It鈥檚 undeniable that more sleep is a good thing. Getting your Z鈥檚 each night can improve your mood, lower stress levels and the risk of disease, and recharge your batteries so you can get after it the following day. But, as the father of a 15-month-old, I rarely get enough of it. So I鈥檝e been researching the science behind, and testing the efficacy of, the best sleep gear to help me get a good night鈥檚 rest. I had mixed results.
The Test
To help me decide what to test, I pored over sleep-gear reviews online and polled coworkers and athletes to see what has worked for them. Then I replaced my old sleep getup (generic cotton sheets, an inexpensive synthetic comforter, and three-year-old Costco pillows) with various new products and spent two weeks sleeping. I tested everything on a Posturepedic king-size mattress that my wife and I received聽as a housewarming gift five years ago. We slept three nights with each of these products聽save the pillow, which arrived so聽late we only got one night on it. I tested each product one at a time, keeping everything else the same on our bed, so I could accurately gauge whether they individually helped me snooze. I took notes each morning about how I felt. I also wore my Suunto 9聽watch to track my sleep time and heart rate for one night with each product, as well as while sleeping on my usual system.
My baseline sleep time came out to seven聽hours and聽33 minutes, and my heart rate was 50 beats per minute. Each night,聽I turned off my computer at 7:30 and did some reading before lights out at nine. I also kept coffee intake to one eight-ounce cup in the morning and didn鈥檛 drink alcohol on testing nights.
The Results
Bedgear Dri-Tec Performance Sheet Set ($95) and Ver-Tex Climacore Blanket ($300)
Sleep time: 9 hours聽53 minutes
Heart rate: 51 beats per minute
Without exaggeration, the first night we used these sheets and blanket was the best sleep I鈥檝e had since my daughter was born. And it wasn鈥檛 a mere fluke. Both my wife and I slept considerably better all three nights. After I swapped the Bedgear out for our old sheets, my wife asked, 鈥淲hen do we put those fancy sheets back on?鈥 The Dri-Tec sheets were a supple, lightweight, stretchy synthetic that felt like silk next to the skin. The sheets聽felt cool to the touch while still insulating me, which isn鈥檛 exactly revolutionary聽technology鈥攁ny premium silk-weight synthetic layer would. The blanket has about two inches of loft in the form of an extremely breathable batting聽called Vertex, which has a high CFM (cubic feet per minute, the same scale many technical outerwear brands use to rate breathability). Just like a ski jacket, this system managed to regulate temperatures in such a way that it kept us both warm without overheating. This is particularly impressive considering my wife sleeps pretty cool while I run hot as a furnace. The whole system didn鈥檛 bind up when I rolled around聽either, and I tend to toss and turn.
Slumber Cloud Nacreous Mattress Pad ($149)
Sleep time: 8 hours聽55 minutes
Heart rate: 50 beats per minute
was鈥攑ardon the pun鈥攖he sleeper hit of this test. I was surprised at how much it cooled me down and therefore helped me sleep. Slumber Cloud uses a patented technology called Outlast, which it claims absorbs excess heat, pulling it away from your body with thousands of tiny beads. My skeptical Spidey sense tingles whenever I hear of so-called space-age tech, but the Nacreous was amazing. We keep our house a full seven degrees hotter during the winter months, which often leads to me waking up uncomfortably hot and sweaty amid the inexpensive cotton and synthetic bedding. Even with the聽jacked-up聽thermostat, the Nacreous helped me stay cool enough to clock nearly nine hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Nest Bedding Easy Breather Pillow ($149)
Sleep time: 7 hours聽34 minutes
Heart rate: 54 beats per minute
This might not sound like much of an endorsement coming from someone who just admitted to sleeping on Costco pillows, but the is the most supportive聽of any I鈥檝e slept on. It felt amazing on my neck, thanks to the cooling but sturdy half-inch-thick聽Tencel fabric surrounding eight inches of memory foam. It kept my head at just the right angle all night without feeling hard or uncomfortably firm. Despite my聽seemingly unimpressive seven and a half hours of sleep time and a relatively high heart rate, I was able to fall back asleep quickly each time my daughter woke me up, and I felt rested in the morning.
Now Ultrasonic Real Bamboo Essential Oil Diffuser ($39)
Sleep time: 7 hours聽45 minutes
Heart rate: 51 beats per minute
Over the years, I鈥檝e waffled between thinking that essential-oil diffusers are pure snake oil to feeling that they have聽to help in some way (right?). After a few nights of pretty average sleep with , I鈥檓 still not totally convinced that the lavender being diffused into my bedroom relaxed me enough to aid my sleep. But it鈥檚 less than聽$50, and it did make everything smell lovely without being overwhelming.
Baloo Weighted Blanket ($189)
Sleep time: 6 hours聽32 minutes
Heart rate: 50 beats per minute
This cool-to-the-touch presented me with a testing conundrum. My wife had her best night鈥檚 sleep in years with it. One morning she came stumbling out of our room at 8 A.M. (it鈥檚 rare for her to sleep past 6:30), saying,聽鈥淚 feel like I was drugged. That thing really works.鈥 I personally found it claustrophobic and either threw it off in my sleep or woke up with anxiety all three nights at about 1:30 A.M.聽We both found that it inhibits tossing and turning. My wife loved the fact that she woke up in exactly the same position many hours later, while I felt like someone was holding me down. The Baloo is loaded with beads for weight and big enough for only one user at a time.聽I apparently wouldn鈥檛 like any weighted blanket, but the Baloo is well crafted with its beautiful baffling and comfortable cotton exterior.
The Upshot
Overall, my heart rate didn鈥檛 fluctuate much with any of the sleep gear, but I did log more sleep and feel more rested, except when using the Baloo. So what鈥檚 the takeaway? Each item here is worth a try to see if it improves your shut-eye.