> 2 year old daughter
Aw man. I feel you there. That's tough. But cute...good memories. Haha.
Melatonin works well for me too, though the effect does wear off as you said. You might check out the "bi-layer" melatonin tablets. I haven't tried them, but they are available.
I'm one of those freaks who is OK using doxylamine after researching it, and I find it really beneficial on top of the melatonin. It has a staying power for sleep that's really nice. When I take it, I take about 8mg, which is something like a third of a tablet but they're easy to break up.
I wonder also if one could split up the melatonin effect by putting a second tablet inside something like a small piece of cheese, for a simple time-release mechanism.
I also found that sleep cycles matter a lot to my body. If I wake up early, it's probably right on the button, 4-5 90-minute sleep cycles in. Falling asleep at this point is hard just because of where I'm at in the natural cycle. So it's usually a matter of waiting in bed for sleep to come back. I use these techniques to help me wait it out:
- Turning on a long lecture or podcast that I've listened to before. There is a scientific lecture on sleep and dreaming that works really well. :-) I use an XHDATA D-328 which has tactile playback controls and no screen. I also put some relaxation / ambient tracks on the memory card.
- Designing houses, neighborhoods, and vehicles in my imagination. I get into the most tactile details that I can.
- Making some quick changes to get more comfortable: Shedding clothing if necessary, a quick trip to the bathroom, a drink of water, fixing my pillow.
I also like to use this calculator periodically to get a rough idea of how my sleep cycles are going to work:
https://sleepyti.me/
Anyway...I know you said you tried everything. So I mainly posted this to mention the bi-layer melatonin.