How long do you sleep?

[PeacefulChaos]

I'm just trying to figure out if I'm normal... Or in the range of normal, at least. :tongue_smilie:

Ok, I go to bed at a decent time. Usually try to get in bed around 11/11:30 and read a chapter or so of a book, then go to sleep. It takes no effort for me to get to sleep, and I sleep well - I don't wake up often, I don't toss and turn or wake up feeling like I haven't rested well.

The problem is, I don't wake up until 9:30/10 on my own. :001_huh: That is like, 9-10 hours of sleep. Is that normal? I literally DO NOT wake up before that. Yes, I can wake up to an alarm but only if I have somewhere to be... If I set it just to get up for a day at home, I'm still just too exhausted to bother doing anything but hit the snooze button repeatedly or just turn it off altogether.

Thoughts?

[Ghee]

I think normal varies. It may be your normal. When I'm not stressed or upset, I sleep like a rock, usually for 10 hours. Adding anxiety or illness (mine or a kid's) causes me stress and reduced both the quality and duration of my sleep. I can go as low as 4 during really bad times, which of course makes dealing with whatever harder as I'm not well rested. My kids take afte me. They do best with 12 hours of sleep until pretty much toward teens. Then it goes up (just kidding.) I'd say they usually sleep 9-10 hours on a regular basis. Less sleep and we all end up in bad moods and get sick much more easily.

[Mama Geek]

7 1/2 to 8 hours

[fairfarmhand]

7 1/2 to 8 hours

:iagree:

 

This is me. It seems that if I go to bed earlier, I get better sleep than if I go to bed later. I can get the exact same amount of sleep, but if my hours are from 10-6, I feel better than if my 8 hours are from 12-8.

[Spryte]

Normal has many faces. I am on a similar schedule, though I do take melatonin to fall asleep - otherwise I'd stay up reading all night.

 

As long as you are healthy, I think it's okay for all of us to be different.

 

One thing I learned is that I have adrenal issues which impact waking up, so where a "normal" person's adrenals might start revving up around 5 or 6 am, mine don't. At all. So I have to take meds upon waking, but it makes mornings difficult until they kick in. I wonder if you might have sluggish adrenals? A lesser version of needing meds, but still enough to impact your mornings? ...Just a thought, if you are inclined to investigate it medically.

[astrid]

Not nearly enough. :glare:

 

Sometimes seven hours. I was just thinking today, while walking in to work from teh parking lot that dh and I need to start going to bed earlier.

 

astrid

[justLisa]

When I was with youngers, I was fine sleeping very, very little. Now I find I really do need my sleep. I have an internal clock that wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30. Drives me crazy. So, during the week I really have to be in bed snoozing before 11 or I do not sleep enough. I am busy enough to totally crash the second I hit the pillow though. If you have decent energy and feel good I wouldn't worry about it.

[sparrow]

I usually go to bed around 1 am and I'm up between 8-8:30. I'd say I average 7-8 hours/night. That's *my* normal :001_smile:.

[justLisa]

Ugh, see not me. That was the hardest time in my life, when my kids were little and not sleeping much. It was so very very hard. I felt like I was in a constant fog. It was very depressing. Thankfully my husband would take turns with me with night time feedings. That helped so much! I think I would have gone postal otherwise.

 

I don't think you are alone. But then you also had a colicky baby so you probably did not get to nap either. My kids did not wake me much as youngers. They were only 2 yrs apart and both woke to nurse, but I was lucky and able to half sleep through it.

[happyhomemaker]

I usually get around 10 hours of sleep. Once in awhile I get less and sometimes more. I need my sleep.

 

:iagree: I have always needed more sleep than most people, even as a child. I think people just need different amounts. I can get 8 hrs regularly and still feel exhausted all the time. With 10 I'm pretty chipper.

[chepyl]

Currently, my body wants 12-14 hours!! When I am not days from delivering a baby, I cam function on 6 for a.few.days, but I really need 8-9.

[bcnlvr]

I need about 9 (9:15 to be precise...lol). Several days <8 and I get more into the zombie zone. Not pretty!

[Firefly]

Ugh, see not me. That was the hardest time in my life, when my kids were little and not sleeping much. It was so very very hard. I felt like I was in a constant fog. It was very depressing. Thankfully my husband would take turns with me with night time feedings. That helped so much! I think I would have gone postal otherwise.

 

This was me, exactly. That period of my life was horrible-- esp. with DS when it seemed like it would never end (he was colicky). Sometimes after I'd exhausted every possibility of comforting him, I would curl up with him on the couch and doze out of complete exhaustion while he was screaming away. Oi. So glad that is all over! I need my sleep to function properly and maintain sanity. These days I average 9-10 per night.

[nmoira]

I need about seven hours, but am currently average about six. I need more, but can't get back to sleep after I wake up.

[kristi26]

I typically go to bed around 11pm and get up around 7am. And I am up a lot at night as well because a) I pee a lot and b) we just recently found out we have bats and that's freaking me out!

[Kelly1730]

My new normal seems to be fall asleep between 10 & 11 pm; wake up no later than 5am. Five am I can live with, it's those nights I wake up at 3am and can't go back to sleep that I hate.:glare:

[Reflections]

I usually go to bed around 1 am and I'm up between 8-8:30. I'd say I average 7-8 hours/night. That's *my* normal :001_smile:.

 

:iagree: This is me. BUT I want more - need more. My body would have me sleeping from 10-9 if it could. But with TWO night owls and a "morning person" toddler, I am just not getting the hours. I have tried changing the two night owls' sleeping patterns to no avail. Within two weeks they revert back. I am just *waiting* for the day I can leave my ds7 up by himeself and can just go to bed - as of now, it is just not possible.

 

I wouldn't worry about how much sleep everyone needs or gets or wants, I would, if I could, just listen to my body and get as much sleep (or as little) as I would need.

[Hoot]

My body shuts off and falls asleep pretty much no matter what else is happening at 10pm sharp. It drives my husband NUTS! I can literally be in the middle of talking and when 10pm hits I'm OUT. Similarly, my body is up on its own between 5 and 6:30 every. single. morning. Honestly, I wish I could go to bed earlier because I sometimes feel like I need to nap midday.

[Mrs Mungo]

I sleep 6-7 hours unless I am really tired for some reason. But, I think that I don't need as much sleep as most people.

[PeacefulChaos]

:iagree: This is me. BUT I want more - need more. My body would have me sleeping from 10-9 if it could. But with TWO night owls and a "morning person" toddler, I am just not getting the hours. I have tried changing the two night owls' sleeping patterns to no avail. Within two weeks they revert back. I am just *waiting* for the day I can leave my ds7 up by himeself and can just go to bed - as of now, it is just not possible.

 

I wouldn't worry about how much sleep everyone needs or gets or wants, I would, if I could, just listen to my body and get as much sleep (or as little) as I would need.

 

That's what I would like to do... I just kind of feel bad about it sometimes.

I'm a total night owl - I can stay up exceptionally late without feeling the slightest bit tired (think overnight lock-ins where no one sleeps - I don't feel anything until about 5am). Obviously I couldn't necessarily do that every night, but I can easily stay up until 12-2am before I realize the time and think, 'carp, gotta go to bed...' This doesn't seem to affect me in the morning, I still wake up between 9:30 and 10. When we went to visit family and the time zone was an hour behind, I woke up reliably at 8:30/9! :lol:

What bothers me about it is that I feel like it's just so late. Idk... I just kind of end up feeling like half of the day is gone by getting up so late, but in reality I know I can't go to bed earlier. As it is there is not much time (2 hours) between when we put the kids in bed and when I go to bed - and I really like that time to sit and watch one of my shows and chill. The kids go to bed at 9, and they are like both DH and I (night owls) - I've noticed the boys aren't falling asleep until after 10 at least, most nights. I worry that I'm creating bad habits in them, even though they wake up before I do, by not having them waking up and getting moving at an earlier time of day - like 8 or something. Like I keep thinking about how we would be done with school work earlier (we got up at 8 last year for, oh, the first 2 weeks of school? :D lol) and for some reason getting up early = productivity for me.

I always felt like I got more done when I had to get up and take the kids to school at 7:30. I came home and relaxed while I had breakfast, then was doing stuff around the house by 8:30/9. But at the same time, yeah, I totally hated it. :D Because i despise getting up early. I was seriously useless in the mornings until I absolutely had to drive them to school. :lol:

DH also just is baffled by the fact that I need to sleep so much on a regular basis. He just thinks I'm lazy ;) (NOT REALLY! :lol: He says I would just have more time if I would get up earlier :D and doesn't realize how serious I am that I really just can't!!!)

[Dory]

I feel best if I get 8 hrs of sleep. Normally though I'm feeling lucky if I get 4-5 hrs of sleep.

[elegantlion]

I tracked my sleeping habits for a month a few years ago. I function best on 9 solid hours of sleep. I haven't been getting it lately and I feel horrible. I generally am in bed by 10pm.

[mom2scouts]

I need 9 solid hours of sleep to feel my best.

[LisaN.]

:iagree: I have always needed more sleep than most people, even as a child. I think people just need different amounts. I can get 8 hrs regularly and still feel exhausted all the time. With 10 I'm pretty chipper.

 

This is me. I completely agree that each individual just need different amounts.

[SwallowTail]

If I set no alarm and have no one wake me, I will sleep for 8.5 - 9.5 hours usually. I need to get 9 to really function well.

[Joani]

7 hours is my normal. I can function fine on 6, but any less than that and I'm a zombie. I couldn'ts sleep for more than 8 hours if I tried.

[Seshet]

I've always needed less than most people. My normal is 4-6 hours. I can still go days without sleep, though not as many days in a row as I could when I was young (it was common for me to go up to a week with no sleep when I was in school). When I'm sick, my normal is more like 8-12 hours. However, I have some friends who need 8 and some who need 10 regularly. So, each person's normal is different.

[Jilly]

I do best on 7 hours of sleep, although I can still function fairly well on 6 hours. Sleeping more than 7 hours really throws my day off. Of course if I am sick than I do need more sleep.

[Parrothead]

8 to 9 hours.

[QueenCat]

I'm in bed for around 8 hours.... I'm usually asleep for around 7. It takes me a while to fall asleep, regardless of when I lay down, unless I'm beyond exhaustion.

[SKL]

If you feel good when you wake up, it is probably your normal.

 

I do well on 7-8 hours normally. I "can" sleep as long as 12 hours if I'm catching up (or as little as zero if I have to get some project out).

 

Lately I feel kind of crappy no matter how much sleep I get. I wonder if I'm having sleep apnea or something.

[mazakaal]

My body would be very happy if I had 8-9 hours per night. In reality my sleep varies between 6 and 8 hours per night. If I do that for too long, then I get really overtired. The problem is that I do best if I get up at the same time every morning, so sleeping in just doesn't work for me. What I need to do is go to sleep earlier to make up the hours, but that just doesn't always work out unfortunately.

 

I've always envied people who can feel good while only getting 5 or 6 hours of sleep each night.

[readinmom]

4-5 hours. Lately I am too wired to sleep. Don't know why, maybe it's the approaching school year and realizing I haven't finished a lot of home projects yet.

[EmeraldGirl]

Wow, I could have written your post! My hubby only needs 5 hours.

[sewingmama]

10 hours for me. I go to bed just after the kids do and can easily sleep till 9 or10 am.

[Delirium]

6 is perfect for me. I recall in a college class I took a few years ago that our sleep cycles are 90 minutes. So 7.5 or 9 is better than 8 because you're not waking up in the middle of a cycle. I found this to be true for me, however I've used it to reason staying up another 30 or whatever so I can make it even divide of 90s :lol::lol: