I feel your pain. Try a white noise gadget. Worked for me.

My roommate dropped 24 bottles of beer on tile next to my head. I was still asleep. I would LOOOVE to be a light sleeper. I wake up for NOTHING.

Oh and that was sober sleeping.

Read some Nathaniel Hawthorne.
It works like a blow to the head from a 300 pound mallot.
;)

I sleep with a desk fan on Speed 3 every night. it sits on the floor.
@lucillelucillelucille You have the # 1 most entertaining answers!

@mowens Be careful. There’s a fine line between deep sleeping and being in a coma.

The white noise idea can work. You can use a fan or buy a special gadget.

For me, I have just learned how to go back to sleep. It takes me almost no time now. But the trick is to figure out what woke me and then go back to sleep really quickly. If there is talking involved, forget it. My husband woke me at 5 A.M. this morning and that was it. I could not go back to sleep.

@Aster -Thank you!—all true too—;)

I just don’t sleep very much.

I’m not a light sleeper, but sometimes have trouble falling asleep at all. Do you go to bed tired? Not just ready to call it a night and sleep, but mentally or physically tired? Sometimes, it helped me if I went for a night walk/run or worked out a bit before going to bed. If the body is tired, I’m more inclined to knock out.

The only thing to effectively knock me out though is medication. I prefer not having to swallow pills in order to sleep, though. Sorry I can’t be of more help. I’m miserable if I don’t get a good night’s rest.

@jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities : Yeah, me, too. White noise keeps me awake bloody contrary me! and I envy people who can sleep well. This was totally unhelpful, just had to weigh in. I can’t reach stuff, either. Sometimes it all just sucks.

Dog barking makes me crazy, that non-stop kind of barking that everybody in the neighborhood can hear except, apparently, the owner. I have two big dogs next door that live in the back yard. They start barking when I opened my upstairs window—really.

How can I put this…

IT SUCKS!

I have to go to a far away place (in my mind) to get back to sleep. Or take a pill

And if I am woken up because someone felt the need to drive through the neighborhood with the boom tunes playing. I am out the door and hunting them down.

@Aster It’s my medication that makes me a deep sleeper. :) I was sober.

I’ve started taking OTC sleeping pills to help me sleep, though I’ve developed a bit of a tolerance lately. Now I wake up to any noise, get a stupid Justin Bieber song stuck in my head and I can’t fall back asleep.

I just drink lots of coffee in the morning now. :(

@jonsblond : For me it seems to be All the Single Ladies. No sleeping for me!

My mother uses ear plugs. Since I could sleep through WWIII, I just use them for when someone won’t shut up. Much more legal than simply knocking them over the head with a pan.

Well, after reading these I have to say something positive for a change: it is very very quiet here and nuisance barking dogs are removed from the premises. and no one has dogs barking but us, so embarrassing but brief as they live indoors

People suggesting the white noise thing helps. I know it helps me. Having a fan or something else causing a quiet, constant hum will mean you fall asleep used to that constant noise, so something going on in the background will be drowned out. Well, except if a plane were to crash outside your window.. then I think you’d wake up. <3

Mom has always kept a small bottle of bourbon in her nightstand.

Do you work out regularly and eat right? I find that I sleep the best when I’ve been exercising and paying attention to what I eat. Otherwise, I’m a mess.

Thanks for the suggestions, everybody. Glad to know I’m not alone. I have had some past success with a fan, but I’m interested in a white noise machine. Can anybody suggest a specific gadget they’ve had good luck with? Links are appreciated.

I am the same way… I wake up when someone goes to the bathroom. ANy noise or movement. I have two drink at night. every once in a while I take a tylenol PM get to sleep. I don’t want t get addicted to them. So I go back and forth. I still get up at 3:30 AM. Funny. I sleep better during the day. I take a nap when my husband gets home.

@jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities There are gadgets (which I know nothing about), but if you have a smartphone, there are apps, or if you have a computer in your room, there are some websites. There’s one that I really like, and I just made a 2 hour cd of one set of sounds and then put my cd player on repeat. Or you can get some sleep cds and do the same thing – maybe the enhanced delta waves would help?

I haven’t slept well for years. Think it would kill me to have a full nights sleep now.

I’m a light sleeper also. Once a noise wakes me up, which is most every night, I’m up for the rest of the night. I went to the beach with friends recently and slept in the same room as the 8 year. She has a white noise machine and the first couple nights it kept me awake. After that, I slept the best I have ever slept. I need to find out where they got it and get one.

I wake up to sounds less when I use a eyemask. Even moonlight affects how deeply I sleep. I have one with padding around the eye socket that allows for normal REM eye movement because it doesn’t have any padding/pressure over the eye. I’ve also cut out caffeine almost completely. If I have a decaf or green tea, it’s in the morning and preferably before a workout that day. I also like the white noise machine idea. I always sleep better with a fan or a heater humming away, but I don’t always actually need one of those temperature-wise.