Bedtime Routine…not just for babies (Part 2: Routine)

We all want to get good sleep every night, but it seems only a dream. 
{Yep.  Play on words for ya.}  It’s tough with our schedules, the stress of life, and sometimes we just can’t seem to fall asleep when we want to.

When we were children, we likely had a bedtime.  We possibly had a night that involved dinner, bath, bedtime story, a kiss goodnight and lights out.  This, my friends, is called a bedtime routine and if it worked then, shouldn’t it also work now?

Somewhere along the lines with our busy lives, we lost the whole bedtime routine.  It very possibly had something to do with the time when it became “uncool” to go to bed early and suddenly only losers were getting really good sleep.  Or when we went off to college and discovered that some people actually sleep until noon or their first class they want to go to.  Or in the same atmosphere we discovered caffeine that could keep us up all night if we wanted and/or needed.  Thus began the break from healthy sleep habits!

My formula
Planning + Environment + Routine = Good Night Sleep

How does this happen??

If you haven’t read my first post on sleep environment…read it!  The environment in which we sleep is very important to the quality of sleep we get AND how quickly we fall asleep.  And while you’re at it, make sure you are planning your sleep as well.  Got those two items covered?  Let’s proceed…

Today we discuss the bedtime routine. This will probably be different for everyone, but the point is..you need one!  When we do the same things every time we get ready to go to bed, our body will eventually respond with sleepiness…a key component in getting to sleep. 😉

My routine goes a little something like this:

1. About an hour before bedtime I start getting ready.  Yep one whole hour.  This involves getting the pjs on, brushing my teeth, taking out my contacts.
2. I make my bedtime tea and if I’m hungry, a little bedtime snack.  I normally have cereal or a little oatmeal..something light.  This is what works for me because I know that if I am hungry going to bed I won’t be able to sleep and if I eat too much…the same thing.
3. I go up to my room, close the door, turn my sound machine on and turn just my lamp by my bed on.  I have my bedtime tea in my bedroom with my bedtime snack while watching a dvd or reading a book.
4. When I’m done, I brush my teeth and by then I am just about ready for sleep.
5. I make sure I use the restroom.  Sound silly?  Am I five and need to make sure I won’t wet the bed?  Well, that would be rather unpleasant, but think about how annoying and disruptive it is if you have to  get up in the middle of the night!
6. I set my phone on “bedtime.”  This is so important!  I don’t need to be woken in the middle of the night to be notified I got an e-mail or facebook message!  I turn those things on silent (not even vibrate) and have it so that my texting only vibrates once, and set my ringer to low (in case someone really needs to reach me).  Once I figured out how to silence the facebook and e-mails…my sleep has been so much better!
7. I have a portable DVD player in my room (no tv) so instead of putting it on “sleep” if I want to watch a little of a DVD at night, I just unplug it and let it drain the battery to shut itself off.  If you have a tv, there should be a “sleep” button.  It’s important that you don’t leave your tv on all night because the light can keep you from having a restful sleep.

Yummy oatmeal combo

Bedtime Biscottis go great with Bedtime Tea 🙂

I did the post on sleep environment after a friend requested I discuss more about sleep habits.
After writing the first post, I began to wonder..how do I know so much and why did  I start to become such a fanatic about sleep?

Well, there was a period in my life when I did not sleep a lot.  I was under the impression that as long as I had enough caffeine in me…sleep was unnecessary.  This may be physically true…for awhile…but the stress from lack of sleep started to get to my emotions, and bad.  I don’t share this very much, but I have had serious anger issues and troubles dealing with my emotions.  It got pretty scary once and I, with a counselor, discovered that this is almost ALWAYS caused by lack of sleep (for me).

I feel ya little guy!

I wanted to fix this area of my life because I was tired of overreacting to things and yelling at the BF over little issues and crying for no reason at all (except that I was overtired).  So I literally started to schedule my sleep.  In my phone.  I tried (and still try) to get eight hours every night and it has made such a difference!  I have since then created this bedtime routine to help me get to sleep as well.  It’s amazing how well your mind and emotions work when they are fresh each day.  I’m still not perfect, but now I know what can help me get to sleep.  This is why I am so passionate about sleeping well.  You may think I’m lame for turning in early or leaving the bar before close…but hey I gotta catch me some zzz’s!

I hope these posts can help you!  I know how frustrating it can be to be overly tired and I really would love for this knowledge to be passed along!


Let me know if these things work AND if you have any other suggestions!! 🙂

~Amanda aka Semi-Health Nut~