5 Strategies for a Good Night's Sleep

Do you sleep through the whole night soundly? I used to, long ago. Then I started having babies and waking through the night alongside them. The babies have all grown now but still, at times, I find it difficult to sleep through the night. Recently a friend’s daughter, Anna, starting waking in the night. As I was giving my friend advice I realized I have a whole arsenal of strategies for going back to sleep when I wake up at 3 a.m.

So here is what works for me; strategies I use to sleep.

1. If Benydryl (or fill in the blank) is not working for you, then stop taking it! It doesn't work for me. It helps me get to sleep, but as soon as it wears off it makes me WIDE AWAKE!
2. Try taking a warm Epsom salt bath (go ahead, google it) sometime in the evening before you go to bed. I find it to be very relaxing and sleep inducing.
3. If I have to get up during the night for some reason, I try not to turn the light on because it wakes me further. I use a night light or a flash light if I can’t see.
4. I never give in and start “making good use” of irregular awake time by reading or watching television. For me, this would start a bad habit. My body would think it was supposed to get up at 3:47 am every morning to read a book.
5. Don’t think! Stay groggy! Whenever I wake before I should, I try to remain groggy until I can get back to sleep. I will pray the rosary, or sing a hymn in my head, but I do my best to not think about anything.

This morning when I awoke at 3:23, instead of using my sleep strategies, I started formulating an article about them in my head. I few minutes into my thought process I caught myself and groaned. Then I asked our Blessed Mother to rock me to sleep and started praying the rosary.

Praying the rosary helps me realize that I am sleeping more than I thought I was. Today I started praying around 3:30am. I was convinced I wasn't sleeping. However, I rolled over, looked at the clock and saw that it was 5:30am and I was still on the first decade. Maybe it wasn't a deep sleep, but it was sleep. The rosary helps me realize that I am really sleeping and that reduces my anxiety about not sleeping (Anxiety about not sleeping does not induce sleep). On the rare occasion that I finish the rosary, I think I must have really needed that prayer time. This has only happened once in the last 10 years.

The cool thing about singing hymns in my head (slow ones, nothing with an invigorating beat) until I fall back asleep is that every once in a while, when later I wake up to the alarm clock, the hymn is still playing distinctly in my head. It's like the angels have roused me from sleep!

Do you have difficulty staying asleep at night? Do you have any strategies to share?