How can I become a less light sleeper?

I wake up too easily thanks to some health problems; given that, not so sure if this works for everybody, but, per my physician's suggestion -- grass. Right before you hit the sack, not very much.

I am a light sleeper too. A white noise machine works wonders for me. Check Amazon for reviews and buy one now.

Ear plugs? I'm hyper-sensitive to noises and when I put my earplugs in at night it's like I'm in a little cocoon in my head or something. I get Hearos brand ear plugs - I've tried several kinds and they work the best for me. For me also the blocking out of sound helps me tune out other things like movement or whatever. I don't think a white noise machine would work for me because one of my problems is that I find myself listening for noises, so I would just try to listen over the white noise. With my ear plugs in I know that noise is blocked out so I'm not listening for anything. Yes, I am a little weird.

Oh, I forgot to add: in my case, earplugs ALWAYS fall out in the middle of the night: after I'm asleep and far before my alarm goes off. So don't be afraid!

It depends why you're a light sleeper, I think. If you have anxiety issues, working on them via meditation, therapy or medication will likely help your sleep. (I've been a much better sleeper since I've been on anti-anxiety meds, and I haven't even been on them for a very long time. My meds theoretically don't do much for hypervigilance but in my case, they've helped immensely, and hypervigilance can be a cause of light sleep). The thing about anxiety is that anxiety=less sleep= tired= prone to anxiety= horrible cycle of awfulness. So if that's an issue, do address it. Good sleep hygeine is useful for training your body to fall asleep in response to specific cues, and hopefully will help you stay asleep. I find both melatonin and tryptophan (warm milk! yay!) helpful but neither are guaranteed to keep me asleep. White noise and blackout shades and carpets in the room to absorb sound. You might want to consider soundproofing if the cost's not too prohibitive. If you are someone who is prone to being this close to being asleep, and then suddenly a cat sneezing three houses over will force you to wake up and remain awake for the next three hours, I find http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbe-oIehMDM to be incredibly helpful in getting me over the hump and into Sleepyland. I listen to it every night, and I'm not even embarassed about it.

"Individually pocketed coils". This phrase saved my marriage.

Chiming in on the "noise" issue--for me, not even a white noise machine and earplugs was enough. I now sleep with an iPod and "Brown Noise for Sleep" loaded on it. It's gotten to where the brown noise sound instantly cues drowsiness for me. And having it piped directly into my ears drowns out much more noise than just having the machine in the room. Of course, it is irritating having earphones in, so that would be the drawback.

No light (I even cover all those little lights on electronics) and a fan running on low speed works really well for me. My dad was REALLY loud in the morning and it always woke me up from a deep sleep, but as soon an I started using the fan I slept right through his morning noise. I actually have better quality sleep as well, because now my body knows it won't be woken up by loud noises and now I can just relax and sleep. Also, I can't use earplugs because I am afraid that I wouldn't hear my alarm, which causes me to wake up several times in the middle of the night thinking that I overslept, so I just sleep with a pillow on my head. I also read somewhere a couple getting twin-sized mattresses and putting them on a king size box-spring so the person tossing and turning wouldn't disturb the other person as much.

I don't use a machine specifically for white noise, I just use a fan that is pointed at me through the summer months and away from me in the winter. A memory foam mattress will cut down on the vibration and movement when your bedmate rolls over. The numbness in your fingers could be carpal tunnel. I wear a wrist brace only when I sleep.