I saw this cartoon yesterday and it made me think of this question.
I’m an incredibly fussy sleeper. Fortunately my bed partner is an sweetly tolerant cat. I can’t imagine another human being putting up with me. (I wasn’t always this way…)
What are your requirements re
Room temperature
Light/darkness
Sound/silence
Bed clothes – yours AND the bed’s
Alarm or not?
Before-bed rituals that seem necessary to you (i.e., TV, music, reading, prayer, tea, booze, medication)
Spill the beans. We’ll still love you… and probably top your quirkiness.
When I first moved to this house after 20 years in the country I had forgotten that it never really gets dark in the city at night Lots of ambient light from everywhere, especially if there’s a low cloud cover. After nine years I’m used to it now, but I sometimes sleep with an eye mask. I listen to a recording that talks me down into sleep, but after that I want silence. I used to sleep with earplugs, but need to be able to hear Sweetie (old doggie) if she gets up in the night, which she does sometimes these days.
I’ve never had a TV in the bedroom, but many nights, I watch an episode of Father Brown in the living room as a precursor to turning in. I don’t watch anything stressful, and never watch news on TV at any time of day. I don’t eat anything after 7:15 pm, so no snacking.
As in the cartoon above, I’m all about pillows. Two under my head, not right on top of each other, but offset, another one to hug, sometimes another one between my knees, and sometimes a small firm one against the small of my back. I tried one of those giant u-shaped body pillows, but it interfered with another of my quirks: the covers HAVE to touch my body. No air space or drafts. You’d think I’d be a candidate for a weighted blanket, but I got a 12-pounder and felt like I was being smothered. Usually once I’m settled, which takes a fair amount of thrashing about, my patient bed cat crawls up on my waist area and falls fast asleep.
Temperature-warm enough but not so much I sweat. I used to sleep with the radio on; no more. The parking lights outside the window are my nightlight. No pillow-I use a folded blanket as one. No alarm. Just a soft blanket to cover my bottom half.
I want it dark and quiet. Husband wants to sleep with the TV on, at the same volume he would use if he was actually watching the show. So I wear a sleep mask to keep the light out, and have to listen to Hogan’s Heroes cranked up to 11 until he falls asleep. Then I can finally shut it off, pee, and get some rest.
We sleep with two large dogs, and bitch about it, but I wouldn’t want to be without them either.
Bed clothes – yours AND the bed’s: Mine: cotton gym shorts. Bed: cotton sheets, blanket, bedspread, one soft pillow for hugging, one firm one for head.
Alarm or not?: Backup alarm in case I oversleep, but I haven’t failed to get up before my alarm in a few years, sadly.
Before-bed rituals that seem necessary to you (i.e., TV, music, reading, prayer, tea, booze, medication): Read a bit, one last trip to empty bladder.
I like to sleep alone. It’s fun to snuggle with my man when I’m winding down for the night, or early in the morning when I’m waking up, but not when I’m actually trying to sleep. My previous husband/boyfriends used to take offense at this and it would cause fights if I tried to move to the couch, but my current boyfriend is cool with it.
Light: dark with ambient outside light - I like to keep the shades open so I can see stars from my pillow, and also know it’s time to get up as the sky pales.
Pillow: small and NOT fluffy under the head, plus a hug pillow (what??).
Position: side sleeper, which means changing sides several times per night, usually triggered by my arm falling asleep, or my hand falling asleep under my chin.
Clothes: loose underwear, otherwise I get tangled from all my thrashing. Cotton sheets tucked in only at the foot but loose otherwise (I like to have my feet hang off the edge), layered thin blankets, and a comforter in winter.
Alarm: Nope. See the part about waking as the sun rises.
Before bed rituals: some light reading on my tablet. I do not use a TV for this.
Companions: None. I now use the guest bedroom full-time. Dog does not like all the movement so sleeps with my wife in the master bedroom. (Maybe a topic for another thread - how may of you with a SO sleep in separate rooms?).
I’d say that the photos in the OP describe my bed habits exactly, with the exception of not using a pillow behind my back but instead covering most of my head except my nose. The less pillows available to me ( say at someone else’s home or a hotel ) the less well I sleep.
I like covers up to my shoulders and as such like it quite cool in the room; this means the generous use of A/C in the summer ( plus a fan blowing across me ) and very sparing use of heat during the winter…I don’t care if the bedroom temp gets down below 60F.
I prefer dark but can deal with some light leaks…hence covering my head with a pillow.
I “need” white noise, either from a fan or my white noise machine. Earplugs are used as soon as it’s daylight out enough for the neighbor’s hired lawnmowers with their super annoying loud equipment.
No alarm. I work second shift and therefore do need need to be awakened by one; I rise naturally at ten thirty-something AM and/or after I smell coffee form my automatic brewer set to go off at 10:45.
dim/dark but not pitch black. I’d like to see my hand in front of my face. Sleeping in a moonlit room is best.
-white noise or ambient sound. I hate a deafening silence when your ears start to ring.
-air movement. Either an open window or a ceiling fan.
I sleep in a loft so the pets get the colder part of the house, sorry about that! I’m fussy about my sheets, have to be 100% cotton and crisp. Pillows are good quality down. I have two head pillows, a boyfriend pillow (that’s relatively recent–I had sequential frozen shoulders and needed to keep the shoulder that hurt elevated) and a bolster pillow to prop up my paperback size tablet. I usually fall asleep on the couch watching tv through my eyelids, then wake up a couple hours later when I need to stretch out so I put away the couch blanket, pee one last time then lights off and up the ladder I go. I don’t sleep in clothes unless I’m sick and sleep on my left side while on the couch but right side in bed. Not sure what’s up with that. I’d like my bed to be darker but I have streetlights outside, feh. I can’t abide curtains completely over the window though, need to be able to look out and check the weather in the morning. I usually read myself to sleep then read for a while in the morning after I wake up, depending on the whims of my bladder. White noise and air movement are 24/7 courtesy of an air purifier. I sleep completely alone, no pets allowed even if they COULD climb the ladder, which only one of the cats is capable of but she’s blocked from accessing the ladder. I need ONE pet fur free zone!
warm to hot room, cold sets off allergies. the only time a cold room is acceptable is if i’m nauseated. i will be shivering cold to avoid regurgitation.
high count cotton sheets, comforter. tank or tee, shorts or underpants, i have been known to sleep in a sweater/bed jacket\robe upon occasion.
2 pillows off set for head, 2 sets of this, for side turning. body pillows on both sides of the bed for side turning.
i live in the city and have cats so there is ambient light. i have roman shades, window closest to the head of the bed is totally down, the other is about 4 inches up for the cat to look out.
if i don’t fall asleep right away or need to block neighbour noise, i listen to cabin pressure at a soft volume. that can get pretty wild sometimes as on non work nights i have it on shuffle. work nights just the final episode as that is an hour long and on echo dot.
i have 3 alarms set at half hour intervals. after the first alarm i will turn on npr. boy howdy, that can give you wild dreams sometimes. after the first alarm the cat will want to cuddle around my head until the next alarm, then he will move to next to me between alarm 2 and 3. he is not happy if i get up on alarm 1 or 2.
usually read a bit, sometimes that can back fire as a bit more becomes whole book and 3-4 am.
I like to sleep on my side in a room that’s on the cool side and as quiet as possible. At home, I use two pillows and when I’m staying elsewhere, I fold the pillow in half if there isn’t a second pillow available. My alarm has a bed shaker attachment which I have never slept through (unlike an audio alarm) and it gives me the option of using earplugs if my neighbors are making too much noise. I sleep on a cot with a sleeping bag under me and a sheet and blankets on top of me. When it’s warm, I wear shorts and a t-shirt and when it’s cold, I wear sweats and a t-shirt.
My strangest sleeping quirk is that I sleep in red light rather than darkness. I have smart bulbs that can change color in my living room and bedroom. They are on a timer to change to red at night and to white at the same time my alarm goes off. I like having a little light at night partly because I live alone and feel safer with a light on and partly so if I have to get up for something, I won’t have to turn on the light. I’m fine sleeping in darkness when I am sleeping somewhere else, though.
-TV off.
-two pillows, not too hard, not too soft.
-prefer to be naked and prefer my wife be naked too
-I sleep better with the alarm set, even though I’m almost always awake before it goes off. Just more relaxed not worried about oversleeping.
-sheets not too tight around my feet. In fact, I’ll often have my feet exposed.
I like my room to be about 65 degrees, but I have several blankets to keep me plenty warm. I am starting to think I might like something to keep my ears warm though since I’ve been keeping my hair short.
I leave the tv on and then it goes to a picture rotation if I fail to chose next episode, or something. That works as a good night light, but I also have a string of blue lights in the front room that send a soft glow down the hall.
I’m just now adding pillows for neck, legs, back, etc. per instructions from my physical therapist. We’ll see what sticks.
No alarm, I haven’t needed one for years. I just wake up usually around 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning.
I’m up a lot for the bathroom, so I don’t get a lot of really good sleep. I had a brief dream the other night and it’s the first one I can remember in years.
I think I need a nap now. I do that a lot too. Short naps during the day.
I have a glass of water handy, too, but it’s a travel tumbler with a cover. About 50 years ago, I used to keep a regular glass of water on the beside table. One morning when I woke up, there was a ginormous dead cockroach floating in it. Thank God I didn’t take a drink in the dark. I learned that lesson immediately. The glass has been a covered one ever since.
I’m with you. I want the room to be warm-ish, usually in the mid-70s.
I learned that lesson immediately. The glass has been a covered one ever since.