health

The trick that'll get you back to sleep after going to the bathroom during the night.

Nothing is worse than having to pee in the middle of the night. Particularly in winter. The thought of having to leave that nice warm bed and stumble towards the bathroom’s cold porcelain and bright white lights is enough to make you convince yourself that the urge really isn’t that bad. Surely it’s good for your bladder muscles to hold on, right?

Wrong. Your bladder always wins.

The worst thing about this whole saga, even more irritating than the cold tiles and the bright lights, is the fact that you can never, ever fall back to sleep straight away after getting up to pee. Until now.

Funny fails of sleep-deprived mums. Article continues after this video.

For those of us who try and get as much sleep as humanly possible, there is a very simple trick to peeing at night which ensures you will fall back asleep quickly.

All you have to do is keep one eye closed.

Controversial “alternative medicine proponent”, Dr. Joseph Mercola, says by keeping one eye closed while using the toilet in the middle of the night, you remind your brain that it is night time.

'Keeping one eye closed while peeing at night teaches the brain it is still night time.' Image: Baby Mama, Universal Pictures
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That's what makes it so easy to fall asleep quickly after you slip back between those lovely, warm sheets.

He says when we open both of our eyes at night to pee, the bright light on the retina of our eyes makes our brains think its daytime which can make it difficult to fall back to sleep.

Better still, keep the lights off as you go. Most of us are familiar enough with our bathroom layouts to get away with this. Accuracy probably also depends of the level of sleepiness and associated stumbling.

It's worth a try. Anything for a good night's sleep.