More than 40% of American adults experience symptoms of insomnia each year, making it one of the most common disorders in the United States. You may have trouble sleeping due to stress, environmental causes or even due to a physical condition. While there are many different ways to learn how to make yourself sleepy, there is no way to confirm if a particular technique will work for you. A warm bath makes someone feel sleepy while others may feel sleepy after drinking a glass of warm milk.

How to Make Yourself Sleepy

1. Avoid Noise or Light

Keeping your bedroom quiet and dark will help a lot. Distractions caused by light or noise will make it hard for you to sleep. You may consider using a low-volume white noise producer to cover animal noises and other irregular sounds. Do not keep lights on while sleeping because light can halt the production of melatonin, the hormone responsible for making you feel sleepy. If you have been using tablets, smartphones or even bright electronic alarm clocks at night, stop right now. 

2. Regulate Your Room Temperature

You cannot sleep when the temperature in your room is not comfortable. Use a thermometer to know the temperature in your room and bring it to normal using a fan or heater. Most people sleep well when the air temperature is around 68-72 °F (20-22.2 °C). It is difficult to sleep in temperatures above than 75 °F (23.9 °C) and lower than 54 °F (12.2 °C).

3. Adjust Your Bedding

If you cannot sleep due to body aches, you may want to change your pillow, mattress or other sleeping materials. Something that works for one person may not work for others. Therefore, you should keep trying until you find something that keeps you comfortable. You may also consider placing a small pillow under your lower back to deal with back pain. Opt for a memory foam mattress, especially if your current mattress is too hard or too soft.

4. Eat Certain Bedtime Snack

While looking for how to make yourself sleepy, try small bedtime snacks to avoid starving in the midnight. Yogurt or milk proves quite effective to help you feel sleepy, but do not try it if you are lactose intolerant. You can try other bedtime snacks though, such as tuna, peanuts or oats. Avoid large meals too close to bed though.

5. Try the 4-7-8 Technique

The technique is quite simple and involves touching the ridge of tissue right behind your top front teeth with your tongue. While doing it, exhale completely and then change your breathing pattern according to the following instructions.

• Take a deep breath through your nose. Do it slowly for a count of four.
• Hold your breath and count up to seven.
• Exhale through your mouth for a count of 8. Be sure to make a “whoosh” sound.
• Repeat thrice.

The technique increases the amount of oxygen that gets to your parasympathetic nervous system. Counting throughout the process will also distract your mind and release stress.

6. Do Intense Exercise

Engaging in some intense activities will make it easier for you to go to sleep at night. You need to exercise until you reach the point of exhaustion. This works amazingly well to induce restorative sleep. How much exercise makes you feel exhaustive depends on your capacity.

7. Drink Warm Beverages

A glass of warm milk before bed works great for many while others may love drinking herbal tea before bed. Chamomile tea is a great choice that helps treat insomnia. Ginger, lemon and raspberry are all quite effective as bedtime beverages. Do not drink caffeinated beverages in late afternoon or close to bed because caffeine creates a stimulating effect that stays with you for 7-8 hours.

8. Squeeze and Relax

One way to make yourself sleepy is to relax all your muscles. Lie on your back and take a deep breath through your nose. Starting from your toes, squeeze every muscle one by one while making your way up to your neck. Be sure to tighten your buttocks, thighs, arms, chest, belly and shoulders to feel relaxed.

9. Find Your Trigger

Develop a habit to signal your brain that it is time to sleep. You may listen to music or read your favorite book before going to bed. Repeating the same activity every night will turn it into habit, which will also make your body to associate it with sleep.

10. Consider Melatonin

Many studies show that melatonin is beneficially when you want to change your sleep schedule. It may not offer much help to help you fall asleep. Still, it is a good idea to increase the levels of melatonin to see how it works. You can do it by taking melatonin supplements about 1.5 hours before bed.

11. Take Medication

You may be looking for ways to learn how to make yourself sleepywithout using medication, but that is not always possible. You need to resort to medication when you have sleep problems. Keep in mind that you should take medication only to deal with occasional insomnia. Do not exceed the recommended dose. Also, avoid taking medication for more than 10 consecutive days. Never take opiates without talking to your doctor because they can cause addiction.