How to Get a Good Night's Sleep

By Robin Lloyd,LiveScience

Improved sleep behavior and attitudes do more good than sleeping pills for the treatment of insomnia, experts at a recent National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference agreed, says

Daniel Kripke of the University of California, San Diego.

The changes Kripke recommends:

* Do not take sleeping pills. This includes over-the-counter pills
And melatonin.

* Don't go to bed until you're sleepy. If you have trouble sleeping,
try going to bed later or getting up earlier.

* Get up at the same time every morning, even after a bad night's sleep. The next night, you'll be sleepy at bedtime.

* If you wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep, get out of bed and return only when you are sleepy.

* Avoid worrying, watching TV, reading scary books, and doing other things in bed besides sleeping and sex. If you worry, read thrillers or watch TV, do that in a chair that's not in the bedroom.

* Do not drink or eat anything caffeinated within six hours of Bedtime.

* Avoid alcohol. It's relaxing at first but can lead to insomnia when it clears your system.

* Spend time outdoors. People exposed to daylight or bright light therapy sleep better.