Is your husband or wife a constant snorer? Is your lack of sleep really starting to affect you, in your social, personal, and working life? Read on for some tips on how to sleep with the person next to you that sounds like they're starting an earthquake.
Step 1
First, see if you can avoid the problem completely. Is the brother or sister you share a room with the one keeping you up? If so, ask for permission to move into another room. It might be time for separate bedrooms, or see if you can trade with another sibling who's a deeper sleeper and won't be as affected. You don't need any more tips if you can avoid sleeping with the snorer.
Step 2
If sleeping in the same room can't be avoided, try muffling the sound with earplugs. This can greatly decrease the amount of sound reaching your ears.
Step 3
Use a sound generator to drown out the snores. A sound generator allows you to select from a number of different background noises (rushing stream, rain falling, 'white noise', etc.) that are good at blocking out other noises. Particularly loud snoring might require the use of earphones, but be very careful not to turn it too loud—sound levels that don't seem too excessive under normal circumstances can cause ear damage if you have the earphones on all night. Use the generator without earphones if at all possible. Also works for drowning out barking dogs, noisy neighbors, construction racket...
Step 4
Ask the person to sleep on their side, turned away from you. This usually helps, although if you have a very keen sense of hearing, you may not hear a difference. The person can fall asleep on their side, which you can get you to sleep. If you wake up during the night because of the snoring, gently roll the person back onto their side, not their stomach. You may seal of all sources of air if their head is in the pillow. See the Warnings.
Step 5
If you and the snorer have separate beds, try putting up a partition. This can be a simple as a flowery curtain or a large as bookcases stacked up together in the middle of the room. This might give you and your little sister some privacy, or just keep your brother's snoring on his side of the room.
Step 6
If all else fails, ask your doctor for other suggestions. He may be able to give you a sleep aid, or just have some tips like this article. Whatever the reason, a lack of sleep isn't healthy, so always check with your doctor.
Step 7
Count the snores! Start with 100 and count backwards, once for each snore. Since most people snore at very regular intervals, the counting will soon put you to sleep.
Tips
- If you do not have earplugs, try headphones with light classical music or natural sounds. The music, rain sounds or white noise will drown out the snores, but will not keep you awake. If you prefer natural sounds, sound generators are available; or you can download nature sounds from an online music site, load on to your portable music device, set it to loop with no pauses, put your earphones on, and drown out the snores. Be careful not to set it too loud—don't want to damage your hearing!
- Sleep apnea could be a cause of snoring. Check with your doctior. If sleep apnea is the cause, there are breathing machines to assist in proper breathing, thus eliminating the sleep-depriving monster of snoring.
- Get a Slumber Guard Anti-snoring Device - they come with a Money Back Guarantee and are available in pharmacies across Australia. You can also purchase online on their website.
Warnings
- Never place anything over the snorer's mouth or head to prevent the sound from keeping you up. Suffocation can occur. While it might seem safe, you may be trading in your loved one's life for a couple hours of sleep.
