Victorian doctors recognized that getting a good night's sleep was key to overall health. Their advice on how to accomplish that isn't much different from the advice we get today - with the exception that Victorians, at least, didn't have to be advised not to use their computer or tablet before bed, not to go to sleep clutching their cellphones, or not to stay up late watching television!

How to Get to Sleep at Night (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1875)

On Keeping Late Hours (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

Rest as a Medicine (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1879)

On Going to Bed at Night, by A. Brown (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1880)

On Getting Up in the Morning (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1880)

On Sleep and Nervous Unrest (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1882)

Early to Bed and Early to Rise, by "Medicus"* (Girl's Own Paper, 1883)

Sleep, by "Medicus"* (Girl's Own Paper, 1883)

Sleep, Gentle Sleep, by "Medicus"* (Girl's Own Paper, 1887)

Why Can't I Sleep? (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887)

My Afternoon Nap (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1893)

"Between the Dark and the Daylight", by "Medicus"* (Girl's Own Paper, 1896)

Nature's Soft Nurse [Sleep], by "Medicus"* (Girl's Own Paper, 1901)

Dreams & Nightmares

That Horrible Nightmare (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887)

Sleep and Dreams, by George St. Clair (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1891)

That Horrible Nightmare! (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1893)

Dreams, Nightmare and Somnambulism, by J.M. Buckley (Century Magazine, 1888B)

*"Medicus" was the pen-name of Gordon Stables, M.D., R.N., health columnist for The Girl's Own Paper. Read the complete collection of Medicus Columns from 1881-1902 in chronological order.