When falling asleep, my feet are nearly always stuck out to the side (no sheet-untucking needed). Since I don’t want them dangling in the air, this winds up requiring that there is basically a divot on the side of the covers, which then go back over the rest of me.
3 pillows. One for my head, one to rest my “upper” arm on (I fall asleep on my side), and one to jam behind my back if I’m facing the middle of the bed (vs the edge).
I MUST have something to listen to to fall asleep. Otherwise my brain focuses on something stressful and keeps me awake. Podcasts and audiobooks work - music does not: it has to be enough to sort of occupy my mind, but not be so fascinating that I stay up to listen to it.
Covers are a requirement. Even in warm weather, I need SOMETHING over me beyond my nightgown . In the summer, this often resulted in my basically having a sheet basically from armpits to just below my hips (since, feets gotta be free!). But in general, the more substantial the better: I kinda wonder if it’s a sensory thing - like so many people find weighted blankets to be beneficial.
I go through bouts of really wanting a drink on the nightstand, and really not. Because I’m clumsy, though, a glass of water won’t do - too much risk of spills. I’ll use a water bottle, ideally one with a sports cap (because that, I can drink from even wearing my CPAP pillows).
The two must haves are dark and white noise of some sort. Generally a fan or a youtube video of rain or wave sounds. Then generally I want it cold; I’ll sleep with the window open in the winter. Often I want a pillow between my knees, but that varies day to day.
I started using an electric fan as a white noise generator when I had my own apartment. Got some new neighbors one day, not sure which apartment was theirs but they snored. Loud. Tried sleeping on an a big air bed* in the living room but eventually I hit on the idea to use a box fan to drown 'em out.
Now it’s difficult for me to fall asleep without a fan on. These days, I have two fans so I get the white noise at maximum volume no matter if I’m on my left or right side. Yeah, even in winter; the fans are on but pointed away from the bed.
*A Fun Island, actually. Basically the same thing.
If I think even for one second about the monsters, I am fucked for hours. There’s a scene from a movie that cannot be considered while in bed or sleeping is off the table for the night.
I both do not like to have anything touch me while I sleep and require that no breeze or air can touch my skin. This requires an assortment of pillows to keep the sheet off of me. If anything is too close under my nose, I feel like I’m suffocating.
I sleep naked because I can’t stand clothes bunching up under me. I feel every single thing on my sheets, so I spend a lot of time smoothing the sheet and picking off tiny bits of lint.
I used to be able to sleep anywhere, any time, with heavy blankets and dogs. Now I can’t sleep for shit and every little thing bothers me.
Very dark, very quiet, on the cool side. I sleep in gym shorts and a t-shirt with no covers whatsoever, while my husband sleeps with a comforter, socks and a knitted cap.
My husband sleeps through the night, while I’m in and out of bed several times.
Since I usually stay up until 4 or 5 a.m. and thus are also sleeping during daylight hours, the amount of light doesn’t matter. I do like it cold, though. 65 degrees in winter and 72 with the ceiling fan on high in summer. I have the usual cotton sheets and bedspread. In the winter, though, I add two ultraplush blankets to sleep between. I started doing this several years ago when I bought some and thought it was a shame you couldn’t sleep on them. And then thought, why not? They are sooooo soft and warm. Like sleeping between kitten fur.
I like a thick firm pillow for my head but not memory foam. It needs to be firm and pliable. A few years ago, I fractured my left elbow and since I’m a side sleeper, I got a big fuzzy pillow to put at my back to keep me from rolling over on my arm. I kept that as a hug pillow since I usually sleep on my left side. I don’t wear anything to sleep in since it seems sort of silly to wear clothes when you are in a bed with covers.
It’s pretty much quiet in my neighborhood so noise isn’t a problem and I don’t need any sounds to put me to sleep. I still use my alarm clock but now that I’m retired, it’s more of a suggestion unless I really need to get up at a certain time.
Me too. Mostly when I am visiting, unless it get really cold, I never get under the covers at all. I do like having the window open any time of year.
Same at home really. At the moment it is Summer and my bed only has a fitted sheet on it and a light doona chucked on the side I don’t sleep on. If I wake up cold I grab it. If it is too hot I turn on the fan at the foot of the bed.
I stumble into the bedroom having taken a few hits on my pen, exhausted. Nothing matters. Last night was horrible; my gf went to bed early with Loki and Kizzy, then I had to squeeze in. Got my 6 hours, though.
My requirements: horizontal, ideally with a blanket and pillow, but those aren’t necessities.
Room temp: 70°F. The daughter who still lives with me likes 66°F. We both have thermostat apps on our phones. Every night we engage in thermostat battles.
Pillows: I need lots of pillows. I have 4 king-sized pillows and a supersize pillow that acts as my faux bed-mate (oh, the stories I could tell!). I also have this specialty between-the-leg pillow.
Untucked sheets: I have severe diabetic peripheral neuropathy in my lower extremities. Even the pressure from sheets and blankets causes pain and burning. I sleep perpendicular to the long axis of the bed, with my feet extended off the side.
Quick slip-on slippers at the bedside: when you’re a man of my age, you spend as much time on the john as you do in the bed. Not having quick access could have dire consequences.
Room to work: I have wires crisscrossing the bed (king-sized) to charge my cellphone, laptop, vape, and coffee warmer.
Soft mini-blanket for the cat: Benny (the cat) joins me in bed multiple times every night. He insists on jumping on me each time, waking me up each time. If he interrupts a nightmare, he gets petted. If he interrupts a sex dream, he gets spanked (bad cat spank, not the other kind).
TV: I can sleep with, or without noise. My ex insisted on sleeping with 24-hour news on TV every night. I got used to it. The newscasts often got incorporated into my dreams and nightmares (can’t tell you how many times I found myself in Afghanistan, or hobnobbing with the Kardashians).
I sleep on my back with a wedge pillow and a mostly-flat pillow on top of it. I wear a long t-shirt as a sleep shirt year-round because my husband likes the ceiling fan on and I hate when my shoulders get cold. Even with the covers pulled up under my chin, I can’t be certain they’ll stay there all night. And because of the fan, I always have covers - minimum sheet and light blanket, currently sheet, electric blanket, comforter. I have to be warm. And it must be dark. And quiet. And no pets.
It’s a problem when we visit my inlaws because the dog sleeps with us then, which means she plasters herself against me.
Sound/silence - absolute quiet, unless it’s a night I can’t turn my brain off and then I’ll put a Time Team episode on the iPad to listen to. I love the show, but there’s something about the music and the general cadence of it that’s soporific for me. I generally hate white noise, though I’ve gotten used to the HVAC unit kicking on. It’s too loud in the summer if the window is open and I’ve forgotten to reset the temp, but it’s kind of a comforting sound in the winter.
Bed clothes – yours AND the bed’s - Me, nothing. The bed, cool crisp sheets with the bottom sheet pulled taut. Top needs to be layers I can flip off and on depending on what my internal furnace is doing. Sheets must be long enough to hang well down, but I don’t want them tucked since I’m another leg-hanger.
Alarm or not? - Nope, not unless I need to be up before 5am.
Before-bed rituals that seem necessary to you (i.e., TV, music, reading, prayer, tea, booze, medication) - I tend to read in bed sipping a final glass of wine. Sometimes it’s hot tea, if the weather’s particularly foul or I don’t feel well. And yes, I can drink a giant mug of strong black tea with milk and sugar and then turn the light out and sleep like the dead.
I’m happiest sleeping on the right side of the bed, and I must have a side table or something for my glasses and iPad. No phone, no TV. I’d actually prefer to sleep alone with just the cats, but my husband isn’t a fan of that idea, and we don’t have a spare room anyway.
Letting Pluto the spaniel sleep next to me seems to aid in a good night’s sleep, even when he gradually oozes towards the middle of the bed during the night.
I like my bed in the corner of the room. Only two sides to defend.
That is actually kind of true… I was terribly afraid of the dark as a child. Now, im just used to my bed in the corner.
However, I did spend 23 years in the military, and can pretty much sleep anywhere. I’ve literally slept cargo strapped to the top of a communication module.
Temperature: Cool, but not cold. The ambient temperature in our bedroom is usually around 18 C / 65 F, but we have floor heating, so the floor is warm.
Air: Have to have the window open, just little bit. If we’re in a hotel room, we usually have a fan running, if there’s not possible to open a window.
Dark. We have black-out curtains, also due to the blasted landscape light outside our window. It’s part of the complex, otherwise, we;d change it.
Quiet. I find it’s noisier at my sister-in-law’s place in the country, at least in the summer, due to the insects. Considering getting some sort of white noise machine due to the tinnitus I developed in the last year.
Mattress: Firm, but not hard
Pillow: 1, feather. 40% of the time it’s on the floor.
Bed clothes: Bed is wearing linen fitted sheet and a linen duvet cover. Duvet is a down 4 season duvet. There are two layers, one thick, one thin. Combine or separate, depending on the season. No flat sheet, sometimes an extra blanket, when it’s -10 C / 14 F outside. Duvet has to cover the entire body, but may not touch the front of my neck.
People clothes: None. Hubby gave up pajamas when we was about 13, I gave them up when we moved in together.
Alarm: 1, set to wave noise, for weekdays. Both yesterday (Saturday) and today I woke up at my normal alarm time.
Before-bed rituals: Brush teeth, wash face, use the toilet. After getting into bed, Vaseline for my lips and hand lotion for my hands, sometimes also for my lower legs and feet. We have a LED light strip which is set to red for the evening, and both night lamps have red filters. I normally do not read in bed.
