# Help turn this "light" sleeper into a "heavy" sleeper **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-turn-this-light-sleeper-into-a-heavy-sleeper/224678 "2004-01-15T23:48:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-turn-this-light-sleeper-into-a-heavy-sleeper/224678/1 "2004-01-15T23:48:43Z")
(and please don’t suggest I should gain 100 pounds!) 😉 I am an extremely light sleeper - the tiniest thing will usually wake me up. Then I also normally have a tough time falling asleep again. My S/O snores. Therefore, we cannot sleep together unless I wear earplugs, which sometimes help and sometimes don’t. Other things that wake me up - the newspaper being delivered in the morning, the furnace turning on, S/O going from his room to the bathroom. It’s ridiculous! Can I somehow “train” myself to become a less sensitive, more tolerant sleeper, or am I doomed to a life of sleeping alone …? S. ---
**Author:** ![Thaumaturge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Thaumaturge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaumaturge)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-turn-this-light-sleeper-into-a-heavy-sleeper/224678/2 "2004-01-16T00:37:07Z")
Joining the military helps. 😛 Heavy excercise during the day ( not evening) can help. Melatonin works wonders to help me fall asleep, but I’m only a light sleeper for the first part of the night, after a few hours not even falling out of bed can wake me. ---
**Author:** ![Waddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bb73d2/32.png) [@Waddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waddle)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-turn-this-light-sleeper-into-a-heavy-sleeper/224678/3 "2004-01-16T00:43:48Z")
Heavy exercise, when I can’t sleep a couple sets of fifty push-ups and/or sit-ups and/or a 20 min jog helps alot. Also a good strong beer or two and I’m lucky if the alarm wakes me. But other than that I can’t help much. Just try to be more physicly active during the day. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-turn-this-light-sleeper-into-a-heavy-sleeper/224678/4 "2004-01-16T01:00:38Z")
**Stainz** - were you always a light sleeper, even as a child, or did this develop later? The distractions you’ve mentioned so far are aural. You might try sleeping with a white noise generator to mask other sounds. Or you could try sleeping while playing a cd with the sounds of the ocean or a woodland stream. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-turn-this-light-sleeper-into-a-heavy-sleeper/224678/5 "2004-01-16T01:23:38Z")
You (and/or your SO) may want to talk with your doctor about getting a sleep study to see if there are any issues with your sleep. I recently had one for my snoring, and I wrote about it in an [MPSIMS Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=231134). Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_in\_NM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@Carl\_in\_NM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_in_NM)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-turn-this-light-sleeper-into-a-heavy-sleeper/224678/6 "2004-01-16T05:08:53Z")
If you haven’t tried them already, get some “Breathe Right” nasal strips. Without them, I have similar sleep problems as what you describe. Could be that you aren’t breathing as well as you should be while sleeping. It wont cost much to try them and I hope it helps. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-turn-this-light-sleeper-into-a-heavy-sleeper/224678/7 "2004-01-16T07:14:39Z")
You might want to try making the room you sleep in colder (warm blankets are still OK). I know I sleep more solidly when the room is chilly, but I’ve got a good blanket. ---
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-turn-this-light-sleeper-into-a-heavy-sleeper/224678/8 "2004-01-16T21:30:41Z")
Papermache Prince - Yes, I’ve been a light sleeper all my life. It’s quite a nuisance. I don’t believe it’s a breathing problem or anything, because there is always a reason involving “noise” whenever I wake up through the night. Exercising more may help me be more “tired”, but I’m usually quite exhausted by the time I go to bed, regardless of what has transpired during the day. I guess what I’m wondering is can one TRAIN oneself to become a less fussy sleeper - should I be exposing myself to more noise & disruption, in order to hopefully become more tolerant? Or will that only cause me many sleepless nights, to no avail? S. ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-turn-this-light-sleeper-into-a-heavy-sleeper/224678/9 "2004-01-17T00:00:08Z")
Like you, I’ve been a very light sleeper all my life. Even the slightest noises will wake me up and I also take forever to get to sleep. Not to be a downer, but I really doubt you can do much about it, at least, non-medicated-wise. As a student who has lived in dorms and private units, “disruption” has most definitely NOT improved my sleeping. ☹