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I think lavender is supposed to be calming. Is it possible he is too hot? I heard that bad dreams could be caused by being too hot.

Waking up is normal, we all actually do it but don't remember because we roll over, fluff our pillows snuggle in and fall back asleep.
Some of us, like your husband, never figured out how to relax back into sleep,
How much light is in the room? We have black out curtains. Too much light, even from phones, can prevent our brains from relaxing. Maybe try changing the bulbs in the bedroom, and using less light at night through out the house before bed. My inlaws actually have NO lamps in teor living room, which too me is extreme, but they sleep well!
Good luck!

I often have bad dreams. I found that what I watch on tv in the evenings before bed effects my dreams. I have to avoid things violent or scary.

My DH has cut way back on caffeine because although it doesn't prevent him from falling asleep it seems to affect the quality of his sleep and can also make him feel anxious. I don't know if this would help, but thought I'd share just in case!

A simple meditation technique might help. Breathe in, then breathe out thinking the number "10". Then count down to 1 with each out breath. Helps me after getting up to pee multiple times a night and was recommended by a mind-body specialist.

@regberadaisy: I've never been a great sleeper but experienced a serious spike in insomnia triggered by anxiety following our loss in May. I reached out to my doctor and he prescribed a low dose of Ativan/lorazepam to take before bed every night.

I took the medication for about 6 weeks in combination with a lot of other relaxation techniques like deep breathing. I think a while back an HB blogger wrote about the 4-7-8 technique? Those numbers might be wrong but the basic idea is you breathe in for a count of 4, hold it for a count of 7, and then breathe out for a count of 8 and repeat the pattern for a while. I would try to remember to do the deep breathing during my commute and definitely before going to bed. I would also do it during nighttime wakings.

The combination of medication and deep breathing was life-changing. I stopped waking up in the middle of the night and this gave my body a chance to "reset." I'm not taking the medication anymore and I'm able to fall asleep again if I do happen to wake up during the night.

There are a lot of good suggestions already in this thread, I really hope he finds something that helps. Sleep is so important!

@noelani: that medication sounds like it would be very helpful. Did you have to do any kind of sleep study or did your PCP just prescribe it? I haven't talked to my doc yet about sleep issues, but I've been wondering if they'd want me to do one of those overnight sleep tests. Does not sound ideal to me...

My doctor suggested 5HTP, which can be found in herb or vitamin shops in my area. It's the same thing found in turkey that makes us sleepy. She suggested using it for a week or two to reset.

My husband and I both deal with insomnia on-and-off, and I have terrible nightmares. Having a cool, dark room with constant white noise helps. I also take klonopin before bed which helps quite a bit.

@hellobeeboston: My DH also takes Clonazapan for sleep. He has parasomnia so he will wake with nightmares because he hasn't fallen into a REM state of sleep. The medication is the only way any of us get any rest!