Over 50 and waking up 2 or 3 times a night? 6 reasons people over 50 are sleeping through the night again with a hot cocoa
At 3:30, the second time Ron was up that night, his wife Linda sat up, picked up her pillow and walked down the hall to the guest room. "I love you. I have to be at work at 7."
Ron is 61, a parts manager at a dealership in Omaha. For 3 years he fell asleep at 10:15 and woke at 1:50 and again at 3:30. His doctor called it normal at 61. Melatonin and a nightcap changed nothing.
Here are the six things that changed it, starting with the night his wife Linda took her pillow to the guest room. The one that worked is a hot cocoa, one scoop, 30 minutes before bed.
1. The night his wife took her pillow to the guest room
Ron and his wife Linda, who is 51, went to bed at 10:15. Linda was asleep before her head hit the pillow. Ron's best sleep was the first 3 hours.
Then he was up at 1:50 and again at 3:30, listening to the furnace kick on. Every time he got up, the mattress shifted and Linda woke too.
One Wednesday at 3:30 she sat up, picked up her pillow and said, "I love you. I have to be at work at 7." She slept in the guest room on work nights for 4 months.
Sleep through the night again2. His doctor said it's normal at 61. Melatonin and a nightcap didn't keep him asleep.
At his physical, Ron's doctor said 2 or 3 wake-ups a night is normal at 61. So Ron tried to sleep like Linda. He copied her pillow and stopped coffee at noon.
He still woke at 1:50 and got up to pee. Melatonin gummies got him to sleep at 10:15, which he could already do. A glass of bourbon at 9 had him up at 1:30.
He was copying a woman 10 years younger, and none of it kept him asleep past 2.
Stop waking up at 2am3. His daughter, a nurse practitioner, told him why he kept waking at 1:50 and 3:30
At Sunday dinner Linda told everyone about the guest room. Ron's daughter Megan is a nurse practitioner at a clinic where every patient is over 65. "Dad, your doctor's right that it's common.
Deep sleep thins with every decade, and most of yours comes in the first 3 hours. After that it's mostly light sleep until morning, and light sleep is easy to wake up from.
Tight muscles wake you out of it, and so do racing thoughts. Then between 2 and 4 your stress hormones start climbing, right when sleep is at its lightest."
Fall back asleep and stay asleep4. One hot cocoa for tight muscles, racing thoughts and the stress hormones that climb before dawn
Megan drinks Mellow most nights and had a pouch in her car. It's a hot cocoa with no melatonin: one scoop in hot water or milk, 30 minutes before bed.
For falling asleep, magnesium glycinate relaxes tight muscles and L-theanine quiets the racing thoughts without knocking you out.
For staying asleep, ashwagandha lowers cortisol, the stress hormone that climbs before dawn: in its own 60-day trial it dropped 28% against 8% on placebo. Valerian, jujube seed and reishi have been taken for sleep for centuries.
Get the cocoa Megan drinks5. Night 1 he still woke at 1:50. Week 3 Linda moved back in.
Night 1: Ron still woke at 1:50, but he stayed in bed and was back asleep before 2. Night 5: he slept until 4:10 and got up once. Week 2: up once a night, back asleep in minutes.
Week 3: Linda brought her pillow back on a Tuesday to see. Friday morning she poured his coffee and said, "You didn't get up once.
I'd have heard you." Week 5: 10:15 to 6:05 without waking, his first full night in 3 years.
Sleep through to morning6. Linda's pillow is back. The guest room bed hasn't been slept in since week 3.
In week 3 Linda made up the guest room bed and moved her work alarm back to her own nightstand. Ron still gets up some nights, and he's back asleep before she notices.
He falls asleep at 10:15 and wakes up at 6 without an alarm. One pouch is 30 cups. Your first box comes with a free sleep mask and frother, and shipping is free.
If you aren't sleeping better within 60 nights, email us and we refund every dollar, and you keep the pouch.
Try Mellow risk-freeYou found our secret discount!
Scratch the card for 15% off your first order.
Applied automatically at checkout. First order only, once per customer. 60-night money-back guarantee.