Battling insomnia - part 2

February 11, 4:08 PMSeattle Early Marriage ExaminerLacey Kern

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With the presence of a sinus infection and the worries of married life, my insomnia has only been increasing lately. Since I wrote the last article, my husband is also starting to have trouble sleeping. I tactfully suggested that perhaps so much Gears of War 3 right before bedtime might be a contributing factor (and he agreed), but for those of us who don’t have an Xbox addiction I searched for the best tips that aren’t as obvious as skipping the coffee before bed.

1. Use the bed and bedroom only for sex and sleeping.
2. Follow a regular bedtime routine, and try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. A professor in college told me once that it’s worse to have an irregular sleep routine than it is to regularly not get enough sleep, i.e., don’t totally throw out your sleep schedule on the weekends.
3. Don’t eat or drink too close to bedtime, not even alcohol. While it might make you sleepy right after, odds are you’ll be wide awake a few hours later and unable to fall back asleep.
4. If noise is a problem, buy a fan or other device to create a background of white noise in your room to drown out small things that might wake you up.
5. Exercise at the right time. If working out makes you more alert, mornings are probably best, but if it wears you out, try it in the evening. (Hint: combining tips 1 and 5 might be a very effective way to get to sleep).
6.  If you lie awake thinking about the stresses of the day, making a pre-bedtime to-do list with a plan for how to get everything done might help you relax.
7.  While you don’t want to eat a full meal too close to bedtime, some foods if eaten in small amounts an hour or so before bed have properties that can help lull you to sleep. WebMD suggests milk, tuna, halibut, pumpkin, artichokes, avocados, almonds, eggs, bok choy, peaches, walnuts, apricots, oats, asparagus, potatoes, buckwheat, and bananas.
8.  Reduce the amount of time spent watching TV or on the computer right before bed. The stimulation provided to your brain could keep you up longer than you want.
9.  Taking a short shower or hot bath before bed might help lull you to sleep – the hot water can relax your muscles, especially in our recent winter weather.
10.  If the frigid cold doesn’t bother you, though, and you like the fresh air, cracking your window at night or for a few hours before bed might help you. Just make sure your bedroom’s temperature doesn’t drop too low – 68 degrees is the lowest ideal temperature according to WebMD.
11. If you enjoy meditation, try a technique called “Blue Energy” by LifeHacker.com writer Ryan Irelan.

Finally, if none of these work for you, there’s always the wikiHow guide for “How to Count Sheep.” If nothing else, at least you’ll get a good laugh.