My Husband Snores. These Tips Help Me Not Murder Him
I love sleeping. I treasure it, covet it, constantly crave it. Fluffy comforters are my drug of choice, bedhead my hangover. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of sinking into a cloud of covers at the end of the day, burrowing down deep and finding that Just Right spot. I’ve carefully curated my sheets, comforters, pillows and pajamas to maximize snuggliness, and I often convince myself to get out of bed in the morning by counting down the hours until I can get back in again at night.
So, when my husband starts to snore at 3:26am and wakes me from my precious slumber, it’s all I can do to not reach over and smother his offending mouth with my memory foam pillow.
If you have an SO who snores, you get it. It’s hellish. But what can do you do? I’ve tried a few tricks over the years to protect my beloved sleeping from his thundering snores and my beloved husband from the wrath of Tired Taylor.
Nasal Strips
Remember those nasal strips from the commercials in the ‘90s? Those things are still around. And they mostly work! Sure, they look pretty dorky, but they reduced his uneven, booming wheezes into slight whistles. However, wearer be warned, the strips aren’t super comfortable and might take a few weeks to get used to.
Buy a test pack and give them a try. It can’t hurt.
No Nightcaps
Snoring is caused by over-relaxed jaw and throat muscles. Guess what? Alcohol is a depressant, so it relaxes those muscles even more and causes some epic snoring. Keep your snore-prone love from alcohol in the hours before bedtime and you’ll notice a significant decrease in snores.
Earplugs
My earplugs have become as sacred to me as my lavender essential oil and down comforter. I can’t fall asleep without them. Once you find the right size, shape and material for your ears, those puppies will block out all sound.
Full disclosure, they do tend to fall out during the night. Sometimes I wake up cupping one like a baby bird in my palm, and other times I don’t notice the one that’s stuck in my hair until it ends up in the shower drain. BUT – if you keep extras on your nightstand for emergencies, earplugs do the job.
White Noise
If you can’t stop the snoring, beat it. Drown it out with sounds of your own choosing. You can find a white noise machine on Amazon for pretty cheap that will make it sound like you’re sleeping on a jet plane, find playlists on Spotify or Apple Music full of waves, birds, and rain sounds, or turn on a fan. Another option? Pop on some Netflix and fall asleep to your favorite sitcom or reality show.
The only thing that really works for a snore situation is compromise. Some nights he abstains from red wine after dinner and some nights I rock those earplugs. If we’re going out to a bar, he’ll pop on some nasal strips before bedtime and I’ll turn on the fan. Do some experimenting and find what works for you. You can try one, a few or all of these tips to keep from murdering your snorer.
Isn’t compromise what relationships are all about, anyway?