Dr. Cristian Sánchez Barros: Sleep Tips for the Summer Heat

Ideally, we would wake up with natural light, without the need for an alarm clock.
Dr. Cristian Sánchez Barros, head of the Sleep Unit at Juaneda Hospitals, located in Juaneda Miramar Hospital, highlights the challenges summer can pose for sleep, such as the effects of schedule changes and heat. He shares key tips for maintaining restful sleep in a properly climate-controlled bedroom during the warmer months.

—Does summer affect people with sleep problems?
—Indeed. As summer approaches, the heat often impacts sleep quality, leading to frequent awakenings. Patients treated for sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, and using a CPAP machine may struggle more during summer due to difficulties adapting to the device. Even for those who have adjusted, compliance becomes harder in the heat. Insomnia caused by excessive summer heat can also disrupt sleep quality.

—Could summer be a time to discover an underlying sleep problem?
—Not necessarily. Sleep issues might coincidentally begin in summer and then persist due to additional factors, but sleep disorders can arise at any time of the year. Stressful life events, such as work or family problems, may trigger insomnia. For example, patients with Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) generally fare better in winter than in summer, as cold beds are less bothersome. Conversely, summer heat exacerbates their symptoms. Similarly, menopausal women, who are at higher risk for insomnia, often experience worsened sleep quality due to hot flashes, especially in summer.

—What should be done in such cases?
—Treatment must be tailored to each individual. For menopausal women, treatments to alleviate night sweats can help, alongside cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and, if needed, medical treatment for insomnia. CBT may allow for reduced reliance on medication, enabling natural sleep. For patients with RLS, minimizing nighttime heat can prevent symptom aggravation. Similarly, for those using CPAP machines for sleep apnea, it’s crucial to optimize the bedroom environment for better device compliance.

—What do you recommend for cooling the bedroom: air conditioning, fans, open windows?
—Using a fan directly on you can dry out your throat and nasal mucosa, causing awakenings, so I recommend ceiling fans instead. If using air conditioning, set it to 23–24°C (73–75°F) and program it to turn off after a while to avoid waking up feeling cold. Ideally, the bedroom temperature should be around 20–21°C (68–70°F). Open windows may be an option on mild nights, but on very hot nights, they may not provide optimal conditions. Overall, ceiling fans are preferable.

—Some people drink alcohol to help them sleep.
—Alcohol is a fast-acting sedative that helps you fall asleep quickly but leads to shallow, poor-quality sleep. It’s a central nervous system depressant, which can worsen sleep apnea by relaxing throat muscles, increasing snoring, and causing more apneas. Even people without sleep disorders often sleep poorly after drinking alcohol, experiencing frequent awakenings and early waking. Alcohol can also trigger migraines, parasomnias like sleepwalking, and REM sleep behavior disorders. In short, alcohol harms both sleep and overall health.

—Do lifestyle changes from winter to summer affect sleep?
—Yes. Many people practice “social jet lag,” sleeping less during the workweek and trying to catch up on weekends. This means getting less than seven hours of sleep on weekdays, creating chronic sleep deprivation, and then oversleeping on weekends. The discrepancy between weekday and weekend sleep schedules has scientifically proven negative effects. Ideally, bedtime and wake time on weekends should differ by no more than two hours from the weekday schedule.

—How do new technologies affect sleep?
—This is particularly an issue for teenagers, who naturally have a delayed sleep phase and tend to stay up late. Excessive technology use can cause a circadian rhythm disorder, delaying sleep even further. Teenagers who go to bed very late due to technology but must wake early for school end up sleep-deprived.

—Should we set an alarm every day, even on weekends?
—The ideal is to wake up naturally without an alarm, guided by your biological rhythm and the first light of day. However, this is difficult with the current time change (daylight saving time). The winter schedule aligns better with our biological rhythms. Summer daylight lasts until 9:00 PM or later, leading to later bedtimes, yet morning obligations remain unchanged, causing chronic sleep deprivation.

In countries like South America, where schedules differ, night falls at 6:00 PM, and the sun rises by 6:00 AM. People eat breakfast at 6:30–7:00 AM, lunch at 12:00–1:00 PM, and dinner by 6:00–7:00 PM. In Spain, dinner should ideally be no later than 7:30 PM. Late dinners and sleep deprivation have been scientifically linked to higher risks of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Adjusting our schedules could significantly improve health outcomes.

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