People certainly love the colorful leaves, pumpkin spice lattes, and perfect camping weather of fall. It’s the seasonal colds and stuffy noses that make life miserable. When you have a cold, you need rest to recuperate. Yet every time you lie down, your nose clogs up or you cough constantly, which prevents you from reaching a single stage in the sleep cycle. If this sounds like you, then check out these sleep tips for when you have a cold.

 

Treat Your Throat Right

Start by prepping your throat for sleep. Livestrong recommends you gargle with warm salt water and drink warm tea with lemon and honey before bedtime. You can also add peppermint and ginger to your tea for added immunity boosters to help you fight the cold.

Avoid having a hot toddy if you are already taking cold medication. The combination of alcohol and OTC medicine can prove dangerous. Plus, when you fall asleep after consuming alcohol you are unable to achieve a deep state of sleep.

Sipping on broth or eating chicken or miso soup is also beneficial for helping your throat find relief. Even better, these foods also offer substantial nutrition to give your immune system some support. By having a bowl of warm soup before bedtime, you’re filling your belly so you can sleep more soundly for a longer period.

Open Up Those Airways

Essential oils are excellent for opening your airways. Apply a few drops of eucalyptus and peppermint oils to a cloth that you can hold over your nose to open breathing passages. You can also use vaporizers or mentholated creams rubbed on your chest to help you breathe more easily while sleeping. Best yet, these products will not counteract with cold medication and are safe for all ages.

You can also use a humidifier to release steam filled with essential oils into the air. Even if you don’t want to use essential oils, having a humidifier next to your bed can help fight dry air that can cause your throat and nose to be sore while sick.

Take Some Medicine

If you are in the midst of a serious cold, you may have little choice but to take some cold medicine in order to fall asleep. There are all kinds of cold medications sold over the counter. Send someone you trust to the store to find something that combats your symptoms.

To make the process easier, jot down a list of your symptoms that your helper can carry along. They can also use this information to ask a pharmacist at any supermarket or big box store for the right type of OTC medicine for your cold symptoms.

Sleep by Yourself

has an interesting tip to help you sleep better when you are sick with a cold: Send your partner to the guest room so you can sleep alone. This will actually benefit both of you.

For starters, you will be able to keep your cold germs cordoned to one room of the house. Your partner will be less likely to catch your cold, causing even more lost sleep in the household.

Secondly, by sleeping alone you aren’t going to be disturbed by someone moving, snoring, or getting up early in the morning. You can sleep more restfully, once you’ve used the other tips we have listed here.

Sleeping With a Cold

The amount of time it takes for a cold to run its course varies. However, according to Healthline a common cold will last for about 10 days. You can anticipate suffering the greatest on the fourth to sixth day of your illness. Keep this in mind as you apply these helpful tips for sleeping when you have a cold.