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I get hot sweats at night. Before I go to bet I get a facecloth wet and put it on my night stand then turn on my ceiling fan. When the hot sweat comes, I put the cloth on my chest. I immediately cool down and get comfortable enough to go right back to sleep.
By Alma from Mechanicsville. VA
This is what we do on hot nights, after living in two houses with no central AC and no window units upstairs. We have some experience with this. Earlier in the day, I mist our top sheet with a plant mister all over it. Then I stick the sheet in the freezer for a few hours. When it's time to go upstairs, we have a nice, delightfully chilly bed for at least a couple of hours. :)
Right now we are in the middle of a heat wave and the humidity is out of this world. Since I don't have air conditioning, the nights trying to sleep are pretty unbearable even with the fan on.
What I do now is take a single size sheet, wet it in the sink, wring it out as best I can, then drape it on my body when I am lying in bed. The wet sheet keeps me cool when the fan blows on it, and by morning the sheet is dry and I had a great sleep.
By Karyn from Ottawa, Canada
To help keep cool on sticky summer nights, we use flannel sheets and sprinkle with cornstarch.
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When my kids were little and we didn't have air conditioning, I would give them a cold, wet washcloth at night when they went to bed. They would put it on their foreheads. I don't know if it really cooled them down, or just distracted them, but they it did help them get to sleep on hot summer nights.
By timmel from Colorado Springs, CO
That's why mom was usually so "tightfisted" when we asked for something when the ice cream man came down the street! At night about 20 minutes before bedtime, she dipped us a nice dish of ice cream she had in the freezer and sometimes fresh sugared strawberries she'd mashed !
Mom was "one smart cookie! ;) and to think that all those years she had us fooled thinking the ice cream was just to shut us up! HA!
(07/23/2007)
Our home was only A/C recently. When the kids were young, we sent them for a swim in the pool at bedtime. It cooled them off and wore them out.
I wonder if a cold shower or cold tub would have the same effect. (07/24/2007)
By Carrie
That reminds me of when my kids were small, you know how sometimes "they really do like " the taste of some medications.Well to discourage always wanting to take it for every little thing, I would an aspirin in their bath water and it would take care of every little "owie" they had. Now that they are grown and tell me of an ache or pain or that they have a headache, I tell them to take a bath and put an aspirin in it. Their response "Mom that don't work" with a look on their face like they can't believe they fell for that! (07/24/2007)
I find that if I at least wash my feet/ankles and hands/wrists with cold water before bedtime, it helps me to fall asleep better on those muggy nights.
Another trick is to wrap an ice pack in a washcloth and put it on the back of your neck. (07/24/2007)
I do this all the time. It does work wonderfully. (07/25/2009)
By Kelly
Wet their heads. Most of your body heat is stored in your head. Works like a charm. (08/03/2009)
By Gloria Hayes
