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?

I never used to fall asleep without it being bedtime while young despite a demanding work schedule ( junior doctor in the olden days) and after that a very poor sleeping baby. It all changed once I had two tiny children when I used to take any opportunity for a catnap. All grown up now and I never sleep in the day but once all the jobs of the day are over , particularly if I have had a glass of wine, I often drift off on the sofa after 10.00 pm !

It’s like a lot of things. There are people who can’t throw up, burp, fart or cry with any ease, and then those who can do it on command.

I can’t sleep in cars, trains or on planes but I can ‘accidentally’ fall asleep when I’m ridiculously tired. It happens more often when I’m pregnant, I’ll just shut my eyes on the sofa and before I know it I’ve been napping for an hour.

I am constantly falling asleep "by accident". By Thursday after a long week at work, I'm struggling to stay awake in the sofa past 9pm. I can get a solid night's deep sleep on an overnight plane journey. I have fallen asleep at the pub (not at all drunk), sat up at the pub mid-group conversation at the end of a night (only 11pm-midnight, mind). Have fallen asleep stood up when really tired, though wake up quickly when my neck stops supporting my head! It's actually quite a problem for me, especially when work hours are long and I'm having a stressful time!

I can sleep anywhere
I had a little nap at a punk gig once

It takes me about half an hour at night to fall asleep when consciously trying. I can nap but again I have to lie down, get cosy and try to sleep.

I have however found, that after years of sleeping on planes, my body has created a habit where I now start to feel my eyes getting heavy during the safety announcement.

I fall asleep super easily and have often accidentally fallen asleep. I also fall asleep if I try to listen to podcasts while not doing anything else, or if I happen to be horizontal for too long without stimulation. My brain is like a computer, it has sleep mode for when it's bored :o

When I had low iron and vitamin d I was even falling asleep at my desk at work, even with a full nights sleep!

I'm not a great sleeper, I struggle to disengage my brain and get to sleep even when tucked up in bed. If I wake up in the night, odds are it'll take me another 45 minutes (minimum) to get back to sleep. I can't sleep on trains/planes or in cars.

But I still can accidentally fall asleep on the settee, especially if I'm watching a long stage of the Tour de France where not a lot is going on. Something so comforting about the commentary.

Glad it’s not just my DH @Chinks123

My FIL laughs at me and my MIL and calls us gullible for drinking decaf because “it’s all the same”. My MIL has always been a poor sleeper, but worse as she’s got older, and caffeine affects her terribly. Apparently it’s all in her head though.

One day she will snap and kill him and I will help her bury the body

@,insancerre was that little nap sponsored by cheap beer by any chance?

@Oysterbabe I challenge you to a nap-off!

I'm so jealous of the people that can just lie down and fall asleep! I have never been a great sleeper but it doesn't bother me any more- since having my DS I have been grateful for about 4 hours kip.

@VeniceQueen2004
You would think so, but I don’t drink beer
I had a couple of gin and tonics but it was a rubbish band and an alldayer, so I had a little nap so I could stay up late for the main bands later that night

I fall asleep ridiculously easy. Public transport is the best. I used to have an hour bus ride into work and I used to have this massive coat that was more like a sleeping bag. I used to sit at the front of bus and slowly slip down into coat so you could literally just see the top of my head! Never missed my stop though as just before we would go over a level crossing that woke me up!

Another time though I nodded off on a back bus and the driver stuck his foot on the brake and my head snapped clean back? Fucking hurt! Made the people sitting around me piss themselves laughing!

I have some sort of tilt switch, lie down and go to sleep... embarrassing at the dentist...

I can sleep anywhere at anytime as long as there is some noise, I cannot get to sleep if it’s too quiet.

I am a terrible insomniac, I take strong prescription sleeping pills regularly, once I've got to the point of 3 or 4 nights in a row of 2 hours of sleep. I have a whole wind down routine to try and help me get to sleep, and even then I often don't stay asleep for more than a few hours.

I still fall asleep on the sofa during films sometimes though, usually the really good ones that I'm actually enjoying watching too. It's really annoying because I then end up not getting any sleep that night.

Being a teacher and marking in the evening solves insomnia I find 🤣

As far as I’m convinced, it’s a superpower. Even people who take a minute to fall asleep! How do they quieten the racing thoughts?! I sleep with an eye mask, ear plus, black out blinds and a million sleep aids and it can take me an hour to fall asleep.

Dh sleeps really easily most of the time, he says because he is a shift worker and worked a variety of early, late & night shifts on rotation that hes trained his body to sleep. He can decide to nap & be iff in seconds or accidentally fall asleep watching tv.

Me on the other hand I tend to struggle to fall asleep, I can count on one hand the few times I fell asleep accidentally & most of those would be during early pregnancy.

Probably my most recent though was after no sleep for almost 72 hours I fell asleep on the sofa.

I suffer with restless leg syndrome which is the main reason I rarely fall asleep accidentally because my bastard legs would never let me.

I thought I had never fallen asleep by accident in my life but I just remembered a period in my life where I fell asleep accidentally. Regularly! It was when I had a newborn and a toddler. When newborn used to make multiple times for a feed I kept falling asleep feeding her. I used to feel so guilty. Sometimes she'd have fallen asleep too, other times she'd cry and wake me, sometimes I'd wake and she'd be covered in milk because I had fallen asleep again. I just couldn't stay awake even when I sat up to feed her. I'd fall asleep sitting up! I'm lucky she didn't die when I think about it. In the end I downloaded a game for my phone that I used to play during those 3am feeds and that worked in keeping me awake.
So weird to remember. Normally I'm borderline insomniac!

Remembering this thread I thought I’d see how long it took me to get to sleep last night.
I been reading and started to drift off during the book. So lights off and once I had arranged myself around the cat I started counting. I got to 50.

The other morning I got up to go for my run. Toilet, get dressed, feed cat, go. But when I opened the door it was pouring with rain so I decided against it. It was still 30 minute before I had to get up so I got undressed and got back into bed and went back to sleep. I win at sleeping.

I fell asleep on a con call once.
But it never happens to me when I’m actually in bed trying to sleep. Only in the middle of the day.