Sleeping in the Closet?

[adventure_rn]

I feel pretty ridiculous even typing this sentence, but I'm seriously considering buying a twin mattress and dedicating my walk-in closet as my 'night shift sleeping space' as the only windowless room in the house. I've tried every light-blocking 'blackout shade' technology I can think of, and I can't get my bedroom room dark enough; I love night shift on the whole, but this lack of sleep is driving me nuts. Have any other fellow night shifters resorted to sleeping in equally bizarre places?

I think my dream home would have a small, windowless den or office where I could sleep anytime I want. Why isn't this a thing?

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

It's not a matter of light or dark. Your circadian rhythm, cannot adjust. Find a day job, in the meantime use a sleep mask.

Best wishes.

[Orion81RN]

I still have mild PTSD from my night shift days :/ I resorted to putting tin foil on the bedroom window, and then covering with a black fleece blanket. Plus I wore a face mask, and put a fan on high to drown out any noise.

With those measures I wasn't quite a zombie...quite. Good luck to you. I feel your pain!

I am glad that worked for you, but I about spit out my coffee reading the tin foil on your window. I'm picturing someone seeing it and thinking you're a bizarre conspiracy theorist who thinks everyone's out to get them. ROTFL

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

I have sleep mask, best $6.99 or so I've spent at Amazon. Add my sound machine set to the beach and I'm all set. (For four hours or so.) Good luck!

[Buckeye.nurse]

LOL Orion!! :) I actually wondered if the neighbors might think I was weird for a brief minute...but I'm in my mid-30's now, and am moving past the point where I care about what others think as much as I used to

I'm just glad my 6 month stint of night shift happened after I moved to a house and out of the townhouse community that came complete with a vigorous twice-weekly landscaping team!!

[Crush]

My son sleeps on an air mattress in his walk-in closet. Has a fan in there and a CD he says he got from The Nation Sleep Foundation with peaceful tones and embedded tones or sounds that guide through sleep cycles. He has had that CD for several yrs now. He does not always sleep in the closet though, only on days or if our neighbors really crank up their stereo.

[AceOfHearts<3]

If light is coming in around the blackouts, buy some spring tension rods and place them vertically in the window opening - tucking the curtains behind them. Made my room so dark I would bump into the furniture..

I've done this too. I have a blackout curtain between the window and my blinds, then another set of blackout curtains hanging from the curtain rod on the wall. It helps block out almost all of the light. I initially had only the curtains hanging from the curtain rods, but it just wasn't enough. The third curtain directly next to the glass using tensioning rod did the trick.

I also have a white noise maker (commonly marketed for babies). I had a humidifier that was on the louder side (very similar to my white noise maker) which is how I found out that I'd like a white noise maker (especially since my new humidifier makes almost no noise).

I've thought a windowless room would be nice at times too (figured it'd probably be nice and quite too).

ETA: it's super easy for me to remove the curtain between my blinds and the glass when I'm back on day shift. My original set of blackout curtains stay on the curtain rods at all times- I was lucky enough to find some that match my decor in my room perfectly.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Blackout curtains for me -- I never thought about using two sets with a tension rod. Even with room darkening shades and blackout curtains, I'd have the occaisional shaft of light if the curtains moved for any reason. I use an industrial fan for white noise -- the low setting for night time sleeping, medium for sleeping in the daytime. I set the fan on high and my (now-ex) moved into my house while I was sleeping and I didn't hear a danged thing. (I also didn't hear anything when he moved back out.) When I last lived in a rental, I put foil on the windows and that was fabulous for keeping the light out! The neighbors all thought I was growing marijuana in there, though.

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

So many great ideas! I use a paper blackout shade covered by a real blackout shade covered by my acutal curtains, but some light still creeps through the cracks. I'm definitely going to investigate this vertical tension rod business.

I also read elsewhere on the interwebs that some people use temporary adhesive to glue a strip of velcro around the window casing, then velcro on the blackout shade to get into the crevices.

As for the tin foil....

I am glad that worked for you, but I about spit out my coffee reading the tin foil on your window. I'm picturing someone seeing it and thinking you're a bizarre conspiracy theorist who thinks everyone's out to get them. ROTFL

[Flatline, BSN, RN]

They sell blackout tint at many home improvement stores.

I lived in a house where an cardiovascular surgeon had lived, he painted the walls and ceiling a very dark blue which when combined with black out shades or tint would make for a pitch black room.

[amoLucia]

Just saw a TV commercial where some kid was painting his bedroom BLACK when his Mom walk in.

Then I thought how that would help for the folk like you guys who have the sleep disturbance difficulties with the NOC shift.

[twinsmom788]

My daughter ( ER doc) just told me she was going to do the same thing in their new house. She works all kinds of shifts. I think it's a great idea to sleep in a closet! I'm looking to do the same thing. I like to nap all times of the day.

[Trashpanda RN]

cut trifold boards or cardboard to your windows measurements and duct tape the edges. hasn't failed me yet.