Informed Sleeping

Report Says Napping Can Make You Smarter?

2010-02-23T00:29:48Z

I'm reading some headlines that say that napping can make you smarter, or at least prime your brain for learning. Who would have thought?

I wish I were better at taking naps. Maybe this a good reason to start trying to be better at taking naps.

Mattress Warehouse Picture

2009-12-10T05:50:02Z

I took this picture on my way to buy an Aerobed. I never noticed the building before, even though I drive this road quite often. I also noticed that the building is right next to Men's Warehouse, and wonder if the two are related. Unfortunately, I had a bad experience at a Men's Warehouse and a very pushy salesperson, so I don't plan on going there again.

Aerobed

2009-12-10T05:44:37Z

I have a guest this week, but unfortunately I have no extra place for them to sleep!

We went to Bed,Bath, and Beyond, ready with our 20% coupons, and purchased an "Aerobed".

We bought the single for $99 pre-tax and pre-coupon. After the coupon, the pre-tax price was $79, and with 6% Maryland sales tax: $83.74.

A pleasant surprise - the Aerobed we purchased also came with a $15 rebate. Not bad!

Inflatable Mattress

2009-09-08T17:31:01Z

This store promotion brings new meaning to the concept of an inflatable mattress:

How to sleep on a plane

2009-05-11T22:55:52Z

Tomorrow I fly back to Boston from Los Angeles and I'm really hoping that I will be able to sleep on the plane.

Its a seven hour overnight flight and I've got my trusty travel pillow to help. The flight leaves at 10:15PM; I may try to wake up early to get extra tired before I get to the plane.

If I'm able to sleep, not only will the flight go faster but I'll also be well rested in the morning.

Mattress Sizes

2008-11-29T14:01:41Z

I've owned a queen sized mattress for a few years and really grown accustomed to its size. While staying in hotels from time to time, I've enjoyed a king size mattress, but didn't find the larger size to be much of an advantage.

The past few days I've been sleeping in a twin bed, and wow is it small! My feet hang off the end, and I feel like if I roll one way or the other, I'll end up on the floor! At least its comfortable and warm.

Safe Mattresses

2008-09-16T17:44:47Z

When you think of a mattress, danger is not likely to spring to mind. Most people find comfort in their mattresses, which is why its especially troubling to learn that some mattresses can contain toxic chemicals. While the amount of chemicals is extremely low in most cases, whether or not these low levels of chemicals can harm children and toddlers has come into question.

Thankfully, HealthyBot.com has written an article on the subject to help educate sleepers about mattress toxicity.

Air Mattress

2008-08-29T12:16:59Z

If you've ever stayed with relatives or friends without a pull-out couch or an extra furnished room, you may have come across the handy air mattress. The nice thing about the air mattress is that they take up hardly any room when they are deflated and rolled up, and besides that, they aren't too bad to sleep on.

Also, they are quite affordable. Amazon has them in stock from under $50 to around $100, depending on the size. If you are going to invest in one of these bad boys, you may want to consider getting the electronic air pump as well to speed up the inflation process.

Caffeine and Sleep

2008-07-07T15:26:01Z

I've been drinking a lot of coffee lately, and to my surprise, I'm actually sleeping better! Normally when I drink caffeinated beverages, its much harder for me to sleep.

It might be that I'm putting sugar in my iced coffees too though, as if I understand correctly, after the sugar is used up, its common to get tired.

I'm even able to take naps - who would have thought that possible?

Hooray for the Sleep Positioner

2008-04-09T06:52:37Z

My wife and I just had our first baby, Eloise, and during the first week she's loved sleeping during the day and partying all night. ;-)

We've borrowed my sister's bassinet but Eloise hasn't liked sleeping in it, that is until we added the "sleep positioner".

It's basically two lumps that she sleeps between that I guess makes her feel like she's being cradled.

Polyphasic Sleep

2008-03-14T19:44:12Z

I read this interesting article online about a sleeping method known as polyphasic sleep. The theory behind this method is that instead of getting your sleep in all at once (8 hours a day). You would take a half hour nap every four hours. I think thats how it works anyway. Unfortunately I don't think most peoples schedules would permit such a radical sleeping schedule.

And as good as something like this sounds on paper, I'm not sure how healthy it would be over time, mentally and physically. I mean if we only really needed three hours of sleep a day, why would it matter how we take it. I wonder if they have conducted any scientific tests to gage the immediate and long term effects of this method. The idea is certainly intriguing.

American Bed

2008-02-29T15:35:29Z

Forget American Pie, remember the American Bed! The Center for Disease Control (the CDC) has issued a report saying that Americans don't get enough sleep.

I agree! I wish I could sleep more, its a difficult thing to do.

Scary Dreams

2008-01-18T19:02:40Z

Ok, well let my start of by saying that I'm a huge fan of horror movies. I absolutely love the genre. And not to honk my own horn or anything, but I also rarely if ever get the least bit scared as a result of watching them. That being said, my dreams are a totally different monster.

For some reason I have had horror movie villains chasing me in my sleep. I find that I have recurring dreams where I'm being chased by zombies in some cases, or other times Jason from the Friday the 13th Series. Hell, just the other day I had a dream that Michael Myers was stalking me. And damn, when this stuff happens in my dreams, it absolutely scares the crap out of me.

Well this is some weird stuff, I'm not sure what it means, if anything. Unfortunately, I'm not planning on abandoning my love for horror any time soon.

New Mattress, Friend or Foe

2008-01-18T18:48:32Z

I bought a new mattress over the summer and it's definitely getting the job done. Maybe a little to well. I found myself sleeping on a slightly glorified prison mattress for the majority of my life, but with this new bed I'm sleeping like a baby. I find it hard to wake myself up in the morning to get out of bed. Fortunately I have come up with a solution .

Before I would keep my alarm clock next to my bed, and in the morning almost unconsciously shut it off the second it would begin screaming in my ear. I have gone and stationed my clock a good ten feet away from my bed, forcing me to get my lazy behind out of my nest to shut it off in the morning. Once I am up with my feet planted on floor I'm usually good to go. It's just getting to this position that's the battle.

Learning While We Sleep

2008-01-15T22:58:26Z

I've been teaching my wife how to play Freecell, and since she's new to the game, I was telling her about how there are scientific theories abound that we learn while we sleep.

There was a feature on public television recently about some research that went into these theories. How did they conduct the studies? With video games of course!

This is of course related to Rae's recent post about Paper Mario dreams. Did anyone else dream of Tetris bricks falling? :-)