Growing up whenever we couldn’t fall asleep we were always told to count sheep and sleep would come.
And time and time again we have tried out this trick, imagining cute, fluffy sheep jumping over our heads trying to coax ourselves into dreamland.
But with no success we have always ended up resorting to Google asking why we keep waking up in the night and searching for any sleeping hacks we could find.
Well recent research suggests the reason it may not have always been an effective method is because, rather than counting the woolly sheep, we should have been wearing the wool instead.
Scientists in Australia have discovered wearing wool pyjamas to bed could help you to fall asleep faster and have a more restful night once you do manage to drift off.
The study suggests this is because when you’re wearing wool the body is kept in the thermal comfort zone that is most conducive to a restful sleep.
Australian scientists ran two different studies to come to their conclusion.
The first looked at a sample of 17 students in their 20s who wore either wool or cotton pyjamas to sleep.
Those who were wearing woollen pyjamas fell asleep after 11 minutes, compared with those who wore cotton who took an extra four minutes, drifting off after 15 minutes.
The results proved an even bigger gap in the second study in which 36 older adults between the ages of 65 and 70 were tested wearing wool, polyester or cotton pyjamas.
Those wearing wool fell asleep after 12 minutes, while those wearing polyester took 22 minutes to fall asleep and those in cotton took 27 minutes.
Participants were put to bed in night-time temperatures of 17C, about the average temperature of a bedroom here in the UK.
So if you’re having sleep problems switch over to woollen PJs.
And incorporate them into the kids’ bedtime routine too, so you can get them to go to sleep and actually stay asleep!
Might even give you a chance for a quiet, peaceful glass of wine!
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