are still listening so it drains the batteries quickly. My downstairs remote lasts at least 6 months (if not more) where I don't use the headphones.

I've pretty much trained myself that if I wake up in the middle of the night that I unplug the headphones and then fall back asleep. I'm changing the batteries about once a month (Harbor Freight batteries) so it's less than a buck a month on batteries so it doesn't bother me too much.