<p>Recently bought memory foam topper from costco and it did not smell of chemicals like the ones I bought before. Also it is blue instead of white so it must be a new brand. Recommend highly. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROIDX using CC App</p>
<p>My D loves having a fan by her bed–between the white noise and the air circulation, she’s a much better sleeper.</p>
<p>I second getting the memory foam toppers from Costco! They run $99 for a twin, which fits the TXL mattress well enough. I believe the width is the same and it is about 4-5 inches short on one end. Every now and then, they run a sale on these. I think I paid $70 for the ones I bought.</p>
<p>I second that good quality pillows and a mattress topper will make a huge difference. Bed Bath and Beyond has a number of excellent pillows. When I was in college I just used an egg crate mattress topper from Target and that worked great. But if you’re willing to pay the extra bit, a memory foam topper is of course the best. A fan is also useful, and will have the added benefit of drowning out outside noise. </p>
<p>Has he considered a sleep mask? Most rooms are much too bright (I was told once by a sleep therapist that if you can see the numbers of your digital clock in teh dark, that clock is too bright) and the curtains provided by colleges (if they are provided) don’t do a great job blocking out light. A simple eye mask can sometimes make a world of difference. I find that I usually wriggle out of mine by morning, but if I put it on when I go to sleep, I go to sleep a lot faster and stay asleep a lot longer. </p>
<p>As for sleep aids, I find that Trader Joe’s Bedtime Tea works like a charm. If there’s no TJ’s by you, almost every major tea brand has a sleep time or bed time formula. Also, if he’s near a Whole Foods, there is a supplement maker called Gaia Earth (I think?) that makes all natural sleep pills. I often have trouble settling down to sleep, becuase my mind is bouncing from thing to thing. These pills have plant ingredients like skullcap that just help me quiet my mind and relax so I can sleep faster and better. </p>
<p>Finally, he should think about his sleep routine. Is he playing video games, watching TV, or using the internet until right before he goes to bed? Building some downtime, away from screens and light and stimulating images, into your schedule can make a lot of difference in helping to get you relaxed and ready to lay down.</p>
<p>My DD’s dorm bed is hard as a rock. We put an egg crate pad down, then I covered it with a Laura Ashley mattress pad we found at BBB. We put jersey sheets over the whole affair with an afghan on top. She sleeps like a baby.</p>
<p>Foam mattress covers, sometime it takes 2 of them.
I believe that younger people have enough of melatonin in their bodies and all other goodies that ancent folks here (including me) have lost couple decades ago.</p>
<p>We ordered the memory foam topper from overstock. It was inexpensive and delivered to his door, and he loved it. Not sure what ever happened to it, as he lives off campus now and in a full or queen sized bed (dont recall what he bought)</p>
<p>Warning against melatonin - it made me drowsy during day time and did not help me sleep at all. I cannot take it, I am driving to/from work and working being that sleepy is a drag. I much rather not sleep. I am fine with 5 hrs though, 3 is a problem, but 8/7 is also a problem, will have a headache if I sleep that much. But I am ancient even by CC parents standards, I realize that most college kids need about 8 hrs at least. Memory topper should do it. My D. has permanent sholder sport injury and could not sleep without foam toppers (2) because of sholder pain. Foam toppers fixed the problem.</p>
<p>I think it’s a lot better to address the comfort aspect of this and leave altering substances like melatonin out of it - especially since this is likely an issue that’d be ongoing and not a one or two night jet lag cure.</p>
<p>We have been very happy with this foam mattress topper available from amazon [Amazon.com:</a> Soft Sleeper 5.5 Twin XL 2 inch Visco Elastic Memory Foam Mattress Pad, Bed Topper: Health & Personal Care](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016GBGBO/ref=wms_ohs_product]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016GBGBO/ref=wms_ohs_product)</p>
<p>Be aware that memory foam has an odor when first opened. You need to let the pad air out for about a week to get rid of all the smell. The foam also expands as it airs out.</p>
<p>If you also add a high quality mattress pad over the foam topper, the bed will feel extremely comfy. We used this one. [Therapedic™</a>; 400 Mattress Pad, 100% Cotton, 400 Thread Count - Bed Bath & Beyond](<a href=“http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=126590&RN=559&]Therapedic™”>http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=126590&RN=559&)</p>
<p>Our son had those egg crate foam toppers which he put a mattress pad on top of…and it was fine. They are inexpensive so we just had him toss it at the end of each school year.</p>
<p>DD had a very thick mattress pad on her bed (but she also had a new mattress and bed in her dorm).</p>
<p>When DD moved off campus, she got a synthetic 1 1/2 inch fake featherbed topper and put it on the bed, and then got a nice mattress pad to put on top of it. She said it felt like a “heavenly bed” from whatever hotel has those.</p>
<p>Memory foam is great but it can get hot…and it’s much more expensive.</p>
<p>My kids got the toppers that were $99 apiece at BBB and they appear to be extremely comfy. My D has had insomnia in the past, and I’m pleased to report she is sleeping quite fine. She does use earplugs and is religious about having a regular bedtime regime and not using electronics too close to bedtime.</p>
<p>^Our toppers were much cheapper than $99. My H. bought one for himself also, nice from BBB, cotton covered for about $45 (it could have been on sale). D. bought something very cheap at Wal-Mart, then she had to buy different size after moving out of dorm.</p>
<p>We got the $99 Costco memory foam topper for D1 (she definitely is a princess and the pea sort of girl). S2 slept fine last year, but tried D1’s topper this summer and had to have one. I didn’t notice a smell when we put it on his bed. We covered the dorm mattress in a hypo-allergenic/anti bed bug mattress cover, then put the memory foam topper on top (it comes with a very nice cover) and then put the sheets over that.</p>
<p>I agree with the other posters about a topper and a sleep sound machine but my concern is his possible subconscious anxiety. Is that what’s keeping him from falling asleep and/or sleeping soundly? </p>
<p>If he’s worried about being late for class, get a surefire alarm such as a Sonic Boom. I got my son the one from Amazon with the dual alarm (one setting for M/W/F classes and the other for Tu/Th classes. He’s found that he doesn’t even need the very loud alarm as the bed shaker wakes this former ‘unwakeable’ child.</p>
<p>If he’s worried (consciously or subconsciously) about the general stress that all freshman endure, have him see his home physician and let his doctor decide if he needs meds temporarily (though I’m not in favor of drugs unless they are TRULY needed). I’ve suffered from anxiety sleeplessness (plus delayed sleep phase syndrome) for many, many years (my brain just won’t shift into neutral) and tried just about every sleep OTC med, supplement and method out there as well as many prescription meds. Ambien (and other versions) works like a charm but can only be used occasionally or short term (or the brain become immune, like mine). So, my doc had me try different meds that causes sleepiness but most left me with a ‘sleep hangover’ the next day (just like OTC sleep meds). What finally worked for me was Clonazepam. However, your son may in time adjust on his own as he becomes acclimated to college life but for the time being, a script, along with a boring textbook, might help him get over this bump in the road. Advice from a professional can never hurt since they can rule in or out underlying conditions, right?</p>
<p>I’ve already mailed a package to him containing Bedtime Tea, lavender essential oil, and Gaia Earth Natural Sleep Pills. I’m still researching the mattress topper options - of which there are far too many! My one concern about the memory foam is that it sounds as if it emits stinky chemical smells, which 1) can’t be healthy to have in the room at all, even if the thing is not yet on the bed, just airing out, and 2) could alienate the room mates (one of whom is becoming a good friend and the other who is a nice kid but he and my son don’t have much in common so they’re polite to each other but probably won’t be life long buddies.</p>
<p>S has made an appointment at my suggestion to see a medical professional (Dr? nurse? counselor?) at the campus clinic about the sleep difficulty, but doesn’t want prescription medication. It seems to me this is generalized anxiety and I imagine it’s to do with the big transition to college. Another thought occurred to me but if he’d go for it is a big question: find and participate in a regular yoga class on campus.</p>
<p>I want to focus on Smithie’s final paragraph in Post #24 and PizzaGirl’s related point
While hard to accomplish in a college dorm room, especially with 2 other roommates, it is very important for sleep hygiene. </p>
<p>I’ve worked very hard with an M.D.(neurologist) in sleep medicine to help myself and family. Here’s a rundown of his strongest advice and the science behind it.</p>
<p>l. Do not stare at any “bright screens” (TV, computer, roommate’s computer screen if close to his bed…) for ideally 2 hours, or more realistically 1 hour, before sleep time. Since cave days, the human brain is long programmed to release “wake up” hormones upon seeing bright light. When we look at an electric screen at night, it tricks our brain into believing the sun is rising. Hormones are released to wake up, and they don’t fade for hours (hey, it’s time to hunt!). And as any post-teen knows, fighting hormones is a tough battle.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Set an alarm and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends and regardless of class schedules. Again, this is very hard at college, but is key to training the body to fall asleep at night. And if it was rough falling asleep the night before, it’s important to force oneself up with that alarm, put feet on the ground, get out of bed and muddle through the day, in order to be tired again at night. That causes one bad day rather than an endless series of bad days.</p></li>
<li><p>We’re Pavolovian about sleep. The only thing (ahem) to do in bed is sleep so our brain comes to associate that place with sleep onset. Since he’s having some trouble falling asleep, he might consider not using his bed to read, study, or chat by phone; use a chair or sofa elsewhere instead. When he crawls into that bed, it should tell his brain, "ah, here’s where I sleep.</p></li>
<li><p>If he doesn’t fall asleep within 10-15 minutes of going to bed, don’t lie in bed staring at a ceiling “trying” to fall asleep. Instead, get OUT of bed, go to a chair somewhere dark and quiet, perhaps in the corner of a hardly-used lounge, with a reading light BEHIND his eyes and read for awhile. You might purchase a bed-clip travel light to clip it right to the book; just be sure it’s not pointing at his eyes. The reading matter should be very mindless, I was told “at the level of Reader’s Digest, or an easy crossword puzzle” Don’t study right then, or read a newspaper or anything analytical or possibly stressful and upsetting. As soon as he begins to yawn a few times or feel his eyelids get heavy, he should crawl into bed again. Rinse and repeat as needed.</p></li>
<li><p>Since one thing to avoid is stress and stimulation during his hour before bed, can he let his roommates know he’s working on this? If they will cooperate, he can put up a signal that indicates “I’m winding down, don’t converse with me anymore tonight.” That could be a baseball cap or anything he hangs up to signal them nightly. They don’t have to stop talking, but not talk with him! They might be exciting his brain with all their doings of the day. </p></li>
<li><p>Soft sound, others’ soft talking in the room, radio music can be helpful to falling asleep. After all, other people were still talking at night in those caves. It’s the light, specifically, that’s the problem to us biologically.</p></li>
<li><p>Sleep onset is also a matter of brain releasing hormones. A lot of the points here are to allow the brain to release those hormones, and “let sleep come to him.” Chasing and trying for sleep is not effective; reprogramming his habits into an evening ritual that fools the brain into releasing sleep hormones works. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Only he knows if he can accomplish all this, but if he can work towards some of these points, it might help. He doesn’t have as much control of his environment as he did at home, but he can be resourceful if he knows the science and what he’s trying to accomplish. The sleep theory is pretty interesting and the dr’s advice has been most helpful in this household. Good luck to him.</p>
<p>^^Sounds like great advice, paying3tuitions. Of course, here I am, unable to sleep, staring a a bright screen…</p>
<p>Besides all the excellent suggestions above, is he getting enough exercise? More than just walking to classes. Running, pick up games, whatever he might enjoy, something that is fun for him. Good for releasing both mental and physical stress. also he should eliminate anything with caffeine altogether. Good luck!</p>
<p>if necessary, buy a new mattress and take it with you when you leave.</p>