I have had several conversations with folks about insomnia in the past few days. I have always had a problem sleeping - restless my whole life. I have learned some tricks and hope you will share yours too.
1) No tv in the bedroom. Taking my tv out of my bedroom was a huge step and did work, for awhile.
2) Drink something hot before I go to bed. (tea usually but I love hot toddy's in the winter).
3) Keep the room cold. If my bedroom is hot, I will not sleep. I also cannot sleep if my feet are "tucked in".
4) Mind games. Seriously, I need to distract myself from my daily anxieties. So. I do the following little games to keep my mind occupied enough to relax.
- Spell my friends names backwards to forwards
- list ingredients to a pizza from A to Z
- list halloween candy from A to Z (this was tricky)
- try to come up with famous names that are AA BB CC (Abigail Adams, Burt Baccarat, Courtney Cox) all the way to ZZ (Zig Ziegler, just in case you were wondering)
Most nights, these do the trick, but lately it hasn't been falling asleep that is the problem, it is going back to sleep after I have woken up in the night with Charlie. Last night I was up from 2-430. I just should have gotten up an done some laundry - at least then the time would have been productive!
Any fellow insomniacs out there?
ohhhhh how i wish i had tips for those wakeups.
ReplyDeletethere's a point at which-- if i get up with the kids-- i just CANNOT get back to sleep.
so i understand.
and emphathize.
but have no good advice. sigh.
xoxoxo.
I am with you on the middle of the night wake ups. I've resorted to just being up for the day if said wake up happens within 2 hours of my normal wake up time.
ReplyDeleteCheck on one & two. As you know, we differ on three - I adore my fleece sheets, electric blanket, and feet tucked in.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try putting a notebook & pen by the bed and writing down all of the mental crap that wakes me up....
be careful Katrina!! I used to do that and it REALLY amped me up.
DeleteI think you and Katrina GAVE me insomnia. I couldn't sleep all night on Monday...I think I was all jazzed about the election. And then I couldn't sleep on Tuesday. And last night Henry was up twice. And tonight he's decided not to go to bed. Darn those kids. They make sleeping so difficult!!! Hope things have been going better lately!
ReplyDelete