Tips and Tricks

Sleep aids help millions of Americans get a good night’s sleep, but experts agree they’re not a long-term solution.

About 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder or are sleep deprived, something that can affect their quality of life and pose serious health risks. Many of these people turn to medication at some point to help them get a good night’s sleep. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 percent of adults age 20 and older ...

Your smartphone offers a number of apps all promising to help you get better sleep, but it can’t solve everything.

A number of new smartphone apps promise to help you get a better night’s sleep — but only if you tuck your phone in bed with you. Can this technology actually be helpful? Or will the light from your smartphone just be another distraction and source of disrupted sleep? Find out whether there’s evidence to back up these claims.

Sleep Apps for ...

The National Sleep Foundation’s annual ‘Sleep in America’ poll has found that the more people say they exercise, the more likely they are to also report sleeping well.

Good morning, America! With the first night’s sleep of National Sleep Awareness Week complete, how do you feel? If your answer is “not very good,” the National Sleep Foundation has some help to offer you.

According to their annual Sleep in America poll, the solution to your sleep woes may be simple: exercise.

In the ...

Falling asleep with the TV on or a dim night-light in your room may seem soothing. But these seemingly innocent light sources could also form barriers between you and healthy sleep.

Falling asleep with the TV on may ward off the bogeyman, but research suggests that, over time, too much light at night could interfere with healthy sleep, possibly increasing your risk of sleep disorders and other health problems. According to emerging research, sleep disorders and nighttime lighting may be making ...

A few minor adjustments can help ‘morning people’ and children.

When the clocks go back an hour this weekend, some people may have trouble adjusting to the time change.

Many welcome the switch from daylight savings time to standard time because it means an extra hour of sleep on Sunday, but some will find it difficult to adapt, according to Girardin Jean-Louis, a sleep specialist and professor of medicine at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.

Exposure to ...

Tweaking sleeping, eating, drinking and online habits all can help, experts advise.

The loss of an hour of sleep that comes with overnight Saturday’s switch to daylight saving time can be uncomfortable if you don’t take some simple steps to prepare, experts say.

To help you adapt, Dr. Praveen Rudraraju, director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y., offers the following tips:

The bedroom should be used for sleep and sex only, Rudraraju advised in a ...

Want to wake up feeling well-rested more often? Smartphone apps can monitor your sleeping phases and wake you up when you’re the most likely to feel well-rested.

Waking up every morning without an alarm would be nice, but that usually happens only on the weekends. The problem with alarm clocks is that they wake you regardless of where you are in your sleep cycle, which often means sleep interruption.

A bio-alarm, however, offers a nearly painless way to wake up all week ...

New app shows the need for professional advice when sleep issues happen, typically not during office hours.

The most common questions parents have about their children’s sleep problems are posed after office hours at night, according to a phone app developed by Johnson & Johnson, the baby products company.

Over three months, 365 users submitted a question to the “Ask the Expert” feature on the app for iPhone. Jodi Mindell, PhD and her team answer questions submitted to the app and respond ...

Study found there is no quick fix for insomnia when it comes to working out

If you decide to hit the gym in hopes that a quick dose of exercise will cure your insomnia, a new study suggests that will not be enough.

While adopting an exercise program did ultimately help some insomniacs sleep better, the scientists found the impact was far from immediate.

“Where the idea to explore this came from is that my patients were coming in and saying that they ...

Kids are never ready to go to bed, but some struggle with sleep more than others. Research is finding that children with developmental disorders like autism and ADHD may benefit from a sleep supplement called melatonin.

Kids may beg and plead to get five more minutes, one more story, or one last drink of water to delay their dreaded bedtime as long as possible. And once they’ve settled in, many children may toss and turn for hours before they’re able to ...