How I Sleep

A series about how people with highly specific sleeping situations fall asleep and stay asleep — and the products they use.

Illustration: Arnaud Boutin

Nashville-based Southwest flight attendant Kerry Ann Kline has been on the job for a year and seven months now; because she’s still earning her stripes, she never quite knows what to expect from her work schedule. “I’ll alternate being on reserve for a month and then the next month I’ll have a line, which means I know what trips I’ll be going on,” Kline explains. “But being on reserves, I’ll be called out of the blue. So the schedule is always changing.” She might fly to Long Beach one day, Austin the next, while also studying for nursing school and spending time with her pilot boyfriend (who’s got his own flight schedule to manage). Clearly Kline can’t afford to be jet-lagged, so here’s how she makes it work.

We have a.m. fliers and p.m. fliers. I tried the a.m. flying, where you wake up anywhere between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. But I prefer p.m.’s because I don’t like having to wake up early. It makes it very hard to fall asleep and get a good night’s sleep. As a p.m. flier, I’ll report anywhere between noon and 6 p.m. And I’ll probably get in between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m., depending on where I’m flying. I’ll start in Nashville, which is where I’m based. If I’m going to the West Coast, with the time change, I’m probably getting in at 2:30 a.m. Nashville time.

Once we’re done with our day, we get on our shuttle or our van to our hotel. Depending on the vibe of the crew, sometimes we’ll have dinner together. By that time, I’m usually tired and want to go to sleep. Once I get to my room, I immediately start to wind down. I take a shower because (1) I’ve got to get the plane germs off of me, and (2) it relaxes me before bed. Then I do my skin-care routine, which also helps so much to relax me. I love the brand Youth to the People; I have their cleanser and their moisturizer in a travel pack that I buy at Sephora, and it lasts me up to three months. I also love doing a mask before I go to sleep on my overnights. It’s like having your own spa time.

I make sure to close the hotel curtains and maybe put a hanger on them. That’s a flight-attendant trick — sometimes where the curtain seams meet, there’s room for the sun to peek through, so I’ll do a little wrap and roll with one side, then use the pants hangers with a clamp on them to hold them together. It keeps the room super dark.

On an a.m. trip, if I get to my hotel and take a nap before going to work out or eat, I fall asleep easier at night — it gives me the extra burst of energy sooner in the day so that I’m tired and more relaxed at night. But during my p.m. trips, if I’m reporting at 7 p.m., I’ll get up, I’ll eat breakfast, I’ll work out, do my homework — I’m taking nursing prereqs. Then I’ll take a nap, get up and get dressed, and go to work.

I got a NodPod sleep mask and I find it really helps to have weight on my face, especially if I have a late report and it’s light outside. Even if I don’t have it with me, sometimes I’ll take a towel or a blanket or a pillow and put it over the top portion of my face. I don’t like things covering my nose and my mouth. But that weighted feeling on the top of my head puts me to sleep.

There’s a lavender-scented spray that I use — I got it from one of the Marriotts I stayed in. I spray it on my pillow, and it actually helps so much. I don’t know what’s in it, but it works instantly. I put my head down, and I’m out.

Everyone playfully makes fun of me for this, but there is something about drinking a little bit of warm milk and taking an Advil before I go to bed at night. I think the anti-inflammatory helps because when we’re flying we get so swollen and bloated. I always bring a snack bag with beef-jerky sticks or anything I want to snack on. I’ll put some cartons of milk in there and heat it up in the microwave in the hotel room.

I don’t use many sleeping pills or anything like that, because I don’t ever want to have to rely on that. I’ve taken melatonin before. Personally, I don’t love it because I feel like it makes me groggy or foggy the next day.

Sometimes I’ll drink Sleepytime tea. I like to mix it with Immune Support tea because we’re around germs all day. It gives me peace of mind going to bed knowing that I have something good in my body and that I hopefully won’t wake up sick. I love Emergen-C so much. It has zinc in it. It’ll keep you healthy. I also pack hand-sanitizer spray, bee-pollen packets, and electrolyte packets.

I try to drink water while I’m on the plane and not right before I go to sleep, so I’m not waking up all night to use the restroom. I travel with my HydroJugs because they don’t leak. I do love my Stanleys, but unfortunately they leak everywhere, so I don’t take those with me.

When I’m home I’ll stick to most of the same routine but I’m more relaxed when I’m in my own space, so I won’t be as adamantly trying to get to bed. I’ll probably be watching TV, which I don’t usually do a lot at hotels. When I get in from a flight, I’ve been talking to people all day, so I want quietness and to just lay down. But at home I’ll watch TV before bed, take another shower if I feel like I need to wind down or use a bath bomb, do my skin care. And then I’ll just lay in bed and let myself fall asleep when I want to fall asleep and not try and push it.

I love a good weighted blanket as a big cover. The weight really helps, same as using the Nodpod. I don’t like my pillow or mattress to be too firm. If a hotel has a harder mattress, I have a harder time falling asleep there. I like my pillows to be soft, not flat, but with a little fluff.

At home, I have this cute little sleep dress. And a robe is nice. I don’t bring those with me; those are my home items. When I’m away, I bring a giant T-shirt and some sleep shorts because they’re just so baggy and comfortable.

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