How do you wind down at night?

PRMinx

Love all your suggestions so far! I should mention I have trouble falling asleep at night. My hubby will pass out with in 10min of going to bed, me it can take 30min to an hour. Also I wake up a lot in the night. Mostly when ever the hubby gets up to use the bathroom or something.

Alcohol will do this to you - and it gets worse the older you get.

I love to have a few drinks, but I definitely don't sleep well when I do. I think you will sleep better if you cut it out a few nights a week.

I get up at 5am to work out, so I'm usually in bed watching TV by 8:30, lights out by 10. Being horizontal definitely relaxes me.

kshadows

Ugh I have no winding down...kids in bed by 7:30, 3 nights a week I head out for a run. Nights I don't run, I throw in laundry, wash dishes, clean up the house, sweep/mop/vacuum, and study. Nights I DO run, I usually do something more low key because I'm tired, like fold laundry (but still pick up and study).

Then I go ahead and hop in bed! I'm usually so beat I fall asleep right away.

RonnieLodge

Warm bath and go to bed with a book.

When I drink before bed I will wake up dehydrated and sluggish.

When I drink too much before bed I wake up at 3am with the dries and 'the fear'.

Wookinpanub

After putting the kids to bed, I get my 30 minutes of me time per day and watch TV in bed. Usually something pretty relaxing like a nature show or something. However, sometimes the wife comes in and wants to exercise :smokin:

ThinLizzie0802

I read and take a benydryl (straight up diphenhydramine-cheapest sleep aid you can get!)
Alcohol does the complete opposite for me and sleep so I don't drink if sleep is what I want
I used to listen to music through headphones but I'm way too paranoid now that I live by myself
There's another habit that's legal in a few states that generally helps calm me down for bedtime
I need to give myself at least thirty minutes without tv, computer, or phone in order to wind down

carrieliz81

I would also recommend reading, but some other options that make me drowsy:

Scrolling through my facebook news feed.

Playing Solitaire on my phone. Quickly becomes a literal snoozefest!

shireeniebeanie

Tonight show and popcorn. Sometimes while folding laundry.

shireeniebeanie

I would also recommend reading, but some other options that make me drowsy:

Scrolling through my facebook news feed.

Playing Solitaire on my phone. Quickly becomes a literal snoozefest!

And this--any kind of reading, whether a book or cell/laptop, can make me sleepy!

zyxst

1. *kitten*
2. Play a round of Jewel Quest on my DS.

wertgirlfor

I usually drink some chamomile tea and either watch TV or skim my social networks.

T1DCarnivoreRunner

I am usually so tired by then, I don't have trouble falling asleep. I usually go to sleep around 11pm (more or less, depending on if I have everything done for the day), and my alarm goes off at 4:15am.

But I suppose if you really need something to do to "wind down," then try watching TV. If that doesn't work, keep trying other things until you find something that works for you.

Capt_Apollo

i used to do the same. a cigarette, a couple of drinks, some tv. but i found that i wasn't sleeping well. i thought it was just from not getting enough sleep.

well, little by little i started to cut things out. stopped smoking because i was doing a lot of cardio and can't really keep that up and smoke. stopped drinking as much because of the calories. and stopped staying up watching TV because i needed to start getting out early in the morning for long runs and bike rides.

i magically started sleeping better!!

so now, i avoid after dinner drinks. usually just a glass of wine or two with dinner. also, no mixing alcohol. if i came home after a particularly long day and poured a glass of Knob Creek, i'm not gonna have wine with dinner.

i stopped smoking a while ago. not worth it. i feel like one cigarette alone will undo a weeks worth of cardio.

and i crawl in bed and read at night. usually out within one chapter.

mygnsac

I'm one of those people who don't fall alseep easily. I've always been so jealous of those who can just close their eyes and drift off to sleep. My Dad is like that, but I definitely didn't inherit that from him! My brain just doesn't want to quiet down.

I've found some tricks over the last few months that have really been helping me though. (1) I put black out tabs over the little lights on the electronic devices in my bedroom. I find I relax a lot quicker in a pitch black room; (2) I disengage from all electronic devices at least 15 minutes before I go to bed; and (3) before I lay down, I get in a comfortable seated position and slowly breath in and out through the nose for a few minutes. I focus on my shoulders raising slowly towards my ears as I breathe in and then falling slowly back down as I breathe out. I've not perfected meditation in any way, but I guess this my version of it. I've been so shocked at how it really helps to relax you and quiet the mind.

JenSD6

I find that reading in bed is necessary to help me quiet down my mind. Sometimes I take a bit of melatonin, but I haven't felt the need for it since I started getting up early every morning to exercise. By 9:30 I'm tired, and it's not long before my Kindle is falling out of my hands.

Wookinpanub

1. *kitten*

Nice one :devil:

Amelia0471

I had the same issue, so I bought a workout dvd to do early in the morning before my son wakes up that way by about 10pm its way easier to fall asleep. You could also try sleepy time tea, works wonders.

sw33tp3a11

Cheap wine and a good book

DjinnMarie

Hot decaf tea and trash tv. Lol

Then I move to the bed to read. Im out in 5 minutes. Unless it's a sookie stack house book, those books had me up all night.

PrizePopple

Bubble bath and incense.

On rare occasions I will take melatonin.

SlimMe37

I play games on the ipad amd watch telly. Usually at the same time lol I have a coffee prob an hr before bed and a small snack.