With summer right around the corner, you’re likely concerned that high temperatures combined with menopausal night sweats will prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep. Many of us crank the AC or sleep next to a fan to avoid overheating. There is, however, another surprising step you can take to find relief on hot nights: wearing a pair of wool pajamas. It sounds ridiculous, of course, but actual proven research supports this claim.

The experts at John Hopkins Medicine estimate that 75 percent of women experience hot flashes. When they occur during sleep, they’re called “night sweats,” and they’re a particularly annoying menopause symptom because they happen even more often when you’re already hot That’s right: When temperatures rise in spring and summer, hot flashes really gather steam (pun intended).

What you wear to bed plays a big role in adapting to external temperature changes and regulating your body’s temperature. Wearing pajamas made with a cooling fabric (like wool) can make it easier to sleep through the night without waking in a pool of sweat.

You probably know that wool is a great fabric for staying warm in winter. But the experts at The American Wool Council say that it’s actually a helpful cooling material that you can wear all year long. Their reasons include:

Additionally, a 2019 study published in Nature and Science of Sleep considered the effects of snoozing in Merino wool, cotton, and polyester pajamas when it’s hot — and found that wool came out on top.

The four-night study included 36 adults (half of which were women) between the ages of 50 and 70. Researchers found participants had an easier time falling and staying asleep when they slept in Merino wool pajamas as compared to other fabrics.

Considering the benefits of wearing wool to prevent overheating, it’s worth buying a few sets of PJ’s made with the material. Check out this sleep expert–approved pair of Merino wool pajamas, which provide 50 percent lighter warmth than other thermal sleepwear.

And a cozy-yet-cooling pair of pajamas is just the first step to getting a better night’s sleep. Here are three additional ways to catch those Zzz’s with ease:

Warmer days don’t have to mean terrible sleep. Keeping those bothersome night sweats at bay may be as simple as a sleepwear switch and small tweaks to your everyday habits.

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