If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I am a MAJOR morning person. I love waking up before Michael and Shiloh and having a quiet house to myself for at least an hour. I’m most productive in the mornings, in the best mood, etc. So I’ve had a morning routine for years now. But it wasn’t until about a month ago when I decided it was really important I also developed a nighttime routine.
some background info
I’ve shared on here before that I have had chronic sleep issues for years now (I’d say about 10 years). I’ve tried everything from prescription sleeping pills to essential oils to supplements to acupuncture to weighted blankets etc etc I could go on forever haha. Some things have helped, some not so much. A lot of these things I still use but I have found what has been more helpful than anything…is finding a night time routine that works for me and really helps me wind my brain down.
Everyone’s sleep issues are different. Michael has issues falling asleep. I have zero problem falling asleep. From the time my head hits the pillow I am usually asleep within 5 minutes or less haha. I typically have issues STAYING asleep. I wake up around 2:30am and have a veryyyy hard time every going back to sleep. So, oftentimes by 5am i just give up and get out of bed. All that to say – if your sleep issues are different than mine, I’m not saying this is the night time routine to cure all sleep issues lol (wouldn’t that be nice). But, this is a routine that has significantly helped my quality of sleep.
For me – the #1 most important thing that’s helped me sleep better at night (you’re not gonna wanna hear this): I no longer sleep with my phone by the bed. I plug my phone in in the bathroom and do not look at it ONE time until I get up in the morning around 6am. BUT, I’ll chat more about that later. First, let’s walk through my routine!
I don’t follow this every single night but, this is kind of my ideal / perfect nighttime routine.
what nighttime looks like for me
After we all eat dinner and put Shiloh down, from about 7:30 – 8 Michael and I clean the kitchen and finish up any last minute work projects for the day. Around 8 we will either watch a show or read a book. Around 8:30, I make my nighttime drink which is usually some form of bone broth hot chocolate. Before you stop reading this blog post LOL TRUST ME I THOUGHT it sounded so gross and weird too. But here’s how and why I decided to try it!
why bone broth hot chocolate?
I’m currently meeting with a registered dietician to help with hormone issues and our fertility journey (michael is too!). I told her about my sleep issues and she said it sounds like a blood sugar thing. At night, I typically have a glass of wine plus a pretty big dessert (dairy queen blizzard, cheesecake, blue bell ice cream etc). So, instead of having a total ‘sugar bomb’ at night that could possibly be spiking my blood sugar and causing me to wake up at 2:30 or 3 when it crashes…she recommended bone broth hot chocolate to me. The recipe I make [very similar to what you can find in this post], is a perfect blend of protein + carbs + fat which will help regulate blood sugar and keep you asleep through the night, [If you are interested in the EXACT way I make mine, let me know and I can share that. But, it’s similar to Fallon’s recipe above. But I also like to add a scoop of this blueberry moon milk collagen latte from vital proteins!] Bone broth has SO many amazing health benefits (no matter what time of day you drink it). It’s rich in nutrients like iron, vitamin A and K, zinc, and a lot more. It can also help protect your joints, reduce inflammation + heal the gut, AND help with sleep along with lots of other things.
The first time I tried my bone broth hot chocolate…I didn’t LOVE it, but I didn’t hate it. Now I actually love it and look forward to it each night because it’s soothing and truly does help me sleep. [Again, I don’t follow this routine every single night and some nights I for sure still have bluebell ice cream instead of my bone broth hot chocolate haha]. But, if you’re worried about the taste..I promise it’s actually very yummy!
supplements
OKAY, moving on from bone broth hot chocolate! Also around 830pm, I take my equilibria CBD soft gel pill [see this blog post for more info on CBD] as well as a magnesium supplement. Starting at 9pm, I really do my best to not look at my phone anymore! I plug it in in the bathroom and make an effort to not look at it again until 6am or when I get up for the day.
routine
After that I wash my face and get ready for bed and try to get in bed by 9:30 or 10. If I get in bed before 10pm, I will read until 10pm. I bought the hatch alarm clock about a month ago which has been a game changer in my nighttime routine. You can create your own routine with a reading light, guided meditation, which sound you want as a sound machine, alarm clock and more. So for me personally, I have a reading light come on around 9:15 for 20 mins and then my sound machine comes on around 9:45.
For you single gals…when Michael was out of town in Montana…I LOVED doing guided meditation at night (which you can also do with the hatch alarm clock). So, my reading light would come on for 15 mins, I would do a 5-10 min guided meditation, and then the sound machine would come on. That is trickier to do when Michael is in bed with me because I don’t want to have my airpods in. But if you are single, this was really helpful with my sleep. I would also do a guided meditation if I woke up at 3am and my thoughts were racing and I almost always fell back asleep in 5 minutes.
Since I’m not doing guided meditation right now (since Michael is in bed with me), if I do wake up around 2:30am or 3…I do not let myself check my phone. And 7 times out of 10, I fall back asleep! If I can’t fall back asleep after 30mins, then I will try moving to a different location like the couch, but I still don’t let myself look at my phone.
Then, my alarm goes off around 6 or 630 depending on the day!
This blog post is SO LONG and kind of scattered bc tbh I could do an entire blog post about bone broth hot chocolate or guided meditation or not sleeping with your phone by the bed haha [so, let me know if you would be interested in more info on any of those topics]. But, to consolidate my nighttime routine:
- 830pm – make my bone broth hot chocolate, take my equilibria CBD soft gel pil + magnesium supplement
- 9pm – plug phone in in the bathroom and don’t look at it again until the next day
- 9pm – skincare routine
- 9:20pm – bed. read for 30 minutes
- 10pm – sound machine comes on. sleep for the rest of the night
- 2-3am if i wake up: no phone. do my own self guided meditation / prayer to help go back to sleep
- 6am – wake up!
Maybe this isn’t helpful for you at all. Maybe you sleep like a rock every single night and you’re like…WTH this girl is nuts lol. But, if you struggle with sleep issues….I really encourage you to find a nighttime routine that helps YOU wind your brain down for the night. i’m trying to convince Michael to stop falling asleep with his phone in his hands bc TBH…once i made the decision to NOT sleep with my phone by the bed, I wished I would have done it a LONG time ago!
Please let me know in the comments below if you have ANY questions or want further explanation on any of this! So happy to chat further about it if y’all are interested!
xo Lauren
