During a separation, getting used to sleeping alone may take some getting used to. You may find that in order to fall asleep you will acquire strange sleeping habits. I myself was one of these people with the strange sleeping habit. While my husband was away on deployment I adapted the need to sleep with tons of pillows. These pillows were my comfort while he was away, and since I did not allow my son to sleep with me during this time, I needed to create the feeling of someone next to me. So each night for 8 months, I created a pillow fort for myself. And this habit is still going strong after two years and needless to say, my husband is not thrilled with this. And no matter what, I know that eventually he will be away for a long period of time so why get rid of something I will need for years to come?

During a separation you are forced to adapt to doing things on your own and maintain a life for you and your family. So once you finally feel in control of the situation, your soldier returns and you immediately have to make changes and adapt to a new routine. And one common complaint that is most often heard is separation insomnia. I myself battled this for a good three weeks after my husband left. The theory behind this is that as busy moms and spouses we feel like the only quiet time we have to ourselves is late at night. And many of us just don’t want to go to sleep alone. Once we get into bed, there are a million noises that we hear and they scare us awake. Many times we find ourselves sleeping on the couch for a few months. There can be many methods to help you deal with separation insomnia, and perhaps cure it:

- Don’t go to bed unless you are feeling tired. You will usually just end up lying in bed awake and stressing about falling asleep. This will only keep you awake longer.

- Don’t oversleep, even if you only had a few hours of sleep; try to wake up at the same time each morning. This helps you to implement your new sleeping pattern.

- Don’t take random naps throughout the day. Limit them to less than an hour or you will throw you sleeping pattern off and find yourself having trouble getting to bed at night.

Of course the common guidelines of curing insomnia also apply here such as: avoid caffeine after 4pm, don’t over stimulate yourself with tv or computer before bed and sleep in the same area such as your bedroom. If you see that you simply cannot adjust, be sure to contact your physician immediately.

Once your spouse returns home, it may take some time to adjust into the routine of things. I would say it took us a good few weeks to feel comfortable in our bed again. Because remember that they too have slept alone for as long as you have. As a military spouse, we are forced to make changes in every aspect of our lives from house, food, sleep, work, school and the list goes on.