Hayfever can be a nuisance during the day. But at night, as it makes it harder to get to sleep, it can be a nightmare.

In this post we’ll discuss how to sleep with hayfever, while discussing some other tips for allergies at night. Whether it’s you or your children that suffer from hayfever and allergies, the following measures can make a huge difference.

How To Sleep With Hayfever

Whether it’s you or your children that suffer from hayfever and allergies, the following measures can make a huge difference.

• Keep windows closed
• Keep pets out of your room
• Prepare a nightly routine
• Wash bedding regularly
• Get an air purifier

We’ll discuss each on more detail to help you find the best options for you and your children.

Close Your Windows

You might think that a bit of fresh air will help you keep cool and breathe easy. But pollen is carried on the wind, so that cooling night breeze could actually be triggering your hayfever!

An open window can also introduce other potential allergens into your room at night, including pollutants from traffic. This can make you feel even worse.

So no matter how hot it is outside, on high pollen days try and keep the window closed. If you need to keep cool, wear looser fitting clothes or use a lighter blanket. Our blog on what babies should wear to bed has lots of tips on how you can help babies and children keep cool at night.

Keep The Pets Out

It can be very comforting to sleep with a faithful fluffy friend on the bed. But when cats or dogs go outside, pollen can cling to their fur. So when you let a pet into your room at night, you might be letting some pollen in too.

Also, pet dander is yet another allergen that could make your condition worse. Head here to read our full guide to managing pet allergies.

Prepare Yourself With a Nightly Routine

Your nightly routine can help you manage hayfever and other allergies at night:

• Avoid dairy in the evening, as it can encourage your body to produce mucus, which can make your hayfever worse. Also, aged and preserved food, and food containing refined sugars, can stimulate histamine production, which can make it much harder to fight allergies.
• Drink plenty of water in the hours before bed, and eat food rich in vitamin E and C. This can strengthen your immune system, and help your body prepare for a night-time battle with your allergies.
• Take care with the antihistamines. Adults can only take two a day, and children should only take a smaller dose. So save your antihistamine for when you really need it – at night. As an added bonus, many antihistamines can make you feel drowsy, which could make it easier for you to drop off.
• Take a shower before bed, to get rid of any pollen that’s clinging to your skin and hair.
• Put some Vaseline around your nose just before bed. This can help capture any pollen in the air before you breathe it in.

Prepare Your Bed

Wash your bedding as often as possible – at least once a week. This will help get rid of any lingering pollen, as well as certain other allergens, including dust mites and pet dander. If your hayfever’s really bad, avoid drying your sheets outside, as this might expose them to pollen.

You should also aim to clean the rest of your bedroom as often as possible. Regular vacuuming and dusting will help you to keep on top of many common allergens.

You could also cover your bed during the day with a fitted sheet. That way, if any pollen does make it into your room, it will stick to this sheet, rather than your bedding.

Finally, consider buying an anti-allergen mattress or pillow. These can work to actively repel dust and pollen, helping you to breathe easier at night.

Purify the Air!

So if you keep your room, your bed, and yourself clean – and if you keep the pets out and prevent any outside air from getting in – then you can prevent pollen and other allergens from entering your room. And this can help you to sleep with hayfever.

But many hayfever sufferers find that, despite their best efforts, they still struggle to sleep on days with high pollen counts.

So why not just take all the pollen out of the air, and trap it so that it can’t irritate you anymore?

Our Home Air Purifier can remove up to 99% of particles from the air including dust, mould, pet dander, and pollen. They can achieve 4.8 air changes per hour in rooms of up to 17m². They’ll ensure you’re breathing cleaner, purer air, which can help you conquer your allergies and enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep, even on days with high pollen counts.

Head here to learn more about how our home air purifiers can make it easier to sleep with hayfever.