One of my sons suffers from chronic insomnia and we opted to try creating an atmosphere that lends itself to sleeping rather than pump him full of sleeping pills like Ambian or Benadryl.
We got him a set of "SleepPhones" that are essentially a headband (Think Bjorn Borg or John McEnroe headband, not Sennheiser) with a couple of relatively flat ear buds sewn into them. They are a not nearly as bulky as these one. There are wireless and wired versions... And we play rain storms and river water, ocean waves etc... through his iPod... It hasn't out and out solved the problem but it has certainly helped him and even if he doesn't fall asleep quickly, he is relaxed and enjoying himself while he waits.