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Original poster

Do you have to fall asleep to noise / tv etc?

59 replies

TheOwlChronicles · 19/06/2023 09:24

My almost 17 year old falls asleep every night to background noise on his iPad. He props it up on his bedside table and it plays a documentary / film/ running commentary all night as he sleeps

I need total peace to sleep and I can't understand how he can have something playing all night but at his age, I let him get on with it now

How about you? Do you have to have complete silence or noise to sleep?

OP posts:
SomewhereWithSomeone · 14/08/2023 19:54

I often put an audio book on, sometimes I’ll fall asleep watching a film or put a meditation app on. I don’t need them to fall asleep though, I can sleep without them. Our kids are often awake til the early hours either gaming or coming in after a night out so the house is rarely silent to go to sleep.

ladeluge · 14/08/2023 19:54

Podcast on a hour timer. Room must be black dark and I wear an eye mask too for the belt and braces element. Honestly I have never managed to get to the end of one! It's a pain as many podcasts on my lists say "listened to" but I've only heard bits of them before nodding off.

BusyCleaning · 14/08/2023 19:55

Yep, tv on every night, on dim. With familiar programmes only.

I simply can’t sleep if it’s quiet, my brain goes into overdrive and won’t shut up, no matter how tired I am.

I remember as a child I used to read until I physically couldn’t keep my eyes open. I’ve never been able to put my head on the pillow and switch off. I wish I could!

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mynewusername2023 · 14/08/2023 19:57

Yes I normally need TV noise to fall asleep. Although I don't on holiday but we normally have air con on for white noise. DH and I sleep in different rooms and he doesn't like TV noise while trying to sleep but we both need the fan white noise.

I think it's genetic as my mum needs TV noise to fall asleep as well. My dad doesn't but my mum always goes to bed before him.

AtLeastThreeDrinks · 14/08/2023 19:58

Silence, any noise jolts me out of that nice drifty pre-sleep where my mind gets a bit weird – kind of like it’s playing it’s own entertainment. That’s my cue that I’m about to drop off. OH on the other hand has to have noise, says it’s comforting. He falls asleep to Friends on his phone. I make him use earphones and I use a sleep mask! He actually loves it when I have friends round, apparently the distant thrum of conversation is the most comforting sound ever. I imagine there’s something primitive in that, a survival thing knowing safe people are awake around you.

SophiaElise · 14/08/2023 19:58

I need the room dark, cool and with medium-loud white noise.

I have to use my white noise app on my phone when I stay in hotels etc.

Longlive · 14/08/2023 19:59

Dh is like this, has an audible book going every night to go to sleep. I can't sleep with noise.

Luckily now I'm retired and he isn't so I wait till he is asleep, and then turn the book off and go to sleep. It usually is only on for 30 minutes.

Tripolitripodder · 14/08/2023 19:59

I have a tower fan going through the night,I really struggle to get off/stay asleep in silence.

WonkyBricks · 14/08/2023 20:02

ladeluge · 14/08/2023 19:54

Podcast on a hour timer. Room must be black dark and I wear an eye mask too for the belt and braces element. Honestly I have never managed to get to the end of one! It's a pain as many podcasts on my lists say "listened to" but I've only heard bits of them before nodding off.

It often takes me 3 or 4 attempts to listen to a podcast as I'll fall asleep within 10/15 mins. Unlike other pp though I generally need to listen to something new or that interests me. So no R4 dramas but yes to Life Scientific 🤓

I have tinnitus so struggle to sleep in silence. I use a eyemask with headphones in so it doesn't disturb DH

qazxc · 14/08/2023 20:02

Yes I am the same. Documentaries with a narrator, audiobook, asmr/ hypnosis/ meditation videos on you tube. I set a timer on my phone so that it switches itself off after 30-45 minutes.
If I try to go to sleep without it, my brain will rev up into overdrive and I get jittery and anxious.

MorganSeventh · 14/08/2023 20:03

I'm okay going to sleep, but I usually wake up in the night, and then I need something mildly boring to listen to, otherwise I lie awake reviewing everything I've got to do, and every decision I've ever made.

It's not ADHD for me, just a 4am cortisol spike.

Also rainfall apps leave me even wider awake and worrying the roof's leaking 😂

Doublechins · 14/08/2023 20:03

Yes either TV or podcast and it stays on all night. My eldest is the same and has music on all night.

mum11970 · 14/08/2023 20:20

Definitely need background tv on otherwise my mind goes into overdrive with intrusive thoughts and I never get to sleep. During the day I generally need to be doing two things at once. I’m usually watching/listening to the tv whilst on an iPad, doing a puzzle, crocheting; anything that needs a certain level of concentration. Not had a professional diagnosis but all online tests suggest that I’m highly likely to be ND.

Twokidsanddone · 14/08/2023 20:26

Yep. Me and dp fall asleep with the TV on low volume and brightness down. It turns itself off after an hour and if I wake through the night I turn it back on to get back to sleep. Otherwise my mind runs away with me and I cant sleep. If its too quiet my own head annoyingly tries to fill the silence

SM4713 · 14/08/2023 20:28

Any noise, or light drives me nuts! I wear ear plugs and an eye mask every night.

DH now had a cpap machine due to sleep apnoea and it silent. After 10+yrs of putting up with his chain saw loud snoring, I'm trying to wean myself off the earplugs though.

OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow · 14/08/2023 20:29

Like lots of people on here I put something on for 30 minutes. Probably a history podcast, nothing I’m too interested in, and no American accents. If I’m not asleep before dh comes to bed, I can’t get to sleep. Tried audible but I’d be listening to the same 30 minutes every night.

MansfieldLark · 14/08/2023 20:32

How do you cope if there is a power cut?

flatpack1 · 14/08/2023 20:34

Nevermay · 14/08/2023 19:46

I need noise and light to sleep, always have

Same here. Noise and light always. My bedroom is only a few feet from a main road anyway.

345s · 14/08/2023 20:35

Moredarkchocolateplease · 14/08/2023 19:40

Can't sleep unless the room is silent and as cold as possible. Endless arguments in the winter where DH turns the radiator up and I turn it down, I hate central heating. And the clicks when it starts again in the morning wake me up. 😱

Similar here. I open the window and he closes it. I open the window...
Whoever goes to bed last is victorious! I sometimes go to sleep with an open window and wake to a closed window. We have window fairies.

voxnihili · 14/08/2023 20:45

I used to have to have the TV on to sleep. I was having some mental health difficulties and at the time it was the only way I could shut my brain off.

DD who is 4 cannot get to sleep without music on in her room. This started when she was about 8 months old and we resisted for a while as were worried about creating a rod for our own backs. Quickly realised though that it was less hassle to put something on for her than sit in her room stroking her to sleep every night.

seahorsegrass · 14/08/2023 20:48

I need noise, my mind wanders too much, often choose Radio 4 documentaries on BBC Sounds App - it has a timer function so I can fall asleep. You can buy sound bar speakers that go under your pillow, or soft headband earphones - there's a big market for it - so your son is not on his own with this, it's very normal.

milkyway1 · 14/08/2023 20:50

I've got ADHD and need to not have silence when trying to sleep otherwise my brain goes wild.

Radio 4 podcasts like Front row/More or less are my favs. Absolutely no American accents or excitable mindless squawking, which rules out 95% of podcasts out there!

Was TV on all night when I was a student as there weren't smart phones in those days.

It can take a few hours sometimes and I never remember a single thing in the podcasts unless I accidentally listen to them again, then weirdly I can remember I've listened to them before.

QuizzlyBears · 14/08/2023 20:50

Yep I sleep with white noise on or a fan/air conditioner. I also - and I appreciate this is unusual perhaps - open the curtains before I go to sleep so I get the light coming in first thing.

HRTQueen · 14/08/2023 20:53

Yes I set my an audio book or podcast for 15 or 30 minutes rarely am I awake when it switches off

StressedToDeathhhh · 14/08/2023 21:08

I need white noise and sometimes a podcast / audio book if I'm extra anxious. Never ever TV though, we don't have any upstairs anyway but I need pitch black plus an eye mask