Sleeping during the day is hard.
Combine that with the fact that CA Cop sleeps half the week during the day and then switches to sleeping at night the other half so that he can see his babies.
That is a rough schedule. Now when you also add court into the mix often times during the middle of a day when he should be sleeping you end up with one tired man.
So I ask the following question: Do you have any tried and true methods to make the sleep happen, last, and feel restful? Have you (officers) or does your cop (family members) use any sleeping aids? Be it a pill, a beverage, a music mix, birds tweeting, ocean sounds? What is your process (or your cop's process) for winding down and staying down for the maximum amount of time? Have you ruled out sleeping pills? Why or why not?
I will comment later on our current process, but for now I really want to here any tips!
Melatonin is meant to promote better sleep, and usually allows me to fall asleep a lot faster. It doesn't work as well as prescrip sleep aids, but it also doesn't leave me feeling groggy in the morning if I don't get a full 8 hours. You might want to check that out and see how he feels.
ReplyDeletePlus melatonin is a hormone naturally produced by your body (it is supposed to keep your circadian rhythm on track), you're just supplying more of it. :-) I don't know of any police officers who use it (just a few fellow college students), but it's worth a shot!
Ear plugs and light proof curtains.
ReplyDeleteBoo, that sucks! JB's had graves this whole time so we feel your pain. Fortunately, JB is a cyborg who can fall asleep any time of day. But staying asleep during daylight hours in the summer is a challenge. Our bedroom windows are shaped like an upright rectangle (covered by blinds) topped by a triangle (uncovered by anything). The light streams in through the upper windows even when the blinds are drawn. Unhelpful! So he went to the drugstore and got posterboard that he cut into the shape of the exposed window and fit the pieces against the panes. The room is a lot darker, and a lot cooler, which helps quite a bit. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWe have the blackout curtains. Exercise too. Out in the upper midwest during winter it can be hard (this doesn't happen during the summer on nights). My husband will be in the car or in the station all night at work and inside when he's awake at home and after a few days he can't sleep. Then he realizes he hasn't done any real exercise, and doing some tends to help (unless he does it right before he tries to sleep, definitely not learned that lesson yet). I know that's not as hard in CA, but I think they forget when they have been working long days that and they are in and out of the squad car that they haven't done the exercise their body needs to actually tire out.
ReplyDeleteExercise is a gimee.
ReplyDeleteI use black out shades and a fan. Most of my cop and even firefighter friends all use a fan. Recently I read that Cherries is the only food that has the special natural enzime the body needs to slow down. Bananas also can brake down into that enzime but cherries are the only natural food. I find they don't help as much as I'd like.
My comments are finally working again!
ReplyDeleteA few things he hasn't tried are melatonin and cherries. The cherries on our tree are just about ripe and am hoping to harvest them before the birds do. We have the dark shades, earplugs, and exercise a few times per week.
I was hoping someone would chime in on sleeping pills, but perhaps its a non issue. Lately, CA Cop has been taking a sleeping pill on his "Monday" after he gets home from work to set his body back on the sleep during the day schedule. Then when he gets home on "his Friday" he naps for a few hours and then will take a sleeping pill that night to get him back on the sleep at night schedule. It actually seems to be helping.
What pill? If it is an OTC...bleh! Those things put you to sleep, but never make you feel rested. A doctor can prescribe something that will work better and let you feel rested. Something like Trazadone.
ReplyDeleteIts a prescription sleeping pill, but I'm not sure which one. It really does help.
ReplyDelete