Sleeping Alone

[Jenna]

Ok, how do married folks manage to sleep alone? I know that some people don't have a problem falling asleep by themselves, and others just can't manage.

On the rare occassion that I have been away overnight, my husband likes to sleep on the couch. The close confines keep him from feeling like he's being swallowed up by the empty side of the bed. He also turns the tv on so there is some white noise.

I must just be weird, I dunno. It's about 3:30am, and I still can't get myself in bed. I was out with my mom and sister real late, and as I dragged my sorry self into the house, he was bundled up to leave. I guess some water pipes burst at work, so he had to take off in our nifty snow "storm" to go fix the problem. I hurriedly put together a lunch for him because he said that he probably wouldn't make it back home until after he gets off of his normal work day at 5pm. *sigh* This would be the night when my mom keeps Anna too, so I'm alone in the house with the animals. They don't make me feel any better though. I know that they'd eat me if I ever died in the house and folks didn't find me fast enough. *laughs*

How on earth do you go to sleep while your bed buddy and snuggle companion is away? I was exhausted when I woke up this morning, and it's only multiplied exponentially as the day progressed. I am dead tired, but find myself soaking in the bath, watching weird television shows, and talking to people that I don't know on the internet. lol

*bugs out*

 

[Southern Cross]

Be very happy you feel this way about your husband! I always thought this was the sign of a reasonably healthy marriage. It's so good the hear that you miss each other like this!

 

[charligirl]

Unfortunately with my husbands sleep patterns and work shifts I go to sleep on my own most nights He joins me at some point later and if I wake up I will turn over for a cuddle.

HOwever, he can't sleep if I am not there!

 

[LiberatedChick]

I don't manage it very well. If I try sleeping alone I toss and turn until the early hours of the morning and then almost pass out from tiredness. Though I've only tried sleeping alone in our bed for a few hours in the morning if he's had to go to work on the early shift. I find sleeping in a hotel room bed worse because that means I've travelled away for work and I probably won't even get to see him the next day. I've never tried it but the only thing tht I can think of being helpful to me is soothing music, like one of those nature sound cd's.

 

[Redguard]

I actually enjoy the rare occassion when I get to sleep alone. I'm still getting used to sharing the bed. I'm not a snuggle sleeper... I like to have space.

 

[ruby_redeemed]

I am not a snuggler either, so I am still trying to get use to sharing a bed with someone. But I do hate to be alone at night in our house, so my huibby does comfort me in that respect.

 

[isaiah5213]

jenna,

i sleep just like your hubby. my hubby works 3rd shift 5 of 7 nights, & i can't stand the big empty bed. so i sleep on the couch, w/a tv still on, because i never made it thru a tv show...(most of the time mash episodes, but once in a while i don't even get thru the reruns of crossing jordan or monk, csi, you get the picture...)

my hubby however sleeps great in the daytime... he looks like a baby. wish i could...

 

[Jenna]

I'm definitely not a big snuggler when it comes to my sleep time. For me to go to sleep, I have to have space because I toss and turn a lot. I'm prone to lots of aches and pains at night, so it takes a while to relax. However, Michael and I have sporatic snuggle times during the middle of the night. We take turns hugging around the other person and nuzzling against their back. It only lasts for a short while, and then the person rolls over. It's actually kind of funny.

I guess I'm just used to having him around at night. I think that it might be different if he worked late at night and I was used to him being gone. Wanna hear something funny? I caught myself closing all of the bedroom doors in the house so the place would seem smaller. *laughs* I'm a bit crazy, I'm thinking. I guess it just made it easier to ignore all of that extra empty space. The first door that I closed goes to Anna's room, because it is really hard for me to adjust to not having her in the house with me. I almost don't know what to do with myself right now, because there aren't any cartoons on in the living room. I almost didn't eat breakfast, just because there didn't seem to be any point to sitting down at the table all by myself. Goofy? lol

 

[ruby_redeemed]

That is pretty funny, my husband works for our church and he goes on trips for about 5 days at a time. I have to shut the door to my room so I can't hear things. If I do hear a noise I blame it on our pet, who's nocturnal!

 

[Green Orchid]

My husband is a volunteer firefighter so once in a while his *extremely* loud and stressful beeper goes off in the middle of the night. That alone wakes me up in a terrible way - it's a mix of fire alarm/buzzer/wake up alarm all following another so my heart beats so fast when it goes off!
I hate when he leaves and it's hard to fall asleep again, I have to rehearse verses in my head "Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee...". And I don't have a very restful sleep until he comes home.
When he has to sleep somewhere else for the night, I just go to my in-laws and sleep there. I'm a wuss.

 

[Oblivious]

If the husband's not there, the dog gets the honor of sleeping in his spot.

I don't mind sleeping alone, although I do miss the cuddling.

 

[mamaneenie]

I tend to go to bed earlier than my husband so just go to sleep when I am tired and need to.

Although the other night he went to bed earlier than me and I did find it hard to get to sleep with him in the bed. I persisted though (even though I was tempted to sleep on the fold out bed in the loungeroom)

 

[andiesmama]

It's weird for me....if my husband is home & I go to bed before he does, I don't have any trouble falling asleep...I guess subconsciously I know he's going to be joining me soon. But if he's gone for whatever reason & I'm all alone...then I have a really hard time falling asleep and staying asleep, or sleeping well. I resort to what I did when I was single...keeping the tv on for noise & having all the pillows tucked in around me!

We're not really cuddlers either, but I'm more comfortable sleeping with him than without, that's for sure!

 

[hollymarie1122]

my husband works graveyard so I am pretty used to going to sleep alone, it was hard when I moved the baby into his own room! but I sure do miss snuggling with my hubby, like weekends and what not!

 

[LegacyOfLove]

Well, since hubby and I seem to be usually out-of-sync with eachother's sleep times (one of us going to bed hours before the other); I will always have Chloe (my golden retriever) laying next to me. So, whether hubby is there or not...my best buddy is...and with that, I sleep like a baby!

 

[Melbelle]

Well my husband work's shift work so I have to sleep alone alot, very seldom do we sleep at the same time. Now I think about it and its kinda sad

 

[Ruhama]

Mine almost always stays up later than me. It's soooo hard to fall asleep without him. I treasure the days when we go to bed at the same time.

On the other hand, it is amazingly irritating when I have been tossing for two hours, and he comes in and snoozes off within a minute. Oh boy does that ever...!!! I feel like poking him till I doze off first.

 

[WolfGate]

Since I travel frequently for business, my wife and I have both gotten used to sleeping with or without the other one there. Wasn't easy for me when I first started traveling, but it has gotten much easier. Part of that may be that work on the road is long and intense, so I'm pretty well exhausted by the time I get to bed. And for my wife, having to handle a 3 and 5 year old by herself those days probably puts her in the same situation.

 

[desi]

Hang in there Jenna, it won't be long til things are as they should be.

 

[Jenna]

Thanks Desi. It's not too terrible, only a little unsettling. I think that what bothers me the most is that when he is called in to work that late, I worry that something will happen to him. I'm almost afraid to fall asleep incase something happens. I don't feel so bad during the day. It's just when I know that he is driving back and forth, especially when he is so tired. I stress over the idea of a car accident. I guess it is something that I have to learn to relax about though. I'm just one of those interestingly protective people though, who make everyone crazy. lol