Natural Sleep Aids/Insomnia HELP?!

I take both melatonin and tryptophan, but I do it naturally...I have a cup of warm milk flavored with Ovaltine every night about a half hour before bedtime. Milk is rich in both melatonin and tryptophan. I also sleep with an affectionate pit bull...dogs are known to have a calming affect...

I deal with insomnia as I am a shift worker and I work two 12hr days then two 12 hr nights in a row with 4 days off in between. I have been doing this for over 25 years and sometimes no matter what you try you can't always sleep the way you would like. I usually find I sleep better after the first day is over as I am usually tried and the day is over. I do agree that having a routine bed hour is better than not. The body does like this to maintain our circadian rhythm. Some people can work at night and sleep beautifully in the day but in my experience they are in the minority. You could perhaps exercise indoors regularly so you are more tired when the day is over. It may help. As well, as a balanced diet as others have stated as well. One of my co-workers only works 12hr days and has tried all sorts of meds over the counter and Dr. Prescribed and sadly still has the battle with insomnia. I also find that if something is bothering me or I am worrying about just trying to sleep makes this worse. So, I try to have positive thoughts as much as possible before I go to bed and hope for the best. A glass of warm milk- the old remedy isn't always a bad idea as the sugars in the milk have a calming effect on your body at night. Sweet dreaming!

Great advice! Thanks!

Milk is out until next month for me; a big fast started today so no animal products. Warm almond milk? Will that have the same affect? :)

Will check out sleepy time tea! :)

Oh!! Agreed! One day I forgot to order something for Sky and I thought "Oh I can do it in the morning" 2 or more hours of no sleep later.. I begrudgingly got up, ordered it, and as soon as I got back into my bed, it was the next morning (as in I fell asleep that fast lol)

Sometimes getting up and doing something to silence your thoughts or shorten your to-do list will help too. I know when I worry.. I worry. And it affects my sleep and I just have to take care of it then and there.

I highly doubt it. I used warm milk with honey added in past and it helped too. But I know not everyone can drink milk so didn't suggest in 1st place.

Welp, tried some sleepy time chamomile (sp?) tea (with others like fennel, licorice, lemongrass, etc) last night and did not get to sleep any faster, but did sleep fairly sound for a considerable time. Will try again tonight, and adding in some exercise like lunges, squats, some yoga stretching (only have enough space here for a yoga mat sized area). Any other ideas for small space?

Good news is this sticky situation should be clearing up soon and then I will be back on track to get in shape and sleep like a puppy.

Thanks all!

No exercise ideas here, but I grow lavender in my garden just because I like the smell of it. It is supposed to help with relaxation and help you sleep, so I have read.
Well this year my plants are big enough to have enough flowers for me to enjoy outside and to dry some extras.
Yesterday and last night I have the dehydrator going with lavender in it (made the house smell wonderful!!) and I slept like a baby. Don't think I moved a muscle all night, which is not like me, plus I had some great dreams. The skipping in the meadows kind of dreams, which again is not like me as I usually don't sleep sound enough to have dreams.
Maybe some lavender under your pillow might help.

Really like that idea, though not sure how allergies would hold up with flowers under my pillow! I was thinking about those "eye pillow" things that have lavender and the like; maybe just having one close by to smell would work?

Lavender is typically harvested just before the flower buds open if that is helpful to know. But I understand the sensitive nature of allergies too.
Another thought would be maybe some lavender essential oil, which is not too hard to find a natural market or health food store, or online.
A little dab on a piece of cloth or cotton ball would probably work as well as the flowers.

Something else I thought of too- white noise in the background. You know, like those hokie "lull you to sleep" music cd's or special radios that play beach waves, babbling streams... etc that were really popular about 10 years ago.I have some cds like that and when I used them it was helpful.
Now, I usually have either a space heater going in the winter, or a fan in the summer. The seady hum in the background seems to help me drain my mind and sleep better.

Whenever the weather is in the spring or fall in-between stage of not really needing either, I find it harder to fall asleep. It is too quiet in the house. Doesn't matter how noisy it is outside, if it is too quiet in the house I can hear my thoughts bouncing around in my head.
I have a tiny tabletop personal fan I will actually turn on, but facing away so I don't get cold just to have the quiet hum.

I have some lavender shampoo; maybe that will work! LOL

Agree about white noise, though I have tried all types and have had problems finding any that were helpful. (Usually repetitive or I find myself imagining what the soothing ocean waves look like.. etc). Sometimes there is the whirr of the computer, but the high pitched drone just irritates me.

I try relaxation techniques (relaxing individual parts of my body one at a time) and occasionally have good results, if only for getting my mind off of my thoughts.

About to take some melatonin, so we will see how things work out. Got to sleep around 4 this morning and woke up/got up around 9:30, so I am making progress already!

I will see if I can get some lavender essential oils :)

One more question: one of the neighbours (live in a house that is broken up into apartments.. an "inn" technically) has been smoking inside his apartment, and being a non-smoker with asthma, this affects me. Could it have an effect on my sleeping? Particularly when it is humid, which is every day, the stench carries through the whole place.

Thanks!