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Sleep...What's up with that?

I don't sleep. I crash. I have never really been a good sleeper, and if I do happen to fall asleep, just about anything wakes me up. Both my girls talk in their sleep, granted the content is different, but they still talk. GW also cries, which kills me. I can't bring myself to wake them, so I just pack it to the sofa downstairs and pick up my pallet before they wake up in the morning.

So, I'm told that not sleeping is a bad thing. I get maybe 3-4 hours a night.

Any ideas not involving drugs?

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Permalink Reply by TeacherJ on April 5, 2010 at 5:03pm

A friend of mine says that listening to a book on tape or a podcast can put her to sleep like magic. She thinks it's because her brain is busy listening to the words, so it forgets to try to stay awake. She also says the trick is to find something that's kind of interesting but not, like, gripping, because then she'll get really involved in the story and stay awake to hear how it ends! So, she swears by NPR podcasts.

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Permalink Reply by DonnaKat on April 5, 2010 at 5:23pm

This is how I fall asleep every night, and it works when I wake up at 3am and have trouble falling asleep again. But it's true if the book is too interesting it has the opposite effect.

TeacherJ said:

A friend of mine says that listening to a book on tape or a podcast can put her to sleep like magic. She thinks it's because her brain is busy listening to the words, so it forgets to try to stay awake. She also says the trick is to find something that's kind of interesting but not, like, gripping, because then she'll get really involved in the story and stay awake to hear how it ends! So, she swears by NPR podcasts.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Mama on April 5, 2010 at 5:36pm

"meow, bitches"

I think that needs to be added to "kiss the fattest part of my ass" and "freak my head off" as my favorite OS terms!

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Permalink Reply by Herasmus B. Dragon on April 5, 2010 at 6:25pm

I keep our portable DVD player by my bed, or my laptop, and watch things I've seen before. Unfortunately when the lights are off, Arrested Development now puts me out immediately. I went through both seasons of Life over several months, watching 15-20 minutes at a time before falling asleep.

TeacherJ said:

A friend of mine says that listening to a book on tape or a podcast can put her to sleep like magic. She thinks it's because her brain is busy listening to the words, so it forgets to try to stay awake. She also says the trick is to find something that's kind of interesting but not, like, gripping, because then she'll get really involved in the story and stay awake to hear how it ends! So, she swears by NPR podcasts.

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Permalink Reply by Boring User Name on April 5, 2010 at 6:33pm

I also need distraction to fall asleep. I can't read anything too heavy or I start thinking too much. OS is usually part of the too thoughtful crowd. I usually go with Joshreads.com.

I was sleeping really poorly until about a week ago. But avoiding alochol and caffeine, being done with some stressful periods, among other things are helping.

Oh and our white noise: an ordinary fan on the medium setting.