The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Safer Sleep Space
You all may or may not be familiar with my journey to a low-tox lifestyle (I like using the term low-tox because I think it’s literally impossible to be completely non-toxic). My journey started with food, then exercise, then safer personal care products, and slowly I’m tackling the products I use and buy for my home - mostly because these tend to be the biggest, investment wise! In the last few years, I’ve sacrificed a lot of time, energy, and most of all SLEEP in my quest to build a business that sustains my family. As I learn more and more about how to find a more sustainable pace to my life that doesn’t sacrifice my health, I’ve also learned that SLEEP is truly one of, if not THE biggest things I can do for my health. Protecting your sleep health is the ULTIMATE SLEEP HACK, at least for me. You may or may not be in a place where you have total control of the amount of sleep you get (shift work, newborn stage, etc.) but I still think creating an environment that at least supports good sleep when you can get it can play a HUGE role in our overall health and wellness.
This year, as a family, we dedicated ourselves to the pursuit of good, quality sleep in a low-tox environment. But the big question was, how on earth could we afford it?!! Below is the list of thing that we truly own and use that have helped create a safer sleep environment for us. Lots of research and comparison has gone into finding cost effective safer alternatives to things like mattresses, pillows, sheets, etc. I also want you to know that for big items like mattresses, rugs, etc., we have what we call a SINK FUND. It’s a fund that we budget a small amount monthly for so we can save over time for bigger purchases, and we also scour sales like nobody’s business! We spend a lot of time sleeping don’t we? I knew this was an important switch for us and I’m so happy we finally made it! I hope you enjoy this list of our favorite safer bedroom products!
Bedroom Product Must- Haves
Mattresses
I did a lot of research and tried to balance budget with reviews. I would say the most recommended mattress was the Avocado, but we ended up going with the Ecoterra! It had RAVE reviews, and we were able to get a King Sized bed for just over $1000 which was unheard of in my search! So far, we have loved it, and just like most other mattress brands, it ships to you, unfolds, and you get a 90 day trial to test it out!
Ecoterra (get a $25 Amazon card with this link!)
Avocado (highly recommended but just fell outside of our budget)
**Update: We have had this mattress for almost a year now, and guess what, we still smile and sigh every time we lay down in our bed and don’t have to touch each other all night long lol
Pillows
Avocado - we searched high and low for pillows, and although these were a bit pricier than what we had budgeted for, I LOVE that we can take out stuffing or add stuffing for our individual pillow needs. THEY ARE SO COMFORTABLE - and we love them so much!
Sheets
Lots and lots of searching for this diamond in the rough! SO MANY sheets options, and you have to really be careful when you’re purchasing because some companies will claim things like organic etc. and it’s not true! (had that happen with our first order of sheets).
These are the real deal. Organic, sustainable, GOTS and Oeko-Tex certified cotton sheets. The best part is, they’re also super affordable and can be found on Amazon.
Comforter
This is one of the only things we haven’t upgraded yet! We currently have a bedspread from IKEA, which actually isn’t the worst in terms of safety and sustainability (they are moving towards more sustainable textile practices) but it isn’t the best! This will be an item we will most likely create a sink fund for this and start saving for a quilt from:
Curtains
One amazingly fast way to upgrade your sleep space and to ensure that you are getting quality sleep is to invest in blackout curtains. We need as dark a room as possible to eliminate sleep disruption at night from light. While wispy, beautiful, light curtains look amazing, they just aren’t functional for *our *rooms!
White Noise
Another sleep hack is white noise. White noise is popular for use in baby’s rooms, but believe it or not it can make a world of difference in adult sleep too! White noise exists on a frequency that helps to drown out other noises that may disrupt sleep. We travel with ours!
I love this particular machine because its durable, long-lasting, affordable and uses mechanical white noise versus electronic white noise which has been shown to make a difference!
Interior Paint
Additional unknown load on our sleep space can be the potential off-gassing toxins from the paint we use to color our space! There are lots of VERY expensive options out there, but:
we’ve loved this paint for a reasonably priced, low-tox option.
Bed Frame
Our style has absolutely evolved as we’ve aged, and I would consider ourselves pretty minimalistic in the decor department.
We traded in our fluffy headboard for a low, natural pine, all wood slatted platform bed, and we love it!
Tips for Creating Your Sleep Cave
Create a Phone-Free Space
if you can, purchase a simple battery powered alarm clock for your bedside table versus using your phone for an alarm each day. Studies have shown that EMF at night can disrupt sleep, so eliminating EMF through wifi/bluetooth devices can be a good swap to make! We certainly aren’t perfect, but have tried to eliminate as many of these devices in the bedroom as possible!
WIFI off at night
If you find yourself having particularly disruptive sleep, you can always manually turn off your router OR have your wifi turn off via a timer!
Eliminate Blue Light Before Bed
These are my all time favorite blue light blockers! Reducing blue light exposure from electronics/artificial light after sundown can be HUGELY helpful for allowing your body to adapt to proper circadian rhythms. I use blue light blockers in the evening no matter what I’m doing! (get $20 off your first order of $75+!)
Set an Electronic Curfew
This is something we are not consistent at, but if you can, eliminating the use of electronics as much as possible approaching bedtime can be hugely beneficial! Not only from the blue light element but from the added stresses that can come from consuming social media.
Try Mouth Taping
After reading the incredibly enlightening book Breath, both Tim and I decided to try mouth taping at night to improve not just our sleep but our overall health. We’ve been doing it for 6 months now and haven’t looked back! Even if you don’t struggle with snoring or apnea, you will notice a difference not mouth breathing at night!
Use a Sleep Mask
I’m absolutely a late adapter to sleeping with an eye mask. Tim again, is usually the one who tries something first, and then eventually I jump on board - I’ve been sleeping with an eye mask to keep out any ambient light at night and it has made a WORLD of difference in my sleep quality! I’ll never go back!
My Top Sleep Supplements
A Consistent High Quality CBD Routine
This particular supplement has been helping me TREMENDOUSLY. I’ve finally nailed down a routine that works for me, and feeling really good about it. I love this CBD company because of their transparency and testing, and dedication to providing support to women through CBD. (use code REFJESSG for $20 off your first order!)
Magnesium Supplementation
We recently added this nightcap bevvie to our routine, and upped our magnesium intake and it has also been a game changer! It’s definitely been a go-to for us, and I hope it helps you too! If you get stomach upset from certain forms of magnesium, you might try finding a supplement that has magnesium glycinate in it, which I’ve heard to be less stressful on the digestive tract. I like THIS one that has zinc, magnesium, and B6 in it.
Stay tuned as I plan to share more on my journey to hacking sleep with a few new things I’m implementing and using for tracking! I love data and I love getting curious about what helps me get my best sleep - so I’ll be sharing a lot more on this topic soon!