Dealing with the menopause transition is hard enough when you’re busy mom and hot flashes can (and do!) come out of nowhere, but when you add in mounting sleep deprivation thanks to those same hot flashes keeping you awake all night (every night), it only makes daily life even more difficult the longer it goes on.
You might be the Queen of Multitasking, but you need proper rest to manage everything you need to tackle. One of the first lines of sleep defense involves finding ways to make your bed cooler at night to keep those hot flashes and night sweats at bay as much as possible so you can actually sleep.
It isn’t easy, that’s for sure, and it took me quite a while (and some trial and error) to get my own sleeping situation figured out. But once I did… the difference it made was eye-opening.
(Or eye-closing, rather… we are talking about sleep, after all.)
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Keeping needs and budget in mind, I’ll walk you through several different options for creating a cooling bed that helps to stop hot flashes in their tracks so you can finally sleep better at night.
Table of Contents
- Guide to making your bed cooler
- Eight Sleep (climate control)
- Birch Luxe (cooling mattress)
- FlexiKold (compresses and pillow inserts)
- Breathable bedding (sheets, comforters, quilts)
- Conclusions on making your bed cooler
Table of Contents
A Quick Guide to Keeping your Bed Cooler at Night
As moms, we’re all busy in our day-to-day lives and if you’re just here looking for quick advice as far as simple steps to take, I’ll share some tips for making your bed cooler at night.
- Upgrade your sheets and overall bedding to natural materials like cotton percale, linen, lyocell, tencel, silk, or bamboo. These are not only more breathable (especially compared to synthetic blends), which improves air flow so body heat can move away from your skin, but they’re also moisture-wicking so if you’re experiencing night sweats alongside hot flashes, they’ll help to keep you from waking a puddle of your own sweat during the night.
- Ideally, your mattress should be crafted from natural materials like latex, wool, or cotton, as these are more breathable but they absorb less body heat while you’re laying in them. The improved air flow allows your body heat to escape more easily, so it’s not lingering against your skin as you’re sleeping.
- Traditional memory foam mattresses might be really comfortable, but they’re also notorious for trapping (and retaining) body heat. Hybrid mattresses that incorporate some of the natural materials mentioned above along with a coil system will allow a lot more air to move through the mattress, keeping it (and you!) cooler at night.
- Cooling mattress toppers crafted from natural materials (cotton, wool, lyocell) are another option to consider, and these are simply added to the top of your existing mattress. That said, they often change the way your mattress feels so when selecting one, make sure to choose a product that provides the softness or firmness you’re accustomed to, unless you want that to change.
- Bed climate control systems that physically alter the surface temperature of your mattress are a brilliant (but often expensive) option to consider, but in my experience, they are hands-down the most effective way to make your bed cooler at night.
- If you find your head and neck area suffer the most as far as temperature, you might find some relief by slipping a flat but flexible ice or cold pack inside your pillowcase. It won’t last for the entire eight hours, of course, but if you find it especially difficult to fall asleep, it can make the biggest difference in the first hour or two after you lay down, when you need it most.
Cooling your bed isn’t exactly rocket science, but it does take a little forethought and I’ll share my best recommendations for creating a bed environment that stays as cool as possible based on your budget and needs.
Eight Sleep System
As far as I’m concerned, this is the absolute best option for a cooling bed when you’re experiencing hot flashes and night sweats. The Eight Sleep is a literal climate control system for your bed, adjusting the temperature across the entire surface of your existing mattress.
This is especially perfect when you already love the way your existing mattress feels, as far as its firmness or softness, because the Eight Sleep mattress cover doesn’t change that at all.
Why I recommend this so highly:
- The Eight Sleep offers dual zone control automatically so you and your partner can set the temperature for each side of the bed separately.
- Through the Autopilot subscription (accessed through the Eight Sleep app), the mattress cover tailors and self-adjusts the surface temperature throughout the night based on your body’s biometric data and the ambient room temperature. This means that when your body temperature rises at the start of a hot flash, the sensors in the cover are aware of it and the surface temperature then lowers to counteract the body heat.
- New in 2025, the Eight Sleep app offers Hot Flash Mode which, when turned on, lets you access quick cooling for 5 to 30 minutes (based on your settings) simply by hitting the button on the side of the mattress (or in the app, if you prefer). After the time elapses, the surface returns to the temperature it was before Hot Flash Mode was activated.
To be fair, the Eight Sleep system is an investment, since it isn’t exactly cheap. As of this writing, models available are the Pod 4 (starting at $2,449), the Pod 5 Core (starting at $2,849), and the Pod 5 Ultra (which starts at $5,049 but also includes an adjustable bed base as part of the package).
I have a Pod 4 on my bed and to be honest, it’s changed everything about the way I sleep at night. I’m not waking up from hot flashes or night sweats like I was before, and it’s been a lot easier to fall asleep because I can be comfortable under my bedding, while never getting so warm that a hot flash starts.
I can feel the coolness of the mattress beneath my body at all times and it’s a little strange, at first, laying on a surface that never retains your body heat. But after using it, I don’t think I can ever go back to sleeping without it.
Birch Luxe Natural Mattress + CoolForce Layer
Made from natural materials (organic latex, natural wool, organic cotton), the Birch Luxe Natural Mattress offers an optional CoolForce Layer that I highly recommend getting if you’re dealing with hot flashes and also need a new mattress.
The Birch Luxe is a medium-feel hybrid mattress that uses layers of cushioning for comfort and motion isolation, along with steel coils for optimal body support that supports air flow. The topmost layer of this mattress is crafted from breathable organic cotton, followed by a layer of natural New Zealand wool for contouring, and a layer of organic latex (GOLS certified) for pressure relief.
The optional CoolForce layer uses graphite strips that are embedded into the surface to conduct more heat away from your body, and it’s placed just beneath the cotton Euro top. The CoolForce natural cooling technology works for more than 12 hours without the use of electricity, releasing up to 23% more body heat compared to a Birch Luxe mattress without it.
The mattress construction also incorporates fire protection that’s free from fiberglass, and it also produces low volatile organic compounds (VOCs) so there’s no off-gassing.
The Birch Luxe checks off all of the boxes as far as comfort, materials, safety, and sustainability, so if you’re looking to replace your current mattress and you’re trying to build the coolest bed possible, this is a great one to consider.
FlexiKold Compress
A relatively inexpensive way to enjoy a cold, refreshing pillow is by slipping a flat gel ice pack (or similar compress) inside the pillow case. My favorite is the FlexiKold from Natracure for a few reasons:
- It’s BIG but not very thick, and it’s available in multiple sizes: Medium (7.5” x 11.5”), Large (10.5” x 14.5”), X-Large (13” x 21.5”) or Neck (23”).
- One side is covered in soft material that’s a little less cold compared to the nylon side, so you have options as far as comfort and preferences. If your pillowcase is thin, you might have the fabric side of the compress facing upward; if the pillowcase material is thicker, you might prefer the more intense cold from the nylon side, instead.
- The compress is aptly-named because it’s extremely flexible, even when it’s fresh out of the freezer, so it blends in with your pillow’s texture pretty well and conforms to your head easily.
- If you need cooling in other areas (like your shoulders and back), you can use as many as you need to keep yourself comfortable since they aren’t very expensive. (As of this writing, the bundle with one Medium, Large, and X-Large compress is about $60.)
Unlike traditional ice packs, the FlexiKold doesn’t create a lot of wet condensation on the outside. And because it’s SO flexible, it contours to your body or head really easily, no matter how you’re laying, and it’s not very noticeable since it’s so thin.
These compresses are professional-grade and stay cold for a long while, which makes them a great (and pretty inexpensive) option if your hot flashes are making it really hard to fall asleep at night.
Breathable Bedding
I mentioned earlier that your sheets and bedding should ideally be made from natural materials like cotton percale, lyocell (often made from eucalyptus), tencel (made from wood pulp), linen, silk, or bamboo, as these are more breathable and won’t trap body heat as much as synthetic fabrics will.
Some of my favorite sheet sets include:
- Brooklinen Classic: These are 270 thread-count percale cotton sheets that have a very crisp and cool material texture, and are OEKO-TEX certified for chemical safety.
- Quince Bamboo: If you’re not a fan of crisp and borderline “crunchy” sheets, the bamboo sheets from Quince have a much softer, sateen texture that feels smooth against your skin while wicking away heat and moisture. Plus, bamboo is a sustainable crop that uses a lot less water compared to cotton.
- Buffy Breeze: Crafted from eucalyptus, these sheets are cool and crisp while also feeling buttery soft to the touch, so you get the best of both worlds. Plus, there are a LOT of colors, patterns, and prints to choose from, and an at-home trial (seven nights before your card is charged for the purchase, and you have 50 total nights to process a return should you need to).
- West Elm Silky Tencel: A bestseller from West Elm, their Silky Tencel sheets are derived from botanical fibers sourced from sustainable forests, and the material is soft yet cooling, thanks to a fabric that wicks away moisture and allows body heat to escape.
- Miracle Made: Infused with silver for better thermoregulation, silky-soft Miracle Sheets are self-cooling and naturally antimicrobial. The fabric minimizes bacteria build-up and growth, so you can wash them much less frequently compared to other sheets (which is better for the environment, not to mention your laundry-associated costs).
Beyond your sheet set, you’re also going to want to consider upgrading to a comforter or quilt that is breathable, if your current one isn’t. The same types of materials used in the sheets I mentioned above are also what you’re going to want to look for in a cooling comforter or blanket.
Some that I think are worth checking out include:
- Rest Evercool: The Evercool comforter from Rest is a pretty affordable option despite not having a lot of color variations to choose from. (But a cotton duvet can fix that easily enough.) The filling incorporates Tencel and the outer shell is crafted from Rest’s proprietary Evercool fabric that stays cool, wicks away moisture, and feels buttery-soft against your skin.
- Buffy Air: This cooling quilt is filled with a very lightweight material that stays fluffy and breathable so body heat can dissipate quickly and easily, keeping you cooler at night. It only comes in one basic color (white), but there are plenty of duvet covers to choose from.
- Slumber Cloud: The Performance Cooling Comforter from Slumber Cloud uses a temperature regulating patented fiberfill with a feel that’s similar to down, wicking away heat and moisture during the night. This is another one that only comes in plain white, but there’s a Tencel duvet cover available with additional color options.
Conclusions on Making your Bed Cooler when you’re Dealing with Hot Flashes
You don’t necessarily need to spend a fortune to make your bed cooler at night, although if you can afford it, I think the Eight Sleep system is more than worth it, especially given the fact that perimenopause can last for years.
But even if you’re working with a much tighter budget, and many of us are, there are changes you can make to your sleep environment (specifically relating to the materials in your mattress and bedding) that can have a big impact on your hot flashes and night sweats, and improve your general sleep.