I could have used that between 2 and 3 this morning. But then DH would have needed it between 3 and 4. 🤪

I almost always listen to podcasts to help me drift off. They relax your mind and take your thoughts away from whatever is worrying you at the moment. I’ll give that app a try.

I wake up almost nightly. It's rare that I sleep right through. I'm teaching myself not to look at the clock but it's not always easy. I hate when I lay there tossing and turning for an hour.

It's most often in the 2:30-3a.m time slot.

Thanks Annie! I also could have used this....☺ Great suggestion!

DH gets up to go to the bathroom, then back to bed fast asleep...and it wakes
"me" up...and....the cats. Ivan starts yelling. He wants to play. Then brings his pink puffy and throws it up in the air, jumping for it, landing on my legs or hip...repeatidly. He's just so excited....he can't stand it. He's very high strung. Can't be mad at him...but I really need my sleep. In the morning mu husband tells me, "Be thankful he's not a full blood Bombay." ♥

Glad it worked for you Annie. I typically sleep great for about 4 or 5 hours, sometimes 6. But when I wake, I am UP and it's very rare that I can get back to sleep.

That is about like my routine, up at 12:30 can't get back to sleep until after 2 am I have many night like this. I don't like that kind of music/sounds to sleep with, it irritates me.

I'll ck it out. I wake up multiple times every night. Takes forever to fall back to sleep. I have an app called Sleep Pillow. Has a lot of sounds to choose from. I always use the raining sound. Free version of the app let's you set timer for up to 1 hr. 15 min. at time.

There are nights that I set the timer 3 times. I listen to it fade away then turn it on again. Sigh....

The only time I don’t sleep through the night is when I go to bed too early. If I went to bed at 10 I would also be awake at midnight with my body refreshed from what it believed to be a nap. I stay up until midnight or 1 am and easily sleep until 7 pr 8. If you’re retired, try going to bed later.

I also listen to podcasts to go to sleep - something interesting but not super engaging. Lately I've been listening to the History of English podcast. My podcast player has a timer that I set for 20 minutes. Usually I'm asleep in about 5. If not, I've learned a bit more about the history of the English language. 😉

I use soft earbuds like these, which are very comfortable to sleep in

And finally, I don't worry about sleeping through the night. It's not really even a natural way for humans to sleep.

The myth of the eight-hour sleep

I have always had trouble sleeping and am wakeful off and on all night. I was like that as a child and was apparently the only one who knew how much my mother was up wandering the house at night. First of all I dont get destressed about it. I developed a habit as a child. I told myself a story. Long, involved with descriptions and conversations. As an adult one of my favorites is getting rid of a body. I have to create a scenario in which I am stuck with a body and must dispose of it. The advances in forensics and security cameras have long since upended my original solutions. I eventually drift off.

olychick, no matter when I go to bed, I tend to wake up early, about 5 or 5:30...even if I've not gone to bed until 2 am. If I go to bed too early, say 9pm, I will wake up at 3 am and that's it. I typically get 5.5 - 6 hrs. When and if I'm lucky, I can take a nap, but that may be once or twice a week. What always amazes me is that I can often wake up from a short nap and feel more refreshed than I do after a night's sleep.

Lately though, I've been going to bed about 10:30 and waking up thinking it's the wee hours of the morning only to find I've been asleep only an hour. Rather disturbing.

I wonder if your habit of napping is confusing your body? But, I suppose if you're getting good rest at least some of the time, you're probably getting enough.

I don't think napping once or twice a week is a habit...I usually do it after a number of nights of very little sleep. That sense of needing to fall asleep is so precious, I hate to deny it when it does come if I can accommodate it.

It sounds to me like napping works for you when you do it. I can't nap. If I do I only sleep for 4 or 5 hours. I already lose enough sleep with my migraine medication. I don't need to lose any more.

When I wake up in the middle of the night I just tell myself okay I can't sleep I will just rest. And then I do. Every time the thoughts churn through my mind I record what the thought is on my phone and then I go back to resting. Most of the time getting the thoughts out of my head and on to my phone or paper works for me. Of course I have to act on those or the next night I will have the same thoughts keeping me awake.

Why you wake up and stay awake is probably different for you.

If you've seen a doctor about your sleep problem and have gotten no results you have to be a detective for your own sleep problem.

I am right now trying to add some good habits and they say it takes two to three months to make it a habit stick. So trying something once or twice might not be enough to change your sleep pattern. Not saying that you haven't tried for long enough just wanted people to be aware in case they're not that's habits stubbornly don't stick without a good long period of time.

I couldn't sleep at all last night. Stayed up till 6 am. I think that person talking would just keep me awake.

I do think that would help me relax and sleep. I remember reading a book about sleep that was really interesting. Evidently our natural sleep cycle is to be awake in the middle of the night. Before the invention of artificial light, people went to sleep when it got dark, woke in the middle of the night to share a relaxing time and then slept again until daylight. Wish I could remember the title of that book.

BBC wrote a piece about sleep and 8 hours not being normal before.

https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/magazine-16964783

I find out if I don't do much during the day I will wake up in the middle of the night for a hour or two. So I keep busy even if it's just cleaning. Today I have been on the run since 9am and just got home a little while ago. I should sleep good. No naps for me or I would never sleep at night.

Thanks for posting this. I like the video. I wondered if others were having this same problem. I wake almost every night after about 2-1/2 hours of sleep. I have trouble falling asleep in the first place, so I have a small CD player, with CD's for relaxation, and sleep inducing. It helps to focus on the nature sounds, or soft music, instead of random, wandering thoughts . It really has helped.

I wish activity would do it but it doesn't seem to help as on days when I've been very active, I can have trouble sleeping. Other days where I've been relatively quiet -- usually because I'm so dog-tired from not sleeping the night before -- I can sleep pretty well.

Part of it is hot flashes...some nights they can be relentless. So frustrating to finally get that feeling of sleepiness, roll over, get comfy, about to drift off then whoosh! Hot flash!!

I see why you can't sleep. Personal solar flairs.

Count me in there too. Our internal furnace goes on, and plays havoc with sleep, for sure. I should be over this by now!

No idea why, but my hot flashes seem to be triggered by relaxation. I can't tell you how many times the beginning of my meditation includes a hot flash.

I am a night hour and go to bed way after midnight and have most of my adult life. I sleep late into the morning usually getting seven hours of sleep. I can sleep thru out the night without waking up so I blame this thread for making me wake up last night since I read it before bed ...lol In actuality it was because maybe I was too hot. I keep my bedroom window open year-round except in hot summer months when the whole room with five windows is closed up with blinds drawn. The outside temps were in the teens and although I had down comforters on and felt warm, I think it was the extreme temps that woke me. I absolutely HAVE to have a cold bedroom and in the summer I have a window AC plus the central AC going.

Bedtime triggers my furnace, too. I generally read before I go to sleep. No matter if I read for 15 minutes or an hour, when I turn off the light and snuggle in, I'll have a hot flash in 5 -10 minutes. Without fail. Thankfully they aren't bad, and only last a couple of minutes. But what is it about being horizontal?

I notice I can't sleep when my feet are too cold or too warm. I usually start out with socks then shed them while I'm reading before sleeping. It's a tricky process, and depends on nighttime temps.