THE CLEVELAND CLINIC – Next time you wake from a sound sleep and roll over to see those familiar numbers on the bedside clock, know that you’re not alone. Nighttime awakenings are a common phenomenon.
“For adults who go to sleep at standard times — say, 10 p.m. or so — 3 a.m. is typically when you’re in REM sleep,” says sleep medicine specialist Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer, DO. REM is the lightest stage of sleep.
Below, she discusses common causes of late-night awakenings and how to get a handle on them.
Trips to the bathroom
Even while you’re asleep, your body is hard at work breaking down what you ate and drank that day. That’s why it’s natural to wake up needing to go to the bathroom once in a while, especially if you had a tall glass of water close to bedtime. But if it becomes too common, it could be a sign of nocturia.
What to do about it: Limit fluids before bed to see if that puts your late-night bathroom breaks to rest. If not, talk to a healthcare provider to see if you could be dealing with an underlying issue.
Light exposure
That street light shining into your bed could be doing more harm than you realize. Even if you can fall asleep in a bright room, your brain may have trouble staying asleep.
“Light exposure at night is absorbed through our eyes into our retina, and our brain starts to think it’s daytime because we’re in a well-lit environment,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer explains.
What to do about it: Go as dark as possible with blackout curtains or a sleep mask.
A noisy environment
Maybe it’s an ambulance siren blaring, a neighbor’s radio blasting or your roommate watching TV down the hall.
“External sleep disturbances can cause you to wake in the middle of the night” …
