Used to have terrible trouble falling asleep, and sometimes do still, but having a toddler has resulted in me being tired almost all the time.
My daughter needs to be cuddled to sleep, so on my nights for it I usually can keep the warm sleepy fuzzies with me into my bed.
On mom’s nights I have a routine:
If I’m hungry or thirsty I deal with it first. Usually something with a little protein in it and water.
I have a “sleep” playlist of relaxing music where most tracks I’ve heard a ton of times and can entirely tune out. I use a feature in my music player app (PowerAmp) to play all the tracks from it using a quiet/soft EQ with the volume cut by about half, so no louder or “sharp” sections cut through me nodding off. I’ll set that up to play with a sleep timer to turn off in 30-45 minutes.
I also have a FOSS “relaxing noises” app where I’ve setup a specific mix of them that I find very soothing, and I set the volume on that to slightly drown out the music, so I have to focus a little to make out the music well. Set that on a sleep timer to stop 15 minutes after the music.
If wifey’s sharing the bed (sometimes my daughter co-sleeps with her), those sounds go through one half of some wired headphones into whichever of my ears isn’t against the pillow (side sleeper). Otherwise just low volume out of the phone speaker.
Tuck in, silky eye mask goes on, and trying to listen to the music through the noise takes just enough focus to shut up my brain and stray thoughts. Then I start tuning out the music somewhat automatically and doze off.
If I can’t tune out, then I can zone out to the relaxing ambient noises and music.
Usually out before the sleep timers stop the audio.
Used to have terrible trouble falling asleep, and sometimes do still, but having a toddler has resulted in me being tired almost all the time.
My daughter needs to be cuddled to sleep, so on my nights for it I usually can keep the warm sleepy fuzzies with me into my bed.
On mom’s nights I have a routine:
If I’m hungry or thirsty I deal with it first. Usually something with a little protein in it and water.
I have a “sleep” playlist of relaxing music where most tracks I’ve heard a ton of times and can entirely tune out. I use a feature in my music player app (PowerAmp) to play all the tracks from it using a quiet/soft EQ with the volume cut by about half, so no louder or “sharp” sections cut through me nodding off. I’ll set that up to play with a sleep timer to turn off in 30-45 minutes.
I also have a FOSS “relaxing noises” app where I’ve setup a specific mix of them that I find very soothing, and I set the volume on that to slightly drown out the music, so I have to focus a little to make out the music well. Set that on a sleep timer to stop 15 minutes after the music.
If wifey’s sharing the bed (sometimes my daughter co-sleeps with her), those sounds go through one half of some wired headphones into whichever of my ears isn’t against the pillow (side sleeper). Otherwise just low volume out of the phone speaker.
Tuck in, silky eye mask goes on, and trying to listen to the music through the noise takes just enough focus to shut up my brain and stray thoughts. Then I start tuning out the music somewhat automatically and doze off.
If I can’t tune out, then I can zone out to the relaxing ambient noises and music.
Usually out before the sleep timers stop the audio.