Long summer days can make for restless nights—especially for kids and sensitive sleepers. When my son was younger, this was a recurring challenge in our house: he just couldn’t wind down, no matter how tired he was. Over the years, we found a rhythm that worked for our family, using principles from Traditional Chinese Medicine and a few simple tools to help us all stay cool and grounded at night.
In this post, I’m sharing 7 holistic solutions that have helped us the most—including dietary tips, self-massage techniques on the Heart channel, cooling essential oils, and more. Whether you’re a parent or just someone trying to sleep better in summer, I hope these ideas bring more peace and rest to your evenings too.
How To Sleep In Summer Heat: 7 Natural Sleep Remedies
1. Adjust Diet for Summer
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), we recognize that certain imbalances occur in different seasons. In the Summer, the ruling element of the season is Fire and the Heart is the organ & channel that becomes easily imbalanced, showing up as insomnia, restlessness, hysteria, mania, hot flashes, dry mouth, palpitations, etc.
The best way to get ahead of any imbalance is to eat in harmony with the season. Your family is probably craving more raw, cooling foods (especially juicy fruit) that are out at the Farmer’s Markets at this time. It’s great to indulge in watermelon, cantaloupe, berries, grapes, kiwi, cucumbers, fresh fruit popsicles, dandelion & other seasonal greens, and seafood. But we need to be careful to not overindulge in eating fruit, and balance out the sugar increase (and possible insulin surge) with plenty of fat and protein.
Most of us do best to reduce or avoid warming, stimulating foods at this time. Onions, garlic, peppers, coffee, ginger, fried foods, and chocolate can hamper a person’s ability to cool down and rest at night.
2. Hand & Arm Massage to Pacify Heart Channel
Massage is a great way to regulate the energy in the Heart Channel, which runs along the pinky finger side of the inner arm. I recommend massaging the palm of the hand and then in a gently stroking motion toward the armpit. This direction of massage “sedates” the energy, meaning that it’s calming down any “fire” that may affect the channel, the body, the mind, or spirit.
If you’re doing this on your child and they become ticklish as you move up toward the armpit, then just give them a hand massage and stretch the arm instead. We don’t want them to get too excited!
When working with yourself, just lay down with the arms stretched out from your chest. This can also vent any heat and excess energy in your upper body.
3. Acupressure to Calm the Mind & Spirit
We covered many acupressure points that help induce a sleepy mood in my Stress-Relieving Acupressure Guide. These acupoints are for general relaxation – they help “calm the spirit” as we say in TCM.
If you don’t have it already, you can get your FREE guide here:
You may also want to press along points on the Heart channel, especially Heart 7, which lies on the medial aspect of the inner wrist. It’s said to calm the Shen (mind & spirit), pacify the Heart and clear the channels .
Of course you can also work with a TCM practitioner to address a Heart Qi (energy) imbalance with acupuncture and herbs as well. Email me at brandy@falconhealingarts.com if you’d like my personal support. I offer in-person Acupuncture & Holistic Healing (Belmont, CA) and online sessions which can help immensely!
4. Cooling Essential Oils For Sleep
When it’s too hot to settle in bed at night, many parents I know like to use peppermint essential oil to cool down. Because heat rises and we see this with energy in TCM too, I like to use mint on the forehead, scalp, neck, chest, and shoulders to cool the upper body and move heat down and out.
You can apply diluted peppermint oil directly to the bottle from a roller bottler, combine it with water in a spray bottle, or try this cooling wipe recipe:
5. Warm Epsom Salt Baths or a Foot Soak
Magnesium is easily absorbed through the skin via epsom salt baths and has been shown to reduce cortisol levels, helping one shift to the parasympathetic nervous system where we rest and digest. Your kids may be taking many baths & showers if they’re also swimming in the Summer months. So if they are resisting a bath at nighttime, consider a simple Epsom salt foot soak instead.
Warming up the feet will also help to pull down hot energy from the upper body, creating a feeling of being grounded & centered, which helps when going to sleep. Lavender essential oil is a wonderful calming addition to the foot soak.
6. Yoga Nidra for Kids’ Sleep Struggles
Yoga Nidra is a relaxation method for the body and mind that helps one shift consciousness, resulting in a deep restful sleep. This is easy for adults to do. Some children may love this too, though it’s understandable that some may not be as interested (so lean more on the other recommendations).
Here is my recording of Yoga Nidra, geared toward adults. If it becomes part of your personal nighttime routine and you find value in it, it will be easier for you to introduce it to your child. You can adjust it by working with fewer body parts or just using touch, instead of speaking, to communicate awareness of your child’s body to them.
7. Journaling to Process Summer Excitement
Some kids have a hard time shifting to bedtime because they don’t want to stop playing or they can’t shut off their minds, especially as they get older (many adults reading this have this issue too!) Even once in bed, they may have a hard time letting go of ruminating thoughts, like revisiting events of the day that caused uncomfortable emotions (like shame and embarrassment).
For whatever reason your child is struggling to sleep in the summer, writing thoughts in a private journal or drawing a quick picture can really help. I’ve been suggesting this to my son a lot lately and it really helps him when he’s afraid to lose a vision of something he started doing right before bed.
Of course, you may want to try a longer bedtime period, relaxing in the bedroom with the curtains tightly shut, lighting low (but enough to read mellow bedtime stories), wearing red sleep glasses, in addition to all the suggestions above. When my husband and I are diligent about these points, then bedtime is usually quite enjoyable!
Check out “5 Ways You’ll Benefit From Journaling” if you’d like more information on this important personal development practice.
Do you toss & turn and have worse insomnia in summer months? Are your kids having difficulty settling down at night? Please let us know in the comments if you try these solutions, and which you find most helpful!
