AIBU to not understand falling asleep by accident?

[Aulwan]

I know IABU but I can't seem to start a thread in chat. Anyway I have never in my life just "fallen asleep" e.g. on the couch, reading in bed etc. I have to decide to go to sleep and it takes a while. It's always a decision, it never just happens. I seem to be alone though based on all the people falling asleep all over the place! Anyone else like this or am I just wierd?

Have you never been in a dull post lunch meeting and started nodding off? I find it’s worse if I have my legs crossed.

My partner says I can "fall asleep on a rope across the room". And indeed I can. I regularly fall asleep on the couch, on the train home, even at work when it was quiet once or twice. Part of it is age, part of it is not getting enough sleep in bed, part of it is a natural ability to kip anywhere.

Work colleagues tell me of their evening rituals, the variance of which will result in a sleepless night - completely dark rooms with blackout curtains, bath before bedtime, sheets changed every other day. I am completely the opposite. It has its uses but is also a PITA

Most of the time I only fall asleep on my terms- I've got a blanket, pillow or all the sofa cushions around me, something that I really want to watch on the tv 🙄
Or if I'm in bed I put QI on tv and fall asleep within minutes (we DP has watched QI on netflix or the bbc every night for years, just so I can sleep)

The first day of our holiday a few years ago, We had been up since 2am, had a 6am flight which I didnt sleep on. We got their, the kids went straight in the pool, we got some loungers around the pool, one minute i was watching dd swim, next thing shes fully dressed, having been to the shop, and the restaurant for snacks, apparently my mum and dd had been gone an hour. :)

I can fall asleep anywhere and almost anytime

Thankfully I never feel tired driving even if I start off feeling tired I will suddenly be very awake and alert

Ds is the same he has many times fallen asleep in restaurants and once we walked home he kept his eyes closed (obviously we guided him) and he still seemed to be in a sleepy trance

I can just close my eyes and on seconds I have have drifted away

I was a junior doc in the days when we worked up to 120 hours a week, regularly doing 80 hour continuous shifts.
I’ve fallen asleep at the wheel of my car on the motorway, in the operating theatre, in the middle of my dinner, and as soon as the lights dimmed in any cinema I tried to visit on a rare night off!

I'm the same as you OP. My OH is the complete opposite of me. But I have never in my life fallen asleep by accident. I could be exhausted reading in bed but I would never fall asleep reading. I would have to put the book down, turn off the light and then go to sleep.

I haven't slept well since having kids. I can go for multiple nights only getting 3 hours. But then every few weeks I sleep for 12 hours like I am in a coma. I always feel awful after the long sleeps.

There's the in between method, where you go to bed with a book and fall asleep with the light still on. Then you wake up at 3am and think it's daytime, and you don't know who you are anymore.

Have you tried that one? I can't nap unless I'm ill, but I do wake up with my head literally in a book sometimes.

As my Nan said “I can fall asleep on a washing line.” I’ve fallen asleep at work in lectures at uni..earlier when watching Peter rabbit with dd. I’ve got even worse since having ds who wakes up hourly at night. Every time I sit down now my eyes start going.

I don’t get it either. A friend was telling me today that she fell asleep watching tv today. I couldn’t do it - and I’m a bit envious! I’ve always had problems sleeping.

There seem to be more "sleep on a rope" people coming in this thread than people like me! Though it's reassuring to see other people who need to decide to sleep. Wish I was the other way though. I'm a worrier, wonder if there's a link?

Unless my brain is fully engaged or I’m being physically active, I’m in danger of nodding off. No matter how much sleep I’ve had.

I’ve been sat in board meetings trying to contribute whilst driving a pen painfully into my thigh to try and keep me awake. I’ve sat in really interesting hearings where I’m an active part of the conversation and also taking notes- and I’ll nod off mid sentence typing. I’ve dropped off whilst interviewing in the middle of jotting down notes.

I never have trouble sleeping. I’ve been tested for all sorts of deficiencies and it’s all clear. I now just avoid things like seminars, and if I’ve got a long meeting at work I try and walk in the fresh air right before it.

I fall asleep putting my 3yo daughter to bed about 50% of the time not usually a dropper offer, but something about lying quietly beside her just presses some primeval button and I'm out like a light - I swear I often drop off before she does. Other half has to come and find me and wake me up if we're to have any evening.

It's a pain though because if I'm asleep for less than a few hours I feel nauseous when I wake up - which made having the worst sleeping baby in the universe doubly wonderful!

See I'm a control freak so falling asleep when I wasn't in control of deciding to do so is something I would hate! Falling asleep in the middle of a film or something would drive me bonkers (I had an ex who did this all the time and I found it incredibly irritating).

I was playing schools with my littlest DC (weird child) and we had put the children/toys for a nap, so I laid down on his bedroom floor and fell asleep.

@SuperFurryDoggy Dp is exactly the same! Up until 4/5 am every morning!! He just can’t get to sleep. I also suggested it could be the 10 coffees..or maybe the red bulls he has at work, but was also told caffeine doesn’t affect him

But I don't have problems sleeping when I want to so maybe if I did, I'd want to be more of a 'nodding off any time' person!

I’m with you OP and it’s definitely not as simple as tired vs not tired. For work I’ve been in situations where I’ve worked 24 hours or longer in one go. You’d think I would fall asleep in the taxi home. Nope. I only fall asleep in bed in the hotel room / at home.

My superpower is sleep. I’m generally asleep within minutes at night and can usually fall asleep for a nap easily after noon. Don’t like sleeping on packed planes or coaches though but that’s just because other people are milling about. Sleeping to the sound of the TV on low is one of life’s great pleasures - F1 coverage gives the best naps. Think it’s the engine sounds

It is very annoying being like me though op. I can’t sit through films, I can’t read my book etc: I just constantly fall asleep. I’m also a very very light sleeper though, so I don’t sleep very well once I am asleep, I wake up multiple times, (and not just by the baby )

Can anyone else talk when they’re asleep and sort of pretend they’re awake..but you’re actually asleep? Well I must be sort of conscious but I don’t feel awake if that makes sense. Example watching a film and I fall asleep. Dp asks if I’m asleep and I say no, and have a conversation with him, but I actually am asleep?
I’ve done it since I was a kid, my mum used to send me to bed if I fell asleep on the sofa, so I learnt to sort of pretend I was awake when I wasn’t.

How many times can i say asleep in one post

I can sleep anywhere at any time.
I fell asleep up a ladder once.
When I go to bed I sleep within about 5 minutes of getting in.

When I’m off work I often have a nap in the afternoon. I love a nap.

Op I am the same - my eldest too didn’t sleep through consistently till he was 4.5 ... I wouldn’t describe any of my family as good sleepers though DH and DS2 both fall asleep anywhere !

I'm exactly like you OP. Wish I was like the other people!

When my toddler was younger for instance and having his day naps, and I would be knackered too but by the time I was just starting to drift off, baby would be waking from said nap! It takes me that long to fall asleep

I can only fall asleep lying down in a bed. At night. Have never fallen asleep on a sun bed. Long haul overnight flights are a nightmare for me as I can’t even nod off. My eldest was a terrible sleeper and everyone told me to sleep when he did. Obviously I just couldn’t do that.

Dh is very good at accidental sleep - watching tv (including in a room full of guests!), or reading. I have trouble getting to sleep.at night but can day nap like a trooper. However I will always put down what I'm doing or consciously think j dont mind falling asleep.
When I used to work night shifts I could fall asleep in bed watching telly, was lovely and only knew I'd been asleep when I woke up a iyswim.