I have insomnia.
I've battled it for years. Most nights, I'm able to take a couple of Benadryl and drift off to sleep.
And some nights I can't. About once every week or so, I can't go to sleep. I lay in bed and toss and turn and my mind just won't shut down.
I'll be frank. I need my sleep. I spend my days teaching 3 year olds. I have 3 teenagers. I have a full life.
I get really cranky if I don't get enough sleep.
So I don't skimp when it comes to my bed.
The quilt was handmade by my mom. It's a gorgeous decoration, but what really matters is what's underneath.
An egg crate mattress pad. Topped with a 2 inch memory foam mattress pad. It's heaven.
Now I do have pillow issues. I'm a side sleeper (almost exclusively) and I need something firm enough to support my head. Not hard. Firm. And definitely not soft. Can't stand soft. Dan and I go through pillows like crazy. We buy new ones every few months. We splurged a few months ago and bought really nice pillows.
Dan hates his. I say that's OK, I'll use his when mine wears out. He's back to using a cheaper version. And that works, too. My favorite are the memory foam pillows but after a few months on them, I start waking up with headaches. Easier and cheaper just to buy firm regular pillows and replace them every few months.
Anyway... our big new purchase this week was new sheets. The sheets we had previously were several years old and showed it. There was a hole at the bottom of one. When I was tossing and turning and unable to sleep, I'd get my toe caught in the sheet, toss again... and there'd be a bigger hole. Something had to be done.
I bought jersey sheets. T-shirt sheets. Whatever you call them.
Dan wasn't sure. He thought they'd be hot, or not big enough to go over our extra 5 inches of mattress topper or whatever. He was wrong. And the sheets are heaven.
Any other suggestions for improving my sleeping experience? I've tried white noise generators but they annoy me. I have aromatherapy, but half the time I forgot to use it and when I do, it seems I have even more trouble shutting my mind down. Relaxes my body, but not my mind. I'm open to suggestions...
