A sleeping cap is highly recommended if you want to wear a hat in bed to stay warm.
A sleeping cap keeps the hair in place and enables the skin and scalp to breathe. Other flat hats like beanies are also an option, but they can cause overheating.
Hats worn overnight keep you warm, especially if you’re sleeping outside, and may prevent your hair from breaking or becoming frizzy overnight.
Be mindful of overheating, which could cause interrupted sleep. You may also find sleeping in a hat uncomfortable, and the wrong choice of cap may cause wear and tear.
Can Hats be Worn in Bed?
The practicalities of sleeping while wearing a hat in bed should be assessed. Hats with brims, including baseball caps, pose logistical challenges if you move your head in your sleep.
A beanie or other flat hat won’t obstruct your movement. Better yet, wear a specialist sleeping cap.
Sleeping caps – sometimes called nightcaps – were intended to protect the head from cold weather before central heating was commonplace.
It’s easier to keep warm when you sleep indoors. Sleeping caps remain popular among people who wish to protect their hair, hide signs of balding, or like to wash their hair before bed.
Here are some considerations when choosing a hat to sleep in:
- Comfort. Avoid hats that are tight against the scalp or forehead. While nightcaps resemble shower caps, they feel entirely different. A hat should stay in place without causing discomfort.
- Length. Do you want to cover all of your hair while sleeping? If you choose a longer hat, check the location of any seams so they don’t press against the face while you sleep.
- Shape. Choose a hat that accommodates the shape and style of your hair. Somebody with a crew cut will need a different hat from somebody with an afro or braids.
- Material. Consider how the hat feels while wearing it, whether it’ll get too hot overnight, and the pillows will be damaged. Softer materials will be more breathable and comfortable.
You may need to experiment with different hats and sleeping caps to find the right option.
Does Wearing a Hat Help You Sleep?
There are various reasons to consider sleeping in a hat, but comfort and the ability to rest are at the top of the list. If covering your head at night obstructs your ability to rest, avoid hats at bedtime.
If you’re used to wearing a hat during the day and feel comfortable doing so while you sleep, what happens if you sleep with a hat? Here are the main benefits:
Warmth
The advantage of wearing a hat while you sleep is its warmth. This was the driving force behind the invention of nightcaps, which only fell out of fashion in cold climates in the mid-20th Century.
Nightcaps and warm hats may be indispensable if you spend the night outside.
Temperatures may drop sharply overnight if you’re camping or sleeping in a storage unit, car, or recreational vehicle (RV). Does sleeping in a cap keep you warm?
According to the BMJ, adults lose about 10% of their body heat through the head in cold climates.
While a cool ambient temperature may help you doze off, growing unpleasantly cold will likely disturb your sleep. A sleeping cap can stop you from waking up in the middle of the night.
Protect The Hair
Is sleeping with a hat on bad for your hair?” Headwear isn’t always kind to our hair follicles. However, if you wear the right hat or nightcap, covering your hair at night can improve its condition.
A silk or satin nightcap will protect your hair from friction against the pillow, preventing split ends and frizz in the morning.
An ideally shaped hat or cap will keep your hair in position overnight, minimizing the need to brush and style it upon waking.
If you use haircare products overnight, like a leave-in conditioner, wearing a hat will also stop them from rubbing off against a pillow.
Healthier Scalp
Sleeping in a hat or cap can improve your scalp and hair.
Pillowcases collect dust, dirt, dead skin cells, and grime throughout the day. Consequently, your pillow will become a breeding ground for germs and bacteria.
If bacteria enter your scalp, you may get dandruff, acne, and pus-filled lesions (pustules.) They are also visually unattractive and cause discomfort and itchiness.
A hat provides a protective barrier until you launder your pillowcases.
Hide Hair Loss
Losing hair can be embarrassing, whether due to a medical condition like alopecia or an unwelcome side effect of aging.
If you hide hair loss with a hat, you may do the same while sharing a bed. Like wearing a wig in bed, you can cover bald patches by sporting a hat overnight.
No Sweaty Pillows
If you like to wash your hair before bed, dry it thoroughly before lying down. Wet hair, especially when long, will cause dampness, leading to moldy pillows.
Blow-drying hair at night can take a while and raise your body temperature.
To avoid this outcome, consider wearing a lightweight nightcap in bed. Avoid wearing a 100% cotton or polyester hat because this will absorb water.
Is It Bad To Sleep with A Hat On?
The issue with wearing a specialist nightcap is “hat hair.” If your hair is messy and tangled, you may need extra time to rectify this in the morning.
Here are the considerations before deciding to sleep wearing a hat:
Pillow Damage
Wearing a hat in bed may damage your pillows, bedding, or pillowcases. An official sleeping cap should be okay, but other hats may have seams, badges, or other additions that cause tears and holes.
Discomfort
Not everybody finds hats comfortable, and if you’re averse to the sensation of a foreign object on your head, you may struggle to fall or remain asleep.
Tightness around the scalp is usually the main issue regarding comfort. If a hat leaves a red mark around your forehead, the headgear is too snug and will eventually cause discomfort.
An overly loose hat can be equally troublesome. If the hat slips and slides from your head while you toss and turn, it may become irritating and feel awkward.
Trapped Moisture
If you get hot while in bed, you’ll sweat. Wearing a hat can magnify this issue, trapping sweat within the hat, which makes the headwear uncomfortable and smelly.
In some cases, sweat will remain on the inside of the hat, causing itching. Alternatively, the sweat may seep through the hat and onto your pillows, causing wet pillows.
Choose a sleeping cap with moisture-wicking properties so that your skin can breathe. Regularly wash your sleeping cap to prevent a build-up of dirt, bacteria, and dead skin cells.
Excessive Heat
A hat or sleeping cap will keep you warm when the ambient temperature falls. If you’ve created a suitable environment for sleeping, you may find that a hat makes you too hot.
Choosing the right material is pivotal to good quality sleep. Cotton is most likely to cause overheating, while bamboo, silk, or satin are breathable and will moderate your temperature.
Check how you feel upon waking after sleeping in a hat. Even if you don’t overheat enough to wake up at night, you may be dehydrated, leading to sleep inertia or muscular cramps.
