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How to Sleep when Someone Is Snoring

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Sleep when Someone Is Snoring

What do you do if you find yourself sharing a bed (or a room) with someone who snores? A study showed that partners of millions of snorers are kept awake for two hours each night, which equates to two years' lost sleep over the course of an average marriage![1] If you have to deal with someone's snoring every night, encourage them to take steps to stop. In the meantime, here are some quick fixes.

Edit Steps

  1. 1
    Roll the person onto his or her side. People tend to snore less in this position. If possible, make it so that they're at the edge of the bed, facing away from you. (Most people "know" they're at the edge of the bed when they're sleeping and won't fall off.) Put some pillows snugly against their back so that they don't roll back onto their back. Some people even tape or sew a tennis ball or something similar to the back of their partner's shirt, so the person is uncomfortable sleeping on their back, and will go back onto their side without you having to wake up and push them.
  2. 2
    Muffle the sound with earplugs. Custom shaped earplugs can be more comfortable than store bought. Many audiologists provide this service. If it's too late to buy a pair at the store, you can make temporary earplugs, but make sure that they're big enough to not get stuck inside your ear canal, and leave a tail so you can pull them out easily. Use a dense material that won't shred when you tug on it. Cotton is a bad idea because it can tear easily, and it doesn't muffle much noise anyway. The filters from cigarettes can make good impromptu ear plugs because they're made of a tight foam material. A small, tightly rolled piece of fabric will also work. If it's late and you're tight on options, cut up an old sock or t-shirt, and roll up little pieces.
  3. 3
    Listen to music with headphones.
    Listen to music with headphones.
    Listen to music with headphones. If you're used to falling asleep to silence, this will be difficult at first, but if you listen to certain music only when it's time to sleep, your body will eventually adapt to the noise and even associate that music with sleepiness. Alternatively, you can get some inexpensive sleeping applications for iPhones or iPod touches, which are guided sleeping instructions, peaceful sounds or binaural beats. The headphones and earbuds can also double as earplugs, without music.
  4. 4
    If there is a fan around, put it next to the bed and turn it on. Many people find that the noise made by a fan is effective in drowning out snoring. If the air movement from the fan bothers you, there are alternatives. If you don't have a fan, turning on a computer monitor can have the same effect. White noise or nature sounds can be downloaded and also help to muffle the noise. There are also non-computer based white noise machines available that can be programmed with different sounds. Sometimes a consistent tone (rain, wind blowing, static) are better than tones that vary in pitch/volume(breaking waves, storms).
  5. 5
    Use a nonprescription antihistamine to help you sleep. Do this only as a last resort, as your body quickly develops a tolerance. Read the labels. The main ingredient you're looking for is diphenhydramine. Pain relievers or cold and flu products marketed as nighttime formulas often include analgesics (acetaminophen, ibuprofen), decongestants (like pseudoephedrine), cough suppressants (like dextromethorphan), and sometimes alcohol. Stay away from those unneeded ingredients if you can.[2] Alternately, it may help for your partner to take allergy medicine, if nasal congestion is causing the snoring. Possibly visit an ear,nose and throat specialist and an allergist to determine if your sinuses, nose, throat, tonsils are the root cause of the the snoring.
  6. 6
    Sleep in a separate room. Many partners of snorers find they sleep much better in a separate room. While some worry about a loss of intimacy from sleeping separately, many people find that they are able to be more intimate because they are less tired, and less grumpy from being kept up all night. If you choose to sleep separately set aside special time in the evening before going to your room, or in the morning before beginning your busy day.
  7. 7
    Ask your partner to seek sleep therapy. Any partner who is disrupting the sleep of another should consider seeking some type of sleep therapy solution. A sleep study (pulmonologists usually prescribe this) can determine the extent of the snoring problem. The affected partner can compensate only so much.
  8. 8
    Ask your partner to seek marital or couple counseling if they do not take action to remedy the problem. Any long term unresolved problem will create tension in the relationship. In the short-term, sleeping in another room may temporarily allow the non-snoring partner to get a good night's sleep.
  9. 9
    Try thinking about the sound of snoring as the sound of the person you love breathing. Then think of the opposite........It may change your attitude.


Edit Tips

  • It may help to have a second snorer in the room. The sound can actually neutralize the noise of the first snorer. How do you get a second snorer? Get a dog that snores.


Edit Warnings

  • Do not take any allergy medicine to induce sleep without checking with your doctor first. Side effects or drug-interactions can be serious, and the dosage required would be multiple times the safe level.
  • If your roommate's or bedmate's snoring is uncommonly loud and montonous (not rising and falling in time with their breathing), it could be occurring due to sleep apnea. In that case, they should see a doctor (neurologist) and take a sleep study to have it treated accordingly. They should NOT under any circumstance try to take allergy medicine, since sleep apnea patients can react very strongly to any medication taken before bedtime, which can even cause death.
  • Please try to avoid placing anything over the snorer's mouth or head to prevent the sound from keeping you up, as suffocation could occur.
  • Be careful sleeping with earbuds, as the cord can wrap around your neck and choke you.


Edit Related wikiHows


Edit Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifestyle/snoring-costs-two-years-sleep/story-e6frf00i-1111113126204
  2. ↑ http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20188926,00.html

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Last edited:
October 16, 2011 by BR

Categories:
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Recent edits by: Sharka, Catie, FB_100002042246907 (see all)

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