyond Down Pillow)
But I was still in search of a soft, squishy quilted king size pillow, so my second stop was Kohls. There, I found the perfect pillow made by Chaps Home. Chaps makes a Balanced Comfort quilted pillow with Cool-Touch down alternative fiber fill. As soon as I touched it there was no question this was the pillow of my dreams!
The medium support is for back and stomach sleepers and the firm support is for side sleepers.
Lavender Oil
My bed is now super soft, comfy and cozy making for a better night’s sleep. There is one more thing that helps me sleep through the night though and that’s lavender essential oil.
I’ve given this as gifts to all my friends – or at least the ones who have told me they can’t seem to sleep through the night. Trust me – a little lavender oil rubbed on your wrists and the bottom of your feet when you go to bed at night and you will fall asleep quickly and sleep through the night.
If you do happen to wake up, the lavender oil helps so that you go right back to sleep – my friends have confirmed this.
Here’s the DoTerra Lavendar oil and fractionated coconut oil that I use. Place 10 drops of the oil in a rollerball bottle and then fill the rest of the bottle with fractionated coconut oil. Fractionated coconut oil won’t harden like regular coconut oil.
Less Sugar
While adding a cozy comforter, a pillow contoured to your sleep habits, and scented lavender oil will help you sleep better, there is one more thing that will net you a much better night’s sleep…
Consume less sugar, especially late in the day.
Without geting into all of the scientific data behind the adverse affects of too much sugar in your diet, I’m just going to give you a little feedback on my own personal experience.
Too much sugar throughout the day and especially later in the day, and the result is my mind racing and my body tossing and turning all night long. I dream more and the dreams wake me several times during the night, resulting in broken sleep. Too much sugar and I never get into a full deep sleep. As a result, I wake up really tired. So cut dramaticaly reduce the amount of sugar in your diet if you’d like to sleep better.
So what do you think? Are you ready for a better night’s sleep?
Those are handy tips about choosing the right bedding & pillows & when to do it. Like you, I’ve never seen the point in hassling with a duvet, and like you, we continue to sleep on the same OLD pillows. Never heard of lavender oil helping with sleep, but I’ll tell it to hubby who has trouble with it. Didn’t know about sugar either, but it makes sense.
Definitely try the lavender oil! It works so well for a better nights sleep. And I’m already regretting the sugar I ate today, knowing tonight’s sleep won’t be the best because of it.