How to Sleep Better at Night

[Willing and Unsure]

This one isn't for me, but more for my man.

He recently started a new job and is trying to get used to a new sleep pattern. He's getting up at 430am as opposed to the 8am he was getting up at before. And obviously he's been trying to get to bed earlier as well. Are there any suggestions that I can give him on how to improve his quality of sleep and maybe even the amount of sleep that he's getting?

 

[borisk]

I have a similar situation but here is what I do to help me get a great nights rest on the week days.

I do not drink caffeine or alcohol after 6pm.

I only eat fruit after 8pm for a snack.

no drinks of juice or water etc after 8pm, so i dont have to wake up and pee in the middle of the night.

exercise before bed time. push ups,situps, etc

if I am stressed and cant get work out of my mind then I may take a sleep aid. I dont like those because I wake up feeling sluggish.

Lastly, I lay down around 9:30pm to watch my shows and relax. ( I PVR everything)

Also, something I didnt realize is that I snore. I would have never known I was waking myself up until my wife recorded it. Its not serious enough for any medical intervention but I breath through my mouth now.....

thats my routinen i try to stick to.
Boris

 

[silverwhisper]

W&U: honestly, i'd recommend trying to adapt to such a radical change in sleep cycles by being in bed by 8:00pm or so the night before and taking a sleeping pill. will you also need to be changing your own sleep cycle? most people really need 8 hours/night to function at their peak. we usually get by on less, but given the size of the change, this might help make the adjustment less painful in the morning.

o and of course, i'd suggest unplugging your phone, etc., at night before turning in.

ed

 

[Ezzy]

This one isn't for me, but more for my man.

He recently started a new job and is trying to get used to a new sleep pattern. He's getting up at 430am as opposed to the 8am he was getting up at before. And obviously he's been trying to get to bed earlier as well. Are there any suggestions that I can give him on how to improve his quality of sleep and maybe even the amount of sleep that he's getting?

I worked in a job that had shifts that rotated week on week, the earliest started at work @ 3:45 AM the latest started @ 5:30 PM I could never manage to get a handle on the really early turn shifts 3:45 - 7:30 I could do 2 or 3 days then I would be late for work on day 3 or 4.

I was talking one day to a manager who had done the same job as I was doing for 15 years, he gave me the way I had to work to do those early shifts, to reset my day to accomodate the change in shift start time.

All the very early jobs started on Monday mornings, so Saturday night I would stay up as late as I could, Sunday I would sleep in as long as I could, but I would then stay up Sunday night and go out to work for an early turn as if I had been up all day and gone to start a very late job.

When I got hame Monday just after noon I would have a "dinner" watch some TV then go to bed around 4:00 PM by 10 or 10:30 I would be awake get up and have breakfast then go on to complete the week without any problems.

I then did alternating a month of early turn with 6 weeks of late turns, I would set myself up the same way for the first week of the early turns, by the second week I would head to bed at 6:00 PM and get up just after midnight, the third week I would be heading to bed about 7:00 and getting up at 1:00 AM this would hold for the fourth week as I hate having to get up and dash out the door to rush to work.

If you can show him this or print it out, it is the only way I could ever make doing such an early job work for me. Maybe he will find a different way but I know this one works.

 

[Willing and Unsure]

If you can show him this or print it out, it is the only way I could ever make doing such an early job work for me. Maybe he will find a different way but I know this one works.

Thanks for the suggestion. He posts here too (phoenix1224) but hasnt been around much due to the new job. I figured I might as well ask and then I'll pass the info on to him later over the phone. I know he's not actually starting work until 630, but he has to be up by 430ish to get ready and leave by 530 so he can be on time. He likes the job so far, and it's not too rough on him, but the sleep thing is definitely killing him.

When he first got it, he had a weekend pretty much to readjust and was going to bed earlier, around 9, so that he could get enough sleep. But his body just is not liking doing that after being in the same pattern for so long before that.

And silverwhisper, I don't have to readjust my sleep schedule at all. We dont live together, yet.

 

[silverwhisper]

oops, sorry: i misread your original post. my bad. :>

ed

 

[Willing and Unsure]

oops, sorry: i misread your original post. my bad. :>

ed

that's all right. Some of my friends think I'm living with him already even though they still come to visit me at my parents' house. Go figure. *shrugs*

 

[Ezzy]

Thanks for the suggestion...

When he first got it, he had a weekend pretty much to readjust and was going to bed earlier, around 9, so that he could get enough sleep. But his body just is not liking doing that after being in the same pattern for so long before that.

I could never make the change by going to bed earlier, I would either lay there wishing I could sleep and not sleeping, or I would fall asleep only be able to sleep for a couple of hours, then wake up and be up all night after just 2 hours sleep because I had woken up worried about if I would be awake in time.

The whole thing never worked until I was told to stay awake longer, not go to bed earlier, and when I followed the advice... Ta Da, it worked!

I can still remember the look of pleasure on that managers face at the end of the next week of really earlies, when I got to Friday without being late.

 

[arrowana]

The biggest thing I can suggest is to cut out caffine. Caffine has a half-life of six hours so even a couple cups of coffee in the morning can affect your sleep. Another person recommended exercising before bed but I have found that just wakes me up. To each his/her own...

 

[pupper]

Xanax,helps me to sleep through the nite 1to 2 mg

 

[Suzins]

I take Gravol at night when I can't sleep, or want to make sure I go to bed at a certain time. I usually take it about 90 minutes before I want to go to sleep and then when my head hits the pillow it's lights out.

 

[Willing and Unsure]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll make sure he gets these. I know for a fact he's not wanting to take any pills to help him sleep (and I dont blame him). And Ezzy, I'll be sure to recommend what you've suggested here. I find that something similar often works for me too when it comes time to change the sleep patterns.

 

[Ezzy]

Thanks... Ezzy, I'll be sure to recommend what you've suggested here. I find that something similar often works for me too when it comes time to change the sleep patterns.

You're welcome, I hope it helps, I am sure that staying awake longer and being more tired not less, is the real reason this works.

 

[muttley44]

Lots of sex early in the evening like aout 6:30'ish, he'll be fast asleep by 8pm.