Our Sleepmasters blog has given you tips on sleeping, talked about the health benefits related to sleep, held competitions, and discussed about things related to sleep- from dreams to the latest gadgets that can help aid sleep. In today’s post we have decided to get a little relaxed and talk about some fun things related to sleep. Surfing the internet, I came upon some interesting anecdotes on sleep and thought of sharing them with our readers. Here they are, have a read and enjoy a laugh as well.

Did you know that the story of Frankenstein was actually inspired by a dream? Mary had been visiting the poet Lord Byron in the summer of 1816. On a particularly stormy day when the house guests were forced to remain inside, Lord Byron challenged them to write a ghost story. That night Mary saw in a vivid dream “the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion. Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous Creator of the world”. Thus the story of Frankenstein was born.

Inspired dreamers seem to have been quite a norm in the 19^th century. Well known and much read novelist Robert Louis Stevenson is said to have dreamt up the premise of his famous novel, The strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde after months of desperately trying to write a story that could manifest his "strong sense of man's double-being’. Stevenson is said to have dreamt of the plot in a nightmare but was roused by his dutiful wife to whom he is said to have exclaimed, “Why did you wake me. I was dreaming a fine bogey tale”.

Unlike Stevenson, Paul McCartney, one of the Beatles lead singers was not woken when he was dreaming the tune for his very famous song ‘Yesterday’. The band had been filming Help! in London and McCartney was staying in the attic room of his family home in Wimpole street. With the tune coming to him in an early morning dream, McCartney was said to have thought, “‘that’s great, I wonder what that is? There was an upright piano next to me, to the right of the bed by the window. I got out of bed, sat at the piano, found G, found F sharp minor 7th -- and that leads you through then to B to E minor, and finally back to E. It all leads forward logically. I liked the melody a lot, but because I'd dreamed it, I couldn't believe I'd written it. I thought, 'No, I've never written anything like this before.' But I had the tune, which was the most magic thing!".

Not all dreams can be inspirational of course. There are some that can jolt you back to reality. Like the way Pope John XIII once mentioned that while falling asleep, he would have important thoughts coming over to his mind which would wake him up, forcing him to make some mental notes. In his mind the Pope would think that “I must speak to the Pope about that”. Only then he would suddenly remember that he was the pope himself!

Have you ever been inspired by a dream? If yes, why not share your dream with us. Send us your experience and we will be happy to feature you

Your bed is your sanctuary, you only want to share it with those you choose to invite in. But what about uninvited guests? Bed bugs are a growing problem across the world. Follow these simple tips to diagnose, treat and prevent a bed bug infestation of your own.

What is a bed bug?

Bed bugs are nasty little critters that enjoy feasting upon human blood. As suggested by the name, bed bugs particularly enjoy living in beds and are mainly active at night time.

Bed bugs were almost entirely wiped out in the 1940s but since the mid 1990s bed bug cases appear to have been on the rise (ewwww!). The cause of this resurgence is uncertain, but it is thought to be related to increased international travel and increasing pesticide resistance.

What does a bed bug look like?

Bed bugs are reddish-brown, flattened, oval, and wingless. Adults can grow to around 5mm in length. When an adult bug has had a meal (of your blood) it becomes purple/red.

Bed bugs hatch from eggs and molt five times, in other words shed their outer exoskeleton, before reaching adulthood.

Under normal circumstances an adult bed bug lives ten to eleven months. During this time a female can lay between 200 and 250 eggs. 

How do I know if I have bed bugs?

Bed bugs can be tricky to identify as they are largely nocturnal. You may notice dark blood spots on your sheets and bedding where the bugs have excreted while feeding. Additional signs include shedded skins, eggs and of course bite symptoms

As the bugs are so tiny, make sure you examine seams and crevices around boxsprings, mattresses, bed frames, tufts, folds, and buttons on mattresses

Another good method is to create a makeshift trap using doublesided sticky tape. Make a line around the edge of your bed, on top of the mattress. Any bugs that try to clamber across the tape will get caught.

How do I treat bed bug bites?

If you do have bed bugs, you will obviously want to get rid of them as soon as possible. In addition you will want to stop the irritation and itchiness of the bites. Aside from over the counter treatments, there are several natural methods for treating bed bug bites. Try the following:

• A slice of raw potato soothes and reduces swelling of a bed bug bite
• Make a thick paste from baking powder and water and apply to your skin, this will reduce the pain and itching of a bed bug bite
• One of the oldest and simplest poultices in the world is mud, which soothes bed bug bites. Herbal tea and powdered white clay mixed with mud is considered highly effective.

Bites can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. It depends on how allergic you are to them.

How do I get rid of bed bugs?

If you find you do have a bed bug infestation, the best thing you can do is to throw out your old mattress and bedding. If you can't afford a new mattress, try vacuuming your old mattress and applying a sealable mattress cover. You should also wash all your bedding, clothes and linen in hot water and vacuum all around your bed.

Do not use spray insecticides on or around your bed as these should never be applied to an area where you sleep. Instead use sticky traps to capture any bugs that have escaped your exorcism. You can also spray rubbing alcohol on any rogue bugs. This kills them on the spot.

Bed bugs are very persistant and excellent at hiding so ultimately, if you suspect you have bed bugs you should call in a professional.

How do I prevent bed bugs?

Finding bed bugs in your home has nothing to do with poor hygiene! It takes only one bed bug to hitch a ride on your clothing (furniture, suitcase, etc) and infest your residence.

However, obviously good hygine is important. Ensure you regularly wash and change your bedding and vacuum your mattress. You could also invest in a mattress protector, which should also be washed regularly.

When you stay away from home, follow this simple checklist to avoid taking bed bugs home with you.

• Before you book a hotel room, Google the hotel's name plus the word "bed bugs". This will notify you of any problems other travellers have had in the past. A site like Trip Advisor is excellent for hotel reviews.
• Do a full check of the mattress and bed frame to ensure no tell tale signs of bed bugs. If you see any, obviously inform management and request a room change!
• Use a luggage rack or stand to keep your bags off the floor where bed bugs could easily get in. Make sure you check the stand for bugs first!
• Alternatively, leave your luggage in the car. Not the most convenient of options, but then neither is having bed bugs follow you home.
• When you pack up to leave, inspect your luggage carefully. If you see any signs of bugs, wash the item in hot water with detergent. 
• When you get home, unpack directly into the washing machine NOT onto your bed. Wash everything in hot water
• A travel sized anti bug spray like Kleen Free will kill bugs if sprayed directly on them, but remember, bugs are very good at hiding!

Finally, make sure you always buy your beds and mattresses from a reputable source. If at all possible, avoid second hand mattresses at all costs!

If you have any tips for bed bug prevention or any bed bug horror stories, please let us know in the comments.

We received an excellent response to our sleep tips competition with over 230 entries on the blog alone. Sleep tips ranged from the useful to the cheeky with lavender, "rumpy pumpy" and 4 cans of special brew all making an appearance. Watch this space for a collection of the best tips and tricks for getting a good night's sleep.

Congrats to our winner Tracey who made us laugh with her tip

"A nice, relaxing lavender bath...and if the husband is snoring and getting on your nerves then it's got to be eye mask, ear plugs and some snore spray...failing that a peg or kick him out of bed and into the spare room lol."

This also left me wondering what is snore spay?!

We got so many great tips and stories we decided to award a bonus prize of £25 in Amazon vouchers. The prize went to Cathy for her tortuous 12 hour drive,

"sit next to your husband in a small car. drive from the highlands of scotland. to south essex in 1 go. over 12 hours drive. (do this overnight) then crawl into bed about 5 am. ger woken by a neghbour at 8 for them to say the cars leaking oil. then struggle to stay awake all day. crawl into bed at 9/10 pm and u will sleep for a long long time. i managed 6 hours. which for an insomniac like me is like being in a coma.

bit drastic. but worked for me ;)

nighty night"

Thanks to everyone who entered the competition and don't forget to follow us on Facebook to be the first to hear about upcoming prizes.

This competition is now closed. Please follow Sleepmasters on Facebook for more competitions

One in four women admit to deliberately waking their partners up because they are jealous that they’re able to fall asleep easily.

The results come from a recent poll of 4,000 women, which also found that the most common technique for waking up a bed partner is to simply toss and turn until you succeed in disturbing them. One in ten women even admitted to pinching their bed fellow to wake him up!

The research also found 25% of women took up to an hour to drop off, while most men said they were fast asleep in under ten minutes.

Have you ever experienced sleep envy? What have you done to wake up a sleepy partner?

Recent research from the University of West Virginia University in the USA has found that seven hours is the ideal amount of sleep for your health.The researchers found that people who get less or more sleep are at higher risk from cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes.

The average person in the UK sleeps just six hours a night, meaning that we are at higher risk from raised blood pressure and reduced glucose tolerance. However, if you're one of the lucky few who sleep longer than eight hours per night, the study found that those who sleep for longer periods may end up suffering from breathing disorders. Ouch!

A second study suggests that a lie-in at the weekend does not make up for regularly missing out on sleep during the week. The research concluded that several nights of extra sleep are needed for people to regain their normal levels of alertness.

How long do you sleep per night? Do you think you could survive on seven hours?

Sleepmasters National Training Manager Tony Warwick tells us about different types of mattresses and which is right for you. Choose from open coil, pocket sprung, memory foam or vacuum packed mattresses.

Yesterday morning I asked our Facebook page whether they are morning people or whether it takes them a while to get going. Comments ranged from, "Anti Morning" to "takes me hours to get motivated. im not a morning person. or an evening person. think i have about an hour or so twice a week where im *ready for anything*".

I'm certainly no morning person myself, I love my bed far too much. This got me thinking, can anyone become a "morning person"? I did a Google search and found an excellent article from personal development guru Steve Pavlina, which I will summarise here.

There are two schools of thought about sleep patterns;

1. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, that way your body "gets into a routine".

2. Listen to your body’s needs, go to bed when you’re tired and get up when you naturally wake up (Side note: personally I don't know anyone who could do this what with 9 to 5 jobs and all!)

Steve claims that a combination of these two is the optimal way to become a better sleeper and an earlier riser. His advice is as follows;

1. Go to bed when you are tired. If you are not tired, don't lie in bed counting hours and wishing you would sleep. Get up, read a book, do anything but lie there until you literally cannot keep your eyes open any longer

2. Set your alarm early. stretch and get up as soon as it goes off. No matter how much you want to stay in bed, no matter how comfortable your bed is, you must get up!

He claims that after a few days you will settle into a natural rhythm. When you sleep too little the night before, you will be tired earlier. When you sleep too much, you will have the energy to stay up later. To sum up "go to bed only when you’re too sleepy to stay up, and get up at a fixed time every morning."

In the interest of science I actually tested this out myself last night. I woke up very early in the morning and didn't feel sleepy so got up and read until I was falling asleep. when I woke up to my alarm I wanted to hide away in my bed all day. Instead I stretched and got up right away. At this moment I feel fine but we'll see if that changes as the day progresses

What do you think of this advice? Do you think this would make you more of a morning person? Any other sleep tips I should be trying out

New research reported in the International Journal of Obesity shows that women, particularly women in middle age, who have trouble sleeping are more likely to gain weight.

Finnish researchers followed more than 7,000 40 to 60 year-olds for seven years.They found that roughly one-third of women with frequent sleep problems gained at least 11 pounds, versus about a fifth of women with no sleep difficulties at the outset, strenghening claims that sleep problems are related to weight gain.

On the other hand, the 17%  of men who reported sleep problems were no more likely to gain weight than those who slept without difficulty. Grr.

While the findings do not prove cause-and-effect, they raise the possibility that improving sleep quality might help stave off excess weight gain, researchers told Reuters Health.

Does this sound right to you? Do you feel hungrier if you haven't slept well? Is a comfortable bed really that good for weight loss?

Last month we launched online customer reviews for products the Sleepmasters site. As a thank you to our customers we promised to enter all reviewers into a monthly draw to win £100 of Marks and Spencers.

Well, now a month has passed, we are proud to announce the winner of the first set of vouchers as John Walker for his review on the Sensaform Ortho Select memory foam mattress. John's review was picked at random from the dozens we have received so far. He says,

"We were nervous about spending more than we ever have done on a mattress however after 1 nights sleep it was agreed that it is the best money we have spent in a long time.

I suffered with back pain and with our old mattress I frequently got out of bed and lay on the floor as I found it more comfortable. Since purchasing the Sensaform I have not had any back pain which is fantastic. My wife is also pregnant and has found the mattress very supportive.

In short a top product which does what it says, thank you!"

Oh stop, you're making us blush! :)

Next month we will be giving away £100 of Amazon vouchers to one of our reviewers, so watch this space to see if you strike it lucky! Until then, thanks to all our customers and congratulations, John!