Britons spend 37 minutes 'listening to wave sounds' to get to sleep

Forget about counting sheep, millions of Britons now listen to nature tapes, wave sounds and soft music to help them fall asleep.

Researchers found it takes on average 37 minutes a night trying to get to sleep, with many of us now turning to noise in a bid to get them off.

One in five (20 per cent) say noises from nature help them doze off, with favourites including sounds of the rainforest and birds twittering, a survey found.

The sound of waves is considered the most soothing, preferred by 11 per cent of Brits, followed by soft music (nine per cent).

The wind was voted most relaxing by eight per cent, with the ticking of a clock coming fourth (six per cent) and then late night radio (four per cent).

The study found that 11pm is the most common time for going to bed and Brits sleep for an average of 6 hours 49 minutes.


/The Telegraph/