Kick off the New Year with a commitment to a better and healthier night's sleep with a focus on sleeping with a CPAP mask and maintaining a "clean sleep" lifestyle.
As we roll into 2025, millions of Americans are sketching out New Year's resolutions—promising to get more organized, or to do more traveling, or to tuck more money away for the future.
Almost a full quarter of Americans, past Statista Consumer Insights research shows, will have self-care, including getting more sleep, on their list of resolutions. Which makes sense—lack of sleep has been shown to hamper mood and judgment, and "study after study has revealed that people who sleep poorly are at greater risk for a number of diseases and health problems," reports the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
If you suffer from sleep apnea, you don't need studies and data to tell you that consistently losing sleep makes even getting through a normal day a slog. So is 2025 the year you're committing to taking better care of yourself—and getting better, deeper, and more consistent rest? If so, here are a few practical "clean sleeping" tips and pointers to get you started.
Commit to using, and cleaning, your CPAP equipment
For a sleep apnea sufferer to get the best benefits out of a CPAP machine, he or she needs to use it consistently and keep it clean.
From the National Sleep Foundation: "Consistent use of a CPAP machine provides both short- and long-term benefits to people diagnosed with sleep apnea.."
Using it means getting comfortable with your machine and mask, and getting into a routine. Just like any New Year's resolution, sticking with it is the key.
As for keeping your CPAP clean: It's an important task that helps avoid breeding germs or bacteria, or developing mineral deposits.
Reboot your bedroom
If you haven't taken the time to create a retreat of restful vibes, use the New Year as an excuse—setting up a space that caters to your needs is important, since our bodies respond to cues from our surroundings.
Most of us benefit from darkness, so think about whether room-darkening curtains or stowing away blinking electronics might help your mood. (And don't turn your nose up at a sleep mask if pitch-darkness is a real need.) Cooler temperatures have also been shown to help (your best bet is to keep your room cool (around 65 degrees) to support your circadian cycle).
Having noise problems? Smartphone sleep apps come with an array of options, from white noise to calming instrumental music. Add clean, soft linens, and maybe some aromatherapy (essential oils have been found to have benefits to sleep and health), and you're on your way to a slumber-friendly space.
Set a sleep schedule
Humans are creatures of habit, especially when it comes to basic biological functions like sleep. Many studies have shown that creating and sticking to a fairly strict sleep schedule—getting to bed and getting up at the same time every day—helps train your body to fall asleep and stay asleep easier. Adding a routine helps too. Lots of parents create one for kids: bath, brushing teeth, pajamas, story, song, night-night. You might be surprised by how well the specific repetition works to wind down us big kids, too.
Pay attention to what and when you're eating and drinking before bed
Our bodies are complex machines, and how we fuel them affects pretty much every function, including sleep.
"Eating healthy and allowing the body to absorb proper nutrients provides the brain with the chemical environment that it needs to produce the neurotransmitters that it needs to maintain adequate sleep," Ana Krieger, MD, MPH, Medical Director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at New York-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, told NBC News in 2017.
More simply: Eat better, sleep better. Some pro tips:
- Nix the late-day caffeine, and try to lay off heavy alcohol consumption close to bedtime too.
- Shoot for big breakfasts, and lighter dinners, so you're asking your body to do its major digestion during the day. Skip really fatty and spicy stuff late in the day, too.
- Taking in more fat and sugar and less fiber can contribute to less restorative sleep. So look toward more nutrient-rich, fiber-rich foods.
- Drink plenty of water, but don't chug before bed. Dehydration can cause lots of problems, including sleep interruptions, but pre-bed H20 overloads make you wake up in the middle of the night. Shoot for steady hydration throughout the day.
Get more tips for better sleep in our blog "Everything you need to know about sleep hygiene".
Plan to be active, and to wind down
Getting in some aerobic or resistance training has a positive effect on sleep quality, studies have shown. But if you struggle with sleep, shoot for morning or afternoon workouts, since rigorous exercise pumps up your endorphins, and getting that boost right before bedtime can make it hard to wind down.
Hope these help you make 2025 the most restful, restorative year yet. Have a happy New Year!
