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?

In the summer I often nap in the garden!

It sounds like it's more that you can't get to sleep easily to me, rather than wondering how other people do it.
Have you tried doing a yoga shavasanah? It's designed just to help you totally relax, but you can use it to help you fall asleep too. Give it a go. Sadly, I find due to my age and the lovely menopause that I need to have a nap in the early evening - it helps me to nod off or at least rest for a while and I feel much better for it (I do set a timer to wake me up again!)
I think shift workers in particular are very good at sleeping where they can - my dsis is a nurse and I always describe her as being able to sleep on a washing line!

It's not genetic. I remember going for a walk with my Dad, and him lying down in a field for a little nap. Wake me on your way back he'd say 😂

I have only ever slept in a bed pretty much. Travel is a nightmare for this reason and I'm so jealous of the sleepers.
I think it's about control but also very much about feeling safe? Also habit.

Unfortunately I hate yoga.

I could fall asleep anywhere 😂
But staying asleep is my problem I wake every hour 😩

I would do it sometimes before I had dc's.
Now I'm in a permanent state of anxiety I could never do anything like just dropping off to sleep.

I used to have terrible insomnia as a teenager. Now I can fall asleep any time anywhere. I had a two hour nap this afternoon and then nodded off after my dinner. I'll go to bed at about midnight and fall asleep immediately.

I also have practically no problem sleeping while travelling. Coming back from Cyprus a couple of years ago, I nodded off curled round my 6 year old who was doing his best impression of a puppy

I can't fall asleep by accident either. The only time I sometimes did used to was when very drunk in my carefree 20s. My DF used to do it all the time though. I actually saw him fall asleep standig up while having a conversation once! It turned out he had sleep apnoea though, which partly explained it.

I am very much the same as you OP- I have to make a conscious decision to fall asleep. Then I can spark out in less than 30 seconds!

I've given up going to the cinema unless it's a horror film because I always fall asleep
Same with any form of public transport, especially planes.
DP is opposite, takes him ages to fall asleep. Once he's asleep he goes through the night though. I wake up at least once for a couple of minutes.

I have, many times
We joke i have car-calepsy, i always fall asleep in the car, no matter what. Even mid energy drink
Ive passed out on the couch,
on the bus and train and yes missed my stop,
the beach, i had a bow tan line for 6 months after that one,
the kitchen floor, was coolest spot in house one summer

Well, I've decided I'm off to try and sleep now, night all!

I can accidentally fall asleep easily during the day lying in bed or on the sofa watching tv or reading. As soon as I'm tucked up in bed at night it takes me hours to drop off.

My Ddad always said I would be asleep before the light got cold , it took me years to figure out what he meant ( when the light is on the bulb is hot , when turned out it cools quickly , I would be asleep by then )

I still can fall asleep easily unless something is on my mind , then I tend to have a week or so of broken sleep .,

Some of us it would seem could sleep like this , I would be ok with the 2 penny one for a night i think

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_penny_coffin.

I'm the same even after having twins who barely slept for more than a hour at a time until they were 5 I've never just accidentally fell asleep hubby on the other hand is constantly falling asleep regardless of the noise our kids are making haha

Happens to me often. Cuddling into DS to get him to sleep and bam, I’m asleep too

I am like you OP. Never ever fall asleep by accident although I am lucky in that when I get into bed, as long as it’s night time, I fall asleep within ten seconds of turning the light off.

The downside is, napping is impossible. Even when I had a new born and people said ‘sleep when the baby sleeps’. What? It’s 3 o’clock in the afternoon? How is it possible to sleep now? I never understood that at all.

I’m on so many pills for anxiety, heart, bp and HRT that, combined, is a chemical cosh of immense strength!! I also get up at 4-10am every day so that also doesn’t help!! The Ddog and I usually have an afternoon nap of a couple of hours and I can go straight off whenever/wherever I get comfy... I have been known to drift off during dull phone conversations too!
After many years of insomnia, I secretly enjoy it😉
Sometimes it’s accidental
Sometimes it’s planned!!
No shame here😄

I wish I could sleep on planes or in cars. On long flights DCs slept then slept in the car and were bright and breezy the moment we got home. I on the other hand was dead on my feet. I can nap on the sofa, one minute reading a book then zzzzz. When I get to bed however, I have to put ear buds in and listen to netflix.

I think you just aren’t that tired if you don’t fall asleep.

Films have to be awesome to keep me awake.

@LaurieMarlow there's a film critic blog in there somewhere.

I'm sort of like you and sort of not.

At night, at bedtime, I have to decide. Like you, I'm a worrier and maybe that's why it takes a while to nod off.

However I've always been of the disposition to be able to just fall asleep at random times too (if watching a film for example) and that's the most loveliest way to fall asleep - I feel really drowsy and sleepy and just drift off in a really peaceful way.

So for me, naps are the most nourishing feeling ways to sleep.

I definitely envy people who can nap easily. I can manage it once in a blue moon but it takes about half an hour and some determination to get off. Even if I'm really tired

Yeah, you're definitely not a good sleeper!

We e literally just explained how we can be hallucinating with fatigue and not just randomly drop off without planning and forethought, so I’m not sure how you have come to that conclusion 5zeds.