Not able to sleep: But Back after 3 years and 2 kids

[quiktaco]

I first learned about lucid dreaming in 2007 ish. I did it for a while, and kept a dream journal filling 1-2 pages a night. At that point, I had I think 9 lucid dreams, probably in about a years time. After that, my wife and I, had our first child, and a couple years later, we had our second. They are 1.5 years, and 3.5 years now. Obviously from the lack of sleep with kids, and all the responsibility, I didn't have time to even think about lucid dreaming. Now that the kids aren't infants anymore, over this last week, I rediscovered lucid dreaming, and actually had my first LD in years within 2 days of keeping my dream journal again (only lasted about 30 dream seconds, though). Onto my problems. Since having the kids, I haven't been able to fall asleep easily. It will usually take me an hour or so on a good day. Tried all the relaxation techniques and anything else I could find. Have got a prescription...Ambien... but I don't really dream much when I take it, and dream recall when I do take it is sketchy, if I can even remember anything at all. I'd just like to see if there are tips for falling asleep. I think that is my first battle to win before I work on the other aspects of going lucid.

[Arch]

Ive heard setting yourself to go to bed at a certain time no matter what is the best way to do so. Try this, it doesnt matter how tired you are, make sure you go to bed at said time. Other methods I would suggest are bath>relaxingmusic>sleep Good luck!

[quiktaco]

Ive heard setting yourself to go to bed at a certain time no matter what is the best way to do so. Try this, it doesnt matter how tired you are, make sure you go to bed at said time. Other methods I would suggest are bath>relaxingmusic>sleep Good luck! With two young kids, going to bed (and staying in bed) at specific times usually isn't possible. I try to be in bed at 10.30pm every night. But that often doesn't happen. And my youngest likes to wake recently around 11ish. I'll try your other suggestion...and attempt going to bed at specific times. Thanks. Anything else I could try? I've tried tv, music, no lights, melatonin, binadryl, working out, and a bunch of other things. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't. Nothing is ever consistent. Except for the Ambien, but I don't remember dreams with that, and I don't like taking it much either.

[Yosma]

I'm 17 and it takes me well over an hour to fall asleep and always have. I find that when I'm falling asleep I stop thinking about external stimuli and my thoughts are my only world. Of course it is extremely hard to just not notice anything happening to you on the outside which is why it takes so long to fall asleep.

[Puffin]

Welcome back to Dreamviews, quiktaco, and congrats on the lucid. I've found that simply letting my thoughts wander, without trying to steer them in any certain direction, is helpful when I want to fall asleep fast. I don't daydream as I'm falling asleep or think about anything besides what my mind is wanting to show me. Sleep medications have been known to, surprise, cause deeper sleep and possibly even suppress REM (and in turn dream recall). Taking Ambien may make it more difficult to get decent recall, so do a bit of research on more natural ways to fall asleep.

[quiktaco]

I got the kids down at 8.15pm, and I was able to get to bed by 10pm. One hour before bed, I took a melatonin, and binadryl (have bad allergies anyways). I also had a tablespoon of glutamine (which stimulates the human growth hormone for recovery, and in turn helps you get recuperative sleep). And lastly, I made sure I was completely hydrated, having a full glass of water (I think that's one of my main problems maybe) I fell asleep pretty well. maybe about 15-20 minutes. I also was able to remember many of my dreams. Got two pages, for about 3-4 separate dreams. Most of what I remember was after about 4am. If this routine works well for me, then I might have fixed my problems. I used to be great with my dream recall. I'd easily get 2 pages in my journal. Since I've had the kids though, it's been so tough. Last night, between 1.30am to about 3am, I was not sleeping well. I'd wake up every 5-10 minutes. But the rest of the night was good.