A Wife Loved Like The Church

In college I perfected my sleeping skills. After all, isn’t that what college is about? Learning to sleep in class? No? Well, all the same, I learned how to nap effectively, sleep anywhere and fall asleep fast.

However, I never learned how to stay asleep. Which is fairly crucial, especially as a mom. But, I’m learning and thought I’d pass along my tips for middle of the night insomnia.

1o Ways to Battle Nighttime Insomnia

1. Stay in bed – Unless you just have to get up to pee, don’t get up. Getting up just makes you wake up even more.

2. Don’t look at the clock – During my pregnancy with Julia, my insomnia got so bad, I’d be awake for hours. I remember a co-worker telling me to turn the clock around, so that when I did wake up, I wouldn’t fixate on how much sleep I was loosing. It helped more than I expected.

3. Read – This is best done with an iPad or Kindle, so you can keep the lights to a minimum, but reading can help put your mind at ease and induce sleep {or just get you through a few more chapters!}.

4. Journal – A lot on your mind? Right them down to get them off your mind so you can rest again.

5. Watch T.V. – When I just can’t sleep, and reading doesn’t help, I slip downstairs and turn on some PBS. Snooze….

6. Drink some hot chocolate – Typically speaking, I avoid eating anything overnight, but drinking warm milk does wonders. It’s soothing and relaxing.

7. Warm shower/bath – The warm water is a lot like warm milk – soothing and relaxing.

8. Change locations – Moving to a spare room or the couch can help trick you mind into thinking it’s time to go back to sleep.

9. Embrace your “alone time” – Let’s face it, sometimes sleep just isn’t gonna happen. So do something. Clean. Prep for the day. Catch up on emails. And hope you can get a nap the next day.

10. Pray – Saturday night, I was up for 4 hours. I even took a crawesome 3 mile run at 2:30 am. None of my “tricks” for falling back asleep worked. In the end, I just prayed. And prayed a lot. I battled through some crazy fears and doubts. By the end, I fell asleep peacefully.

Do you battle with insomnia? What are your trick/tips?

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