5 Expert-Backed Sleep Tips for Perimenopause from Ozlo’s Medical Advisor Dr. Meredith Broderick
Perimenopause, the transition before menopause, can bring a lot of changes, and for many women, sleep is one of the first things affected. Hormonal shifts, hot flashes, mood changes, and even common sleep disorders can make restful nights feel elusive. In fact, research shows that sleep disturbances increase significantly during perimenopause and are linked to symptoms like night sweats, insomnia, and breathing disruptions during sleep.
To help you navigate this phase with better rest and more energy, Dr. Meredith Broderick, Triple Board Certified Sleep Neurologist and member of Ozlo’s Medical Advisory Board, shares her top five evidence-based sleep tips specifically for women in perimenopause.
You might think your morning latte doesn’t affect your sleep, but caffeine can stay in your system for many hours. Medical sources note that caffeine consumed up to 6+ hours before bedtime can reduce total sleep time and make falling asleep harder.
Dr. Broderick recommends limiting caffeine to the early part of the day, especially if you’ve noticed that nights feel restless or you wake up repeatedly. Even a cup at 11 a.m. could still affect your sleep at night, particularly during perimenopause when sleep architecture, the way our brain cycles through sleep stages, is more sensitive.
As women enter perimenopause, they are at an increased risk for sleep-disordered breathing, including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). While it is often associated with loud snoring in men, in women it can appear more subtly, with symptoms like daytime fatigue, irritability, or frequent nighttime awakenings. This means many women go undiagnosed for years.
If you consistently feel tired during the day despite getting enough sleep, or have trouble staying asleep, or feeling unrefreshed in the morning, it is worth discussing sleep apnea testing with your healthcare provider. Early diagnosis can improve both sleep quality and overall health.
It might sound counterintuitive, but spending excessive hours lying in bed can actually reduce sleep quality. Going to bed too early or staying in bed while awake decreases our sleep drive and it weakens the brain’s association between bed and sleep. This can make the mind more alert when it should be winding down.
Dr. Broderick suggests establishing a consistent sleep schedule, with a bedtime and wake-up time you stick to most days, and only going to bed when truly sleepy. Regular rhythms help your body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm, stay in sync. Consistency in daily sleep habits has been shown to improve sleep efficiency and quality.
Many perimenopause symptoms, from night sweats to mood changes, stem from hormonal fluctuations such as estrogen and progesterone. These shifts can disrupt your body’s natural sleep processes and increase nighttime awakenings.
Dr. Broderick encourages women to have open conversations with menopause specialists about symptom management. Options like menopause hormone therapy, non hormonal treatment, lifestyle interventions, or targeted treatments may help not just sleep, but other quality-of-life symptoms as well.
Environmental noise might not seem like a big deal, but frequent disruptions such as traffic, neighbors, pets, or a snoring partner can pull you out of deeper sleep stages and worsen overall sleep quality.
Dr. Broderick emphasizes the importance of creating a sleep space that supports rest. That’s where Ozlo Sleepbuds® come in. These tiny, comfortable earbuds are designed to be worn all night, even by side sleepers, and use sound masking to cover up disruptive noises. They offer a range of soothing sounds, including white, pink, and brown noise, as well as nature soundscapes. You can even stream your own audio via Bluetooth to tailor your sound environment to what helps you relax most.
Perimenopause does not have to mean sleepless nights. By combining Dr. Broderick’s expert tips with lifestyle adjustments and supportive tools like Ozlo Sleepbuds®, you can build a nighttime routine that helps your body settle into more peaceful and restorative sleep.
If your sleep struggles continue despite these changes, it may be worth speaking with a sleep specialist, since sleep health can impact everything from mood and memory to heart health.
To dive deeper into Dr. Broderick’s expert advice, read the full Q&A with Dr. Meredith Broderick here.
