Why can't I sleep?

[Featherfur]

When the lights are on, I feel like I'm about to fall asleep. When they are off, I'm wide awake. I'm getting in trouble with my parents because I sleep to late. I can't keep the light on, cause I share my room with my sister. Anyone know anything that will help?

[James]

Try tea. Preferably not a caffeinated one.

[Arylett Dawnsborough]

Hmm... I have something like that occasionally happen to me. What I can recommend to you is to just sit in bed and relax. When you're about to go to sleep, think only about your breathing. Clear your mind. Also, if there are any clocks in your room, I would highly recommend covering them up, looking at the time does not help one get to sleep. I've also found that some drinking some hot chocolate/warm milk helps me get to sleep.

That's all I've got, I hope I've been of some help.

[Music Dragon]

Following are good tips for falling asleep:

Eat absolutely nothing before you go to bed.
Eat a huge banana and drink a glass of warm milk before you go to bed.
Drink eggnog every evening before you go to bed, and do this for 15 years.
Learn the ancient meditative technique of Chongg Ran and employ it before you go to bed.
Listen to soft, calm, soothing music, preferably something by Beethoven, before you go to bed.
Listen to Metallica's "Creeping Death" before you go to bed.
Listen to Amy Winehouse bef - wait, no, don't listen to Amy Winehouse.
Have sex before you go to bed.
Do not, under any circumstances, have sex without protection (before you go to bed).
Do not have any other gods before you go to bed.
Do not murder before you go to bed.
Do not commit adultery before you go to bed. Yes, I told you to have sex, but hey.
Do not steal before you go to bed.
Do not bear false witness against your neighbour before you go to bed.
Do not covet your neighbour’s house; do not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour... before you go to bed.
Do not go to bed on the Sabbath day. Or, wait, come to think of it - do go to bed on the Sabbath day!
Fetch, boy!
Make sure you have a comfort zone before you go to bed. I mean, I have a comfort zone. Yes, I have a comfort zone. It's not very big. It's, uh, it's kinda small... I, I don't have a comfort zone.
Look at the sky and the stars before you go to bed. They're beautiful, aren't they? Some day, they'll all be yours. All yours. Before you go to bed.

Finally, and most importantly of all - before you go to bed, do not, for any reason whatsoev -

[Furiianda]

Apparently milk has tranquilliser in it or something and that can help you sleep... I'm not exactly sure.
I find the most useful tip for sleeping is to be really tired by the time you go to bed, and not spend hours dwelling on anything and thinking about your day instead of sleeping.
Also I heard sleep comes in waves of about 2 hours apart, so you could try to change the time at which you attempt to go to bed. (Eg. I feel tired at 9:30 but by 10:00 I'm wide awake again.)
Not committing murder also works well...

[shiny jiggly]

...get a night light? I'm not sure because I need almost pure darkness to go to sleep. You can always try to stare at something for a really long time until you get bored and go to sleep. And sometimes when you think about trying to sleep, it takes me a couple hours to get it out of my head in order to get to sleep. So the best thing to do is to not think about it and become as bored as a billboard.

[ultraviolet]

Don't drink tea, no matter how tempting.

Fetch, boy!

You silly dragon. We're supposed to be sleeping here.


Anyway, don't focus on sleeping - think about other things. Daydream. Lose yourself. Or think about everything you've done that day. When things start getting a little bit weird or nonsensical, chances are you're falling asleep.

[Featherfur]

I'll try everyones ideas, except the milk. I hate milk. And some of MD's ideas. But thanks everyone. =3

[Renteura]

Following are good tips for falling asleep:
[LIST]
Eat absolutely nothing before you go to bed.
Eat a huge banana and drink a glass of warm milk before you go to bed.

So which is it?
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:iurtP_ft8XtgQM:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/718smiley.png/400px-718smiley.png

Anyway, maybe drink herbal tea before bed.

[Featherfur]

*looks in tea closet thing*
Come on, I know it's there!
*two minutes later*
Wow, I didn't know I had that much tea. Anyway, herbal tea will be my experiment for tonight!

[opaltiger]

Listen to Metallica's "Creeping Death" before you go to bed.

In all seriousness I find it easier to fall asleep to metal than to classical music. Either way, music! Or else just lie tangled in bedsheets for a few hours. Discomfort will knock you out eventually.

[Featherfur]

My clock has a built in radio, so I'll try that whenever I can. Gotta ask my sister though.

[*~[insert name here]~*]

OK, I feel your pain. Try these things:

-Drink something with LOTS OF CAFFEINE before you go to bed. (((warn your family first)))
-Drink some WARM WATER before bed. ((Wait at least 3 days between trying this and the caffeinated drink))
-Think about whether you are hot or cold when you're trying to sleep. Do everything possible to change this. (Make yourself hot if you're cold, make yourself cold if you're hot). I don't care how you go about this.
-Get a flashlight and suspend it above your bed (Go about this VERY CAREFULLY)
-Try eating a biscut or something right before bed.
-Make sure to get plenty of calcium. I know I have more trouble sleeping when I don't. This is very hard to do when you don't drink milk. I know because I don't either.

[Blaziking]

Oh! Take my idea!

Step One: Get someone who absolutely hates your guts.
Step Two: Sit on a comfy spot.
Step Three: Hand your foe a bat.
Step Four: If they knock you unconscious, sweet dreams! :D

[shadow_lugia]

Small world, huh?

Listen to Metallica's "Creeping Death" before you go to bed.

YESYESYES
I WILL HUG YOU NOW :DD

I find it easier to sleep when my cat sleeps on my face. He's warm and furry, plus I can't get distracted by what I see.
Oh, and tell the next-door neighbors to stop playing polka music every night with the stereo on maximum volume while their kids drive around in the two toy Jeeps.

Oh yeah, get a night light. I still sleep with one because I can :D

[Storm, Earth, and Fire]

Have sex before you go to bed.
Do not, under any circumstances, have sex without protection (before you go to bed).


Sounds like a plan.

Personally, the only things I need to sleep are darkness and a clear mind. A comfortable sleeping surface helps, too, though. The clear mind bit is what gets to me, though. I go on massive brainstorms as soon as the lights go out and I am in bed. I usually manage to think myself to sleep, though. :D

[Mad MOAI]

Read this thread before you go to bed. You should laugh so much you get bored, and then you fall asleep.

I recommend finding a new bed.
Just kidding again.

REAL: Try pretending your brain is a computer. Close everything and shut down.
For me, counting sheep keeps me awake. I think I got to two thousand one time.

[Featherfur]

-Drink something with LOTS OF CAFFEINE before you go to bed. (((warn your family first)))

OK! CAFFEINE CAFFEINE CAFFEINE CAAAAAAAAAAAAAFFEINE! HYPER HYPER HYPERHYPERHYPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 83
*has drunken lots of caffeine*

[Darksong]

I have another recommendation. Try getting into the most comfortable position possible. Try to sort of half-think about something that calms you. When I say half-think, I mean make it the first thing you remember, and don't cover it up with anything else. Sort of like your favorite thread. Keep it at the top and don't let anything bump it down. As for me, it works by half-thinking of New Hampshire :3 but half-think of whatever you figure will help.

[Featherfur]

Computer? 8D
*Is still to hyper to go to sleep*

[The Suicune]

When the lights are on, I feel like I'm about to fall asleep. When they are off, I'm wide awake. I'm getting in trouble with my parents because I sleep to late. I can't keep the light on, cause I share my room with my sister. Anyone know anything that will help?

Same only in more bizzare situations. I have really muddle sleeping patterns. I found myself falling asleep on the bus the other day (woke up 2 stops before mine when I bashed my head of theback ¬.¬). If I don't sleep throught the night I have 2 cups of coffee in the morning to help through the day. But sometimes I listen to the radio when I'm going to sleep and it tends to help me drift off.

[Featherfur]

...Your avatar amuses me greatly...

OK, I'll try the radio tonight. =3

[Worst Username Ever]

Well, I recommend just not thinking about too serious things and stuff. Either try turning your mind off or think of something comfortable. Can't help you with the light because I need darkness to sleep.

[Jetx]

Whenever I can't sleep I find something to do with myself that will not leave me just thinking about getting to sleep (which won't help at all). Listening to music and/or playing on a handheld console usually works.

[Altmer]

whenever I can't sleep I just sleep anyway. It just takes longer.

[@lex]

Listening to music and/or playing on a handheld console usually works.

Noo, because your eyes become irritated after a while, and then you can't sleep anyway :(

I have problems sleeping, too. I noticed that it works much better if I use earplugs - apparently, "hearing" the big emptiness of my room (not to mention whoever's still up when I try to sleep) makes it harder to fall asleep, but with earplugs it feels more compact and closed... so to speak. You could try it. Use tiny foam ones, or something. I use some rubber ones which are really meant for music, and they kinda point out so I can only lie on my back or it hurts <_<

[Jetx]

Noo, because your eyes become irritated after a while, and then you can't sleep anyway :(Well, it works for me. :P

[Superscyther]

Like you, I have been suffering from the same problems, so, I just watch TV until 1:00 A.M. Its not the best thing to do but it works for me, but don't stay up to late. Got an Ipod? Listen to that for a while.

Thats all I can think of, Please get some sleep.

[Charizard Morph]

Try taking a hot shower before you go to bed. Sometimes this works for me.

Get an analog clock and listen to the wonderful mind numbing Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock..... Zzzzzzzzz.

I also like to have something to think about while trying to sleep; but then i fall asleep thinking about whatever the object of my thinking was and have really wierd twisted dreams that leave me tired when i wake up.
Don't ever fall asleep wondering if you can melt a human. EVER. Especally after reading Twilight.

[Crazy Linoone]

Daydream and think about completely random, calming things. AKA no murder, blood, ghosts, and whatever unless you think that's calming.

Count things in your head. Try to focus on the things you're counting. You know how TV and stuff always picture sheep jumping over a fence while people are counting? Well, picture that. Count sheep (or whatever, really) jumping over a fence. Imagine sheep jumping over a fence. That really helped me.

If you absolutely can't sleep for some strange reason, then don't. Get up and read a book or something. Eat something with a bit of sugar in it.

Also, keep your feet warm at all times. Soak your feet in warm water before you go to sleep. And don't watch/read horror or exciting things before you go to sleep. Do some light exercise before you go to sleep.

[EvilCrazyMonkey]

blood

In fact thinking of that helps me to fall asleep. So does biting myself.

Anyway I usually think of whatever hot person I was staring at during school that day (or the last time I had school). I won't go into detail, though.

[Dannichu]

Have a warm bath with some nice calming salts in before you go to bed. Anything lavender flavoured is <3

Reading works for me. I'll read until I can't keep my eyes open, bookmark the page, turn off my light and fall straight asleep.

Don't do anything requiring you to think before bed - games, TV or what have you. Don't get yourself worked up about anything or you'll end up in that horrible situation where your body is dying for sleep but your mind won't sit still.

[Worst Username Ever]

Don't drink tea/coffee before you go to bed. Trust me on this one.
But the only advice I have is just lying still doing nothing(think of calming stuff if its helps). After a while, you will fall asleep.

[*~[insert name here]~*]

Get an analog clock and listen to the wonderful mind numbing Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock..... Zzzzzzzzz.


God, that would drive me INSANE. As in, more insane than I already am.

[cheesecake]

When I eat a lot (and I mean a lot) of food, it makes me sleepy. One night try having a big desert and see if that helps :/ Good luck though!