Talk:Sleep hygiene/Archive 1

No naps?
"Avoiding, if possible, napping during the day" seems to contradict the "Biological need for naps" section of Siesta. — Matthew0028 20:49, 21 April 2006 (UTC)
 * What I've heard is that it's better to take naps elsewhere (e.g. on the sofa in the livingroom) or in bed at the same time each day and not much more than 30 minutes anyway. Qvasi 14:04, 7 September 2006 (UTC)
 * The highly notable sleep researcher William C. Dement, who is unarguably one of the leading sleep experts, talks about napping wisely in his book The Promise of Sleep. He feels that naps are a good thing, applied appropriately.  I think the "No naps" should be removed, unless somebody can provide credible citation there. --Piquan 21:58, 20 November 2006 (UTC)


 * Avoiding naps is common medical advice in the sleep medicine world if you are having trouble sleeping at night. This is because you may be less tired at the end of the day when you want to be getting to sleep and you may not have a schedule that is conducive to creating that nap/not-sleeping-at-night cycle. That isn't to say that napping itself is necessarily a bad thing and some cultures or even individuals can do well with a routine of napping (ie siesta). If you are having trouble sleeping at night or having daytime symptomology from the practice, then it should be avoided to try and consolidate your sleep at night...thus the recommendation. Cronides2 (talk) 14:59, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

Original research tag. 11 June
Mere speculation and personal experience. Skinnyweed 10:52, 11 June 2006 (UTC)


 * If you had read the links at the bottom, you would have seen, that it is no OR and no speculation. --83.189.52.34 07:23, 12 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Agreed... the suggestions are well founded and researched. Cronides2 (talk) 14:59, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

Reserving the bedroom for only sleep and sexual activity.
Kind of difficult when you only have one room. - FrancisTyers · 15:17, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Go out. 222.159.203.188 20:15, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Or simply limit yourself to sleep and sexual activity.
 * Then replace "bedroom" with "bed", don't lie on your bed without the intent to sleep. Maybe it's even better to have a separate bed/bedroom for sex? ;) Qvasi 14:08, 7 September 2006 (UTC)


 * The purpose of this separation, from a behavioural perspective is that the bed, if used only for sleep, will serve as a stimulus (or cue) to sleep. If you only have one room it's best to do other activities in a different area (i.e., not on the bed as you mentioned above).

Or eating??? who eats in bed, and how is eating in bed good sleep hygiene? 68.2.35.62 (talk) 04:29, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I've been known to eat a three-course meal in bed before, and I often eat at least something in bed practically every day. Granted, it's far from good sleep hygeine, but it is comfortable. --Ericdn (talk) 22:29, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Getting adequate exposure to natural daylight every day?
How exactly does that help one to sleep? There aren't any citations about it; it sounds more like someone wanted people to get out more, so they put that in there. If it is true, could someone please put a citation? - 74.131.193.33


 * Actually, that bit should have stayed in there. I'll try to remember to find a good ref.
 * We are, after all, still animals. Every living thing on this planet evolved to adjust its circadian rhythm daily to the 24 hr rotation of the earth.  The most important cue is daylight.  If the "body clock" (suprachiasmatic nuclei) "thinks" nights are long because of dim indoor lighting, depression will result and sleep schedules will, of course, be messed up.  - Hordaland (talk) 19:32, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

Removed Mercola
I removed a link an article on Mercola's website entitled "29 Secrets to a Good Night's Sleep." The author of the article is a well-known quack who, as near as anyone can tell, makes up half of his material, and pulls the other half from questionable sources. The article in particular also has suspicious, and possibly even dangerous, advice. If someone feels its important for this link to exist, I'd be open to it returning if the article mentioned that Mercola is widely considered to a quack, or something similar. AaronWL 02:01, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Removed 'better sleep council' sleep advice document
I removed this link in the 'external links' section as it is nothing but a (hilariously) thinly veiled marketing tool for a mattress company, and has no place in an encyclopdedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.193.172.191 (talk) 08:10, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

Needs rewriting
Important topic. Sleep hygiene is not the answer to all sleep problems, by a long shot, but it can be a good starting point for many people. The article needs rewriting to make suggestions for consideration instead of laying down commandments. Many sleep problems are, in part at least, psychological, and the wording here will just create resistance for some. No sentence should begin with "Don't". No sentence should be directed at "you".

OK, I know I should do something about it instead of just complaining. But 'you' can do it, before I get back to it. 'Don't' hesitate! Hordaland 01:45, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

Removing a section
Also "sleeping more than 7 to 8 hours per day has been consistently associated with increased mortality" as well as has short sleep duration. Again, in general, causal links are, as yet, speculative; the available data may only reflect comorbid depression, socioeconomic status, or even alcohol use.

The above is interesting stuff which belongs on Wikipedia somewhere. I can't see that it has anything to do with or in this article. --Hordaland (talk) 17:04, 18 January 2008 (UTC)   Moved it to Sleep --David from Downunder (talk) 07:57, 17 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Agreed, not really pertinent to sleep hygiene discussions as much as it would be good for a Basal Sleep Need article which is mentioned in the general sleep article but could use some expansion or even a side article on its own... I should get to that at some point :). Cronides2 (talk) 14:59, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

Not a how-to
I think the material that's been repeatedly removed because it was listed in a how-to format, would be appropriate if properly sourced and presented in a more encyclopedic manner. --Ronz (talk) 00:01, 27 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ✅ Done. (IMO :-))  - Hordaland (talk) 09:32, 27 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks. The sourcing might be a bit tricky.  Someone already removed the source you provided.  I notice that that article lists their source as The International Classification of Sleep Disorders, Second Edition.  The American Academy of Sleep Medicine Press, 2005.  Can someone verify that the information is from it? --Ronz (talk) 16:58, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks for bringing this up. The ICSD-R is online & available for free.  I just looked for that quote there, thinking that might be the easy way.  Didn't find it.  I've also sent an e-mail to the SleepInfo site (the ref which was removed) asking for a direct quote from the ICSD2.  We'll see if they comply, in which case it shouldn't be too difficult to get it verified by some editor here. - Hordaland (talk) 20:15, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * You could also place a request at the reliable sources noticeboard to see if an editor has access can check the info. Flowanda | Talk 20:55, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Expert and Expand banners
Removed the "Expert" and "Expand" requests after adding an expansion of the material to include a typical list of sleep hygiene recommendations along with rationale for them and links both internal and external. I myself am a sleep researcher and registered in Sleep Technology (RPSGT) along with a couple other Neurodiagnostic disciplines (REEGT, CNIM). Cronides2 (talk) 14:59, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

WP:MEDRS
The topic of sleep hygiene falls under the WP:MEDRS guidelines. When we can address the how-to concerns as discussed above, we also need to use the type of sources and approaches outlined in WP:MEDRS. --Ronz (talk) 16:25, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Description much?
I find that after reading the article I still have no idea what 'sleep hygiene' is. Reading the discussion I think I have an inkling but ... the article seems only to talk 'around' sleep hygiene, without actually describing it. No? ~83.248.33.160, 16:04, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

I agree. I learned nothing from the article, was confused by the two paragraphs that are there, and had to click outside links to know what constitutes "sleep hygiene". Seriously, by the end of this article I was still wondering if it might mean "wash your sheets and take a shower before bed". lunaverse (talk) 01:53, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

When sleep hygiene does not help
We should also take into account the fact that sleep hygiene does not help in some circumstances. Right now, the article ends on a condescending note saying that patients just don't know how to practice sleep hygiene. Speaking as someone suffering from Non-24 (for which no amount of sleep hygiene will help), I've had numerous arrogant doctors and nurses tell me I was just not practicing sleep hygiene right, as if I hadn't already tried everything. There are other people with neurologically-based, inborn sleep disorders who have reported the same--if sleep hygiene helped them, they'd hardly still be suffering and struggling to maintain jobs. If we can find the right sources, those are definitely worth including, just to help people take certain types of sleep disorders seriously. Sure, sleep hygiene does help some people and even helps those with circadian rhythm disorders to some extent, but it's not necessarily the miracle cure many normally sleeping healthcare professionals seem to think. --Snowgrouse (talk) 17:09, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

Major revision
I am planning to do a major revision on this article. Sleep hygiene is an important topic for many people. It will be fun to make this article more complete. Please let me know if you have any feedback and suggestions. Psychology CU (talk) 16:42, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Glad to have someone with your expertise aboard! --Ronz (talk) 18:58, 19 February 2013 (UTC)