My (23f) boyfriend (29m) has a hard time sleeping without the TV on.
We don’t have a TV in the bedroom so often he will end up sleeping on the couch. He often falls asleep watching TV on the couch then when I suggest going to bed he will suddenly be wide awake. I have tried getting him to listen to a podcast while falling asleep and I am okay with having a light on (we bought a galaxy pattern LED lamp so it’s a bit more than a night light).
These have worked with some success and although I prefer to sleep in silence and darkness I can adjust to the light and sound and have slept pretty well with it before. It really bothers me when he sleeps on the couch as it makes me feel disconnected.
I don’t mind if he comes to bed later than me but if he falls asleep hard on the couch he’s too tired to come to our room (which is steps away). He knows I don’t like when he sleeps on the couch so he will agree to come to bed but I know he’s not happy about it. He has a very “don’t rock the boat” personality so he doesn’t really say much. I feel like I’ve really put in a lot of effort to find solutions and it seems like it’s not working. I don’t really want to have a TV in the bedroom as I don’t think that’s really good for the brain but I want him to be happy and sleep well.
He has ADHD and probably sleep apnea (did the at home test stuff but the office never got back to us) so I’m sure this plays into it a bit. Should we put a TV in the bedroom? Should I urge my bf to work on his sleep training?
I dont want to be overbearing, I just want to sleep in the same bed.
What netizens said:
- I had similar problems falling asleep, I took about a year of hard no media / smartphone / PC around an hour before bedtime to get myself to fall asleep without a stream or a TV running. For me at least it seems it was pure habit. But it’s hard to change these habits, especially in times of tablets, phones and tvs everywhere always.
- Try a weighted blanket. My mum has always had insomnia and it’s really helping her.
- This is rubbish, we can always learn new sleep behaviors.