S/O night owl - How to GET UP?

[mathnerd]

Changing body temperatures also helps reset one's body to wakefulness. So getting outside, taking a shower or even just opening a window and taking off your covers can all help.

When my alarm goes off, I feel that it is the right thing to do to sleep late and I hate life and everyone who thinks that I need to be up and bright and cheerful and buzzing around in the AM. Around dawn is when I feel the warmest and most comfortable in bed which could contribute to my sleepiness. So, I can try taking off the covers in the morning to see if that helps.

[Btervet]

I’ve struggled with this my whole life. Still do. None of the “rhythm setting†solutions has ever worked for me, and a sleep study found that my biggest problem is my body has a 30 hour cycle.

 

The only thing that ever worked for me was necessity. When I had to work at 5am I’d getup, though I was half asleep for the first few hours at work. When I had babies I had to get up, but that often meant doing what was necessary and laying half asleep on the couch. As my kids grew, I started sleeping in more. My solution - farm animals. But, now my oldest is taking over morning chores (his choice) so I’m back to sleeping in. My newest solution - another baby coming. Not that I’d recommend that.

[Seeking Squirrels]

...

 

What about waking up at 8:30am? You could still follow the above steps but shift the hours by 1.5.  If your kids get to watch a show in the morning anyways, do they have to ask to do that? Let them automatically do that in the morning and not bug you until 8:30 so you can get your hours in.

 

...

8:30 does sound a lot more doable, other than co-op day. In theory I don't like for them to watch a show on school mornings, but in reality I'm not up yet so I end up letting them. 

 

The waking up part is always the hard part. 

 

I mean, who'd mind being up all night if you could spring out of bed and go at it for 20 hours?

 

My advice in the other thread was directly aimed at the critical problem of waking up.

 

Since you are "awake" but not "UP" at a pretty early time, I'd put a 10,000 LUX light by your bed and turn it on as soon as you wake up, dozing in and out with 10,000 LUX helping you become more wakeful and helping to regulate your body for the next 24 hours. It can work even if your eyes are closed as long as you are facing in the direction of the lamp, as the rays can go through your eyelids. 

 

And, do everything else I wrote up in the other thread. 

 

Literally, this is the exact problem we went to the sleep doctor for. 

 

Delayed Phase Sleep Disorder includes all sorts of hormonal and other biological variations from the norm. Normal bodies do certain things that regulate their circadian rhythm. Melatonin, other hormones, body temperature . . . all vary on a 24 hour clock that "tells you" when to be wakeful and when not to be.

 

The first night ds tried the 5PM tiny dose of melatonin, he crashed asleep by 9PM and then "just woke up!!

at 7AM. He was perplexed, lol. And very encouraged, as was I.

After reading the instructions I wondered about this because it instructed eyes open. I'm glad to hear it will still help some with eyes closed so I can use it as I'm waking.

 

That sounds really hard. It makes me have more sympathy for my teenage ds who has always had a hard time waking up. I still have to get him up in the mornings, even though he is 17. I don't know what he is going to do when he goes to college.

 

Anyway, as I was reading the thread, this occurred to me. I don't know anything about sleep issues, so maybe this is a terrible idea, but I'll throw it out anyway. Is there anyway you could do your tv watching in the morning in bed? Doing it at night is bad for getting you into sleep mode, plus you need a long time to wake up in the morning and something to look forward to. Would tv work for that? An hour of tv to slowly wake up, maybe do some stretches, and then get up.

We don't have a tv in our room. I suppose I could use my laptop. I would really rather have this time at night though. Honestly if I'm awake enough to watch a show or read a book, I'd rather just get up and start my day. It just takes me so long to get to this point in the first place. It's not just grogginess after waking for the first hour, it's that I can't even keep my eyes open and drift off easily. I do have a short period of time where I am awake but play on my phone to get my brain going, so I could watch a show for this part instead of my phone, but I try to keep this to about 20 minutes, so a show might just make me stay in bed longer! 

 

Do you sleep with your windows uncovered, so your body can get cues from natural sunlight? 

Also, do you exercise in the late afternoon, so your body is physically tired and has an easier time falling asleep? (Don't exercise immediately before bed though; for many people, exercise has an invigorating effect. But a few hours later when fatigue sets in....)

We have slat style blinds, so they are pretty good at blocking out light. Too many lights and things on our street to keep them open at night. But I could start asking my kids to open them for me when they come in. 

 

Honestly, I must ask: Why do you feel you need to? If even if you get vertical you're not much use to anyone, and you don't absolutely have to in order to keep a roof over your head, why not set yourself a reasonable wake-up time for your own body? Arrange the kids' schedules accordingly: morning is quiet independent work/play/breakfast time. Teach them to leave you alone short of an emergency ("fire, flood, or a lot of blood" as we used to tell DD when she was little). 9 and 5 are old enough to get themselves breakfast and hang out with quiet toys or a workbox or whatever will work for you and them. Then, get yourself up when you're rested and ready to get up, and make the most of the afternoon/evening.

I guess I just feel like I should since my kids get up then and I want us to have a productive morning and start school at a reasonable hour. I'm always beating myself up for being lazy. :/ 

 

Yeah, it wasn't really in our budget either but truthfully I was just plain desperate. The only thing worse than dragging myself out of bed on too little sleep is standing around for an hour afterwards dragging a teenager out of bed. :p

 

Desperation born out of necessity. Unfortunately, we have to leave at 6:45am (ideal) or 7 at the very latest (no wiggle room, may be late at that point) to get him to his preferred magnet type high school. 2 of those days I am dropping him off at the carpool meet up point about 15 minutes from our home and can come back home and rest but 3 of those mornings, I drive the carpool through the eye of the local traffic storm to drop them off by 8am. This was so not my homeschooling life (he was homeschooled from

2nd-8th grade and I still homeschool little brother) but he was accepted to a very sought after high school that is a perfect fit for him so it's a gotta do what we gotta do situation.

 

I looked carefully at the $25-50 ones where the light isn't a therapy level light but had this feeling that it might be a case where I would have wished that I spent the larger sum instead fairly soon and I didn't want to spend $50-100 (times two) as a precursor to spending about $220 on two of these after various discounts.

 

We are on day two of their use (back to school was 1/2/18) and I just dropped him and his carpool buddy off at 7:55 am and more significantly, there wasn't any stress about running late to carpool AND he wasn't rushed to get out of the car. He even said "thanks for driving me!" when he got out, which was a first. He got up and got dressed much more easily than was the norm pre-break. We were driving away from home at 6:55am, instead of 7:05 which makes a big difference both in terms of being a reliable carpool showup and not making him late to his zero hour elective. I'm cautiously optimistic about this continuing to improve. We will see!

That's awesome. I'll definitely consider this.

 

Another thought: how much time do you spend outside in the middle of the day?

One of the key things to get over jet lag is to be outside in midday sunlight; that helps set the inner clock. 

Definitely not enough right now. I HATE cold and we live in Utah. I don't spend a lot of time outside in the winter. I keep thinking we should but then another day will go by when I haven't. Some days I don't step foot outside. 

 

The circadian rhythm needs the environmental cues of the daylight cycle to work properly.

I wonder how much our inside lifestyle with artificial light sources contributes to the many sleep disorders.

 

OP: do you have the same issues when you spend several days entirely outside, like on a camping trip for example?

Not as bad, but yes. I get uncomfortable faster since tents get HOT once the sun is up for a bit. So it's probably about 9 when I get up due to sheer discomfort. If I sleep in my mom's trailer it's a lot harder but my anxiety over being in their way helps. 

[Seeking Squirrels]

Agreed, and especially the bolded is the biggest problem with trying.  You have reasons but those reasons are not strong enough motivation.

 

 

Also, there are several issues going on here that are undermining any effort you may make to change your sleep rhythm.  I wonder also if you are an introvert?  I'm thinking that being around the kids all day might be draining, too.  Not that you don't love and enjoy your kids but that being "on" for hours on end may drain your batteries so you are needing several hours at night to charge them again.  If so, this will be even harder.  Things will also be affected if you naturally need more sleep but you seem to be able to function on about 8-9?  

 

Very much this. I need that time of quiet and calm. In fact, as much as I do love watching my shows at night and miss it when I don't, there are some nights where I never turn on the tv because I just need it to stay quiet. When I do happen to get tired before midnight, the thought of going to bed makes me a bit anxious because I just feel like the sooner I go to bed, the sooner it will be morning and the chaos will begin again. I just can't do it. My fitbit is telling me I usually get about 6.5 hours of sleep. Because of time to fall asleep, wake ups through the night, and that I'm not fully sleeping in the morning. My wake up time on the app usually shows the first time I've been woken up, even if I keep drifting back off for the next 2 hours. Apparently I'm never resting fully enough for it to register as sleep. Most of the time anyway. This morning it did. It showed me awake for 2 periods around 8-8:30 then it shows another hour of sleep. After that it says I was awake. I just got it for christmas though, so it's new and I don't know if it takes a while to learn your patterns. 

 

FWIW, my dad was a night owl AND an early riser but he didn't need much sleep.  He could go to bed at midnight and wake up at 5am bright eyed and ready to go.  Mom?  Nope.  She needed more sleep AND was not a morning person.  She was a teacher, though, so she had no choice but to get up.  It was a slog for her.  She really needed to be in bed by 9pm at the very latest to be able to get up by 6am.  I could always tell when Dad had gotten up.  Lights on, TV on, radio on because he hated the quiet.  He would also adjust the thermostat to make it cooler if it was summer.  He did better if he was cool.  [For the record, although I never told him, mine was the only room in the house where I could hear and see all the lights and noise, but he wasn't deliberately inconsiderate.  He just didn't realize that I could hear him.] That would last no more than half an hour because he could get up and ready for work very quickly.  Once he left Mom would go back through the house turning it all off again so she could have quiet and dark a bit longer while her brain slowly slogged through her morning routine.  Because her brain was not really "there" yet she needed at least an hour and a half to get ready.  She still does, come to think of it.  They just had very different physiologies.  :)

 

 

If you really, really want this then I agree with xixstar maybe shifting a smaller amount would be more doable.  And with the kids waking you up to ask permission for things you aren't getting your best sleep which seems to be in the AM.  So here is another list (I do better with lists, sorry).  Maybe try the following:

 

1.   As mentioned in the above post, maybe try to shift to 8:30am as your normal wake time since that seems more doable physically and psychologically than 7am.  It will be easier to wake up for co-op if you don't have to shift SO far from your norm even though you will still be getting up earlier than you normally need.  Make a list of things your kids can do on their own in the morning and make it clear that no one is to wake you before 8:30am. Can they read a clock? 

2.  Take melatonin at 6pm. 

3.  Shift the bedtime for your children by half an hour and make it a priority.  Set an alarm if you need to.  If routines and structure are hard for you maybe your DH can help with this.  Do what you can to start winding them down for bed a bit earlier than normal.  Make sure the 5 year old especially is getting teeth brush, pjs on, whatever is part of the routine by 8:00pm then get her in her bed by 8:15pm.  Sit with her for the time needed for her to go to sleep.  This may take a bit to shift their time since they don't have to get up the next day at a certain time but I would try.

4.  Make sure YOU are completely ready for bed BEFORE you start watching TV.  Otherwise going to bed will still require effort and your brain may talk you into delaying.

5. Commit to only watching one TV show a night.  Have all screens off by 10pm.   

6.  Play some white noise or soothing music, read a book and try to wind down but don't try to go to sleep until you feel sleepy.  

7.  In the morning have an alarm go off at 8:30am. 

8.  Turn on that lamp.  

9.  Try to be out of bed by 9am-9:15 am on non co-op days.

 

And I agree with another poster that also you might go get a physical to see if you are needing some supplements.

 

Hugs and good luck, whatever you decide to do.    :)

This sounds so much more doable. Thank you. 

 

I am the same way. Very hard to wake up in the morning, no matter how much or little sleep I have had. I try not to nap often, but when I do, I also have trouble waking up from naps and usually feel worse than when I went to sleep.

 

I am always more tired when I wake up in the mornings than when I go to sleep at night. When my kids were little, and I had to wake up in the middle of the night with them, I would sometimes cry when morning came, because it was so hard to get out of bed. Back then, I would keep a pack of those tiny toddler sized juice boxes (2 or 3 oz?) in my bedside table to have first thing before climbing out of bed. I don't drink coffee or tea.

 

Maybe I should try a juice box in the am. It's not my tea, but maybe getting my blood sugar up a bit would help. And this is more immediately doable than buying a machine to get my tea by my bed. 

 

Now I have to get up between 6:15 and 6:30 daily to get my kids off to school. I have a sunrise alarm clock that gradually brightens the room before I have to be out of bed. It's actually my second one, because the first one died, and I don't like this one as well. It still helps.

 

Also, DH can get out of bed first thing when he wakes, so he gets up first, and I wake up gradually while he is taking his shower.

 

None of that makes it easier. I get up because I have to, not because it is easy.

 

I've always been this way. Going to sleep earlier does not make getting up easier, though it does make it easier to get through the day when I'm not as sleep deprived.

So much this! I have a hard time waking up regardless, but getting more sleep in would make the day go smoother and I wouldn't feel quite as resentful about the getting up! 

[regentrude]

 

 

Definitely not enough right now. I HATE cold and we live in Utah. I don't spend a lot of time outside in the winter. I keep thinking we should but then another day will go by when I haven't. Some days I don't step foot outside.

 

Hey, you don't deserve to live in such a beautiful state ;)  Why can *I* not be in Utah?

[Seeking Squirrels]

Hey, you don't deserve to live in such a beautiful state ;)  Why can *I* not be in Utah?

Haha, yes, it is quite beautiful here. I do tend to take that for granted sometimes. I do love the mountains and the hiking/camping opportunities. But my sensory-issues self really hates the winter and summer temps! 

[ktgrok]

You definitely need a sleep study!!!

[ktgrok]

Also Twinnings does make English Breakfast Tea K-cups.

[Garga]

I think you can have sleep apnea without snoring. My dh has sleep apnea and he has snoring, but he also randomly stops breathing. However, I couldn’t tell by listening that he wasn’t breathing. It’s not as obvious as you think. You could be not breathing and your sleep partner might not know.

 

Have you ever had a chance to sleep as long as want for at least a month? Have you ever gone to bed consistently at 1:00 a.m. (the way you want to) and been able to sleep for as long as you want and wake naturally? What I mean is, have you ever had a chance to find out once and for all, how much sleep *you* need? I did that with the kids last summer. They went to bed at the exact same time each night and slept until they naturally woke. I tracked when they woke up every morning and soon a pattern emerged. One son needs 10.5 hours a night and the other needs 9.5. I plan on doing that next summer as their bodies grow and their sleep needs change.

 

It sounds like you’re perpetually sleep deprived. That could be because you have sleep apnea and no matter how long you sleep, you never get to the restorative stages of sleep. Or it could be that you always need a full 9.5 hours of sleep, and you only ever get 8 (pick your own numbers.)

 

If it was me, I’d do the practical things that are within your control (and outlined above by other posters), I’d get a sleep study, and I’d get my levels checked (Ferritin and other levels mentioned by other posters...forgot what they were, Vit D was one?).

Edited January 3, 2018 by Garga

[Cindy in FL.]

He uses Alarmy

 

Do you happen to know the name of that app?

[Storygirl]

I am a night owl and my life is finally manageable now. But, I started threads like yours a while back because I was living like you did. In addition to everything else suggested, I recommend checking what your Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12 and Ferritin levels are. When I had these troubles, it also turned out that I was really deficient in all of the three. My doctor put me on prescription strength dosages and monitored my levels until they came back up. My life is manageable, but, if I stopped supplementing, I am back to being unable to get up in the mornings and popping back into bed for extended morning sleep. Vitamin D3 especially affects mood and deficiency makes a person very demotivated to get up and out of bed.

These days, my DH works in an office that is far away from restaurants and would like to take lunch to work. I wake up early and pack his lunch even though he can do it himself because it gives me a reason and motivation to get out of bed. I drink coffee immediately and if I stay away from my bedroom for an hour, I can pull off a regular day's schedule. If I go anywhere near my bed, I go back in and sleep until 11:00 AM.

Good luck.

 

Interesting about the Vitamin D. I know I run very low. Even after six months of mega dose prescription pills, my Vitamin D was only 25.

[ktgrok]

I do think that this is beyond normal, with the falling back asleep without remembering laying down, legs feel like lead, etc. Almost like the sleep paralysis that happens in REM sleep (or whichever phase) isn't going away when you wake up or something. I think lab work should be done, but you really really really need to see a sleep specialist. It almost sounds like a variant on narcolepsy or something. Out of the range of your normal general practitioner I'd think. 

[ktgrok]

Google hypersomnia or sleep inertia as well, to see if those fit. But really, ruling out apnea may be a big thing, given how restless you are much of the night. 

[LucyStoner]

You can definitely have sleep apnea without snoring. My husband has it and it went undiagnosed for years because he's slim and doesn't snore.

[LucyStoner]

When my alarm goes off, I feel that it is the right thing to do to sleep late and I hate life and everyone who thinks that I need to be up and bright and cheerful and buzzing around in the AM. Around dawn is when I feel the warmest and most comfortable in bed which could contribute to my sleepiness. So, I can try taking off the covers in the morning to see if that helps.

I usually feel stabby when I wake up to an alarm. As in, come closer and I will stab you if you are too chipper or want me to wake up. The light does seem to be helping. Not soon enough to tell if it's a total success but I am optimistic.

[Seeking Squirrels]

Also Twinnings does make English Breakfast Tea K-cups.

This is the brand I drink!  :w00t:

 

I think you can have sleep apnea without snoring. My dh has sleep apnea and he has snoring, but he also randomly stops breathing. However, I couldn’t tell by listening that he wasn’t breathing. It’s not as obvious as you think. You could be not breathing and your sleep partner might not know.

 

Have you ever had a chance to sleep as long as want for at least a month? Have you ever gone to bed consistently at 1:00 a.m. (the way you want to) and been able to sleep for as long as you want and wake naturally? What I mean is, have you ever had a chance to find out once and for all, how much sleep *you* need? I did that with the kids last summer. They went to bed at the exact same time each night and slept until they naturally woke. I tracked when they woke up every morning and soon a pattern emerged. One son needs 10.5 hours a night and the other needs 9.5. I plan on doing that next summer as their bodies grow and their sleep needs change.

 

The only time I can think of that I might have been able to do this would be when I worked swing shift and DH worked days. That was 11 years ago. So even if I did (which I don't recall, I might have had some day college classes at the time) I don't remember my wake times. And weekends would have thrown the schedule off, too. 

 

It sounds like you’re perpetually sleep deprived. That could be because you have sleep apnea and no matter how long you sleep, you never get to the restorative stages of sleep. Or it could be that you always need a full 9.5 hours of sleep, and you only ever get 8 (pick your own numbers.)

 

If it was me, I’d do the practical things that are within your control (and outlined above by other posters), I’d get a sleep study, and I’d get my levels checked (Ferritin and other levels mentioned by other posters...forgot what they were, Vit D was one?).

 

 

I do think that this is beyond normal, with the falling back asleep without remembering laying down, legs feel like lead, etc. Almost like the sleep paralysis that happens in REM sleep (or whichever phase) isn't going away when you wake up or something. I think lab work should be done, but you really really really need to see a sleep specialist. It almost sounds like a variant on narcolepsy or something. Out of the range of your normal general practitioner I'd think. 

I see my GP next week anyway for a med check so I plan on bringing this up and seeing if he can refer me to a specialist. I'll also google the things you mentioned in your next post. I've wondered for a long time if there's something more to it than simply being a night owl who doesn't like mornings. There have been many mornings that I find myself in tears trying to get up. But then I think I'm just overreacting and I'm just lazy. I go back and forth between crying and beating myself up. 

 

You can definitely have sleep apnea without snoring. My husband has it and it went undiagnosed for years because he's slim and doesn't snore.

Good to know, thank you. I'll look into this, too. 

Edited January 4, 2018 by Whovian10

[matrips]

We got these for my son (who has to wake up at 6AM) and myself (who ideally wakes up at 5AM).

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/philips-wake-up-light-white-gray/9572096.p?skuId=9572096

 

I looked at some less expensive versions but I wanted ones that had a therapy light level.

 

So far, we like them.

Just fyi- they’re $129 normally on amazon but $104 with a $25 amazon coupon that’s applied at checkout.

[PeacefulChaos]

OP, I'm the same way.

 

I've 'tried' a few things, but I really do think that light helps.  We live where we need blinds, as well, but I notice when we are in a hotel or something with better natural light, I wake up better.  Not early, still, but better.

 

It's hard.  Sometimes I feel like I'm a bum.  I have some differences - I can fall asleep anytime, anywhere.  Sometimes by the time 2-3 pm comes I'm exhausted and can sleep for an hour or two, easily.  I don't have trouble falling asleep at night, though I sleep better the later it is.  Generally I try to get to bed between 12 and 1.  Naturally I can easily sleep til 11 or 12 the next day; I 'force' myself to get up at like 10:30 on a regular day.  I'm really good at getting up when I need to be somewhere, I don't have any problems on those days.  

In general, I wake up more as the day goes on.  I might hit a lull in the afternoon, but I really don't fully 'wake up' until late in the day.  Lots of times I feel most awake around 8pm or so.  It's hard to gauge it at home - I don't pay much attention - but when I'm out and about with friends I notice it.  

 

But yeah.  That's me.  Trying to change has proven really, really difficult.  DH doesn't get it, he thinks if I set my mind to it it should be easy.  But it just hasn't been.  :/

[LucyStoner]

Just fyi- they’re $129 normally on amazon but $104 with a $25 amazon coupon that’s applied at checkout.

I got one via Best Buy to match that price and the other from Amazon with the coupon. It would only let me use it once.

[Paige]

Are you taking any kind of medication at night that may make you drowsy? If I take anything that causes drowsiness I seriously struggle to wake up and I'm tired for hours in the morning. I think my body is unusually sensitive to sedatives. If you take medicine at night, you may need to try to take it at a different time. If I don't take medication, it's hard to wake up, and I don't like it,  but I don't feel sleepy once I'm up and I don't have the extreme difficulty. Even things like benadryl that you'd think would wear off affect me. It's strange, because I can take a benadryl during the day and not feel too tired, but if I take it at night I am a zombie the next morning. 

 

Are you tired during the day as well? If that's true, perhaps it's a hormonal or medical issue causing excessive fatigue. Or maybe the solution is to wake up early, but plan a midday nap. It could be a way to adapt and keep your preferred bedtime. 

 

Could you go with your natural rhythmn and start school later, put the kids to bed later, and get everyone on your schedule? That's an advantage of homeschooling! There's nothing inherently virtuous about being a morning person or shameful about being a night owl. The world needs night owls too! Right now my kids are in school and it's painful, so painful, to get up and see them off. I don't even try with my DS who has to go the earliest.

 

Is it correct that you have a 9 and 5yr old? The 9yr old could have some morning activities planned to keep her occupied- reading, computer work, basic chores, watching tv,...the 5yr old may need more supervision depending on personality, but you may be able to encourage a little sleeping in and come up with activities that can occupy her too.Maybe you could have her climb into bed with you and watch tv. The noise should wake you up but it could be a slow wake up.

 

Coffee is your friend and if you can get a programmable coffee pot that will make it for you in the morning, that can help. After a while, the smell should encourage you to wake. I learned to like coffee because I needed more help waking up when my kids became school aged and I started homeschooling. I did not like the taste at first but it grew on me. 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2018 by Paige

[Arcadia]

I’m a night owl that wakes up at 6am on weekdays and 7am on weekends. What helps is doing some stretching exercises while running the coffee maker and reading Wall Street Journal or Reuters while cooking my husband’s work lunch using the microwave. My kitchen is also the most brightly lighted place with six 16W energy saving cool white ceiling light bulbs there.

[Seeking Squirrels]

Are you taking any kind of medication at night that may make you drowsy? If I take anything that causes drowsiness I seriously struggle to wake up and I'm tired for hours in the morning. I think my body is unusually sensitive to sedatives. If you take medicine at night, you may need to try to take it at a different time. If I don't take medication, it's hard to wake up, and I don't like it,  but I don't feel sleepy once I'm up and I don't have the extreme difficulty. Even things like benadryl that you'd think would wear off affect me. It's strange, because I can take a benadryl during the day and not feel too tired, but if I take it at night I am a zombie the next morning. 

I am taking a med before bed, but that has only been the last year and I have had this issue for as long as I can remember, at least since high school. I need to take it at night because I have the worst time remembering to take it at any other time (yay ADD haha). I was horribly inconsistent until I started taking it before bed. 

 

Are you tired during the day as well? If that's true, perhaps it's a hormonal or medical issue causing excessive fatigue. Or maybe the solution is to wake up early, but plan a midday nap. It could be a way to adapt and keep your preferred bedtime. 

I am often tired, but it's more of a weary kind of tired, not a sleepy tired. I don't like taking naps, they make me SUPER groggy. I wake up from the nap more tired than before and it takes me 2-3 hours to recover. 

 

Could you go with your natural rhythmn and start school later, put the kids to bed later, and get everyone on your schedule? That's an advantage of homeschooling! There's nothing inherently virtuous about being a morning person or shameful about being a night owl. The world needs night owls too! Right now my kids are in school and it's painful, so painful, to get up and see them off. I don't even try with my DS who has to go the earliest.

We have done this some in the past. The trouble is DH has to get up at 4:30am so if I move the kids' bedtime back then he has to go to bed before them and that doesn't give him any quiet time in the evening. And they would very likely wake up at the same time anyway (they do if we have a late night for whatever reason) and then just not get enough sleep. 

 

Is it correct that you have a 9 and 5yr old? The 9yr old could have some morning activities planned to keep her occupied- reading, computer work, basic chores, watching tv,...the 5yr old may need more supervision depending on personality, but you may be able to encourage a little sleeping in and come up with activities that can occupy her too.Maybe you could have her climb into bed with you and watch tv. The noise should wake you up but it could be a slow wake up.

9yo has ADHD, SPD, and GAD...all together she generally requires more hand holding than the 5yo! She can watch tv on her own, but couldn't do any of the rest. Lately I have been letting them watch a show in the am to give myself a bit more time. I might just make that the new normal so they can start it without waking me up to ask. 

 

Coffee is your friend and if you can get a programmable coffee pot that will make it for you in the morning, that can help. After a while, the smell should encourage you to wake. I learned to like coffee because I needed more help waking up when my kids became school aged and I started homeschooling. I did not like the taste at first but it grew on me. 

I don't like coffee at all! And it kills my stomach any time I have tried. But I do love tea. I always start my morning with a mug of hot tea. I'm hoping we can make it work soon to get a small machine to keep right by the bed so I can wake up to it. 

 

[Seeking Squirrels]

OP, I'm the same way.

 

I've 'tried' a few things, but I really do think that light helps.  We live where we need blinds, as well, but I notice when we are in a hotel or something with better natural light, I wake up better.  Not early, still, but better.

 

It's hard.  Sometimes I feel like I'm a bum.  I have some differences - I can fall asleep anytime, anywhere. I am so the opposite! I can't sleep if conditions aren't just right. Even in my own home, I have to have the blankets just so, the fan on and pointed a certain way, my pillow just so.... I cannot settle if a single seam is misplaced. Sometimes by the time 2-3 pm comes I'm exhausted and can sleep for an hour or two, easily.  I don't have trouble falling asleep at night, though I sleep better the later it is.  Generally I try to get to bed between 12 and 1.  Naturally I can easily sleep til 11 or 12 the next day; I 'force' myself to get up at like 10:30 on a regular day.  I'm really good at getting up when I need to be somewhere, I don't have any problems on those days.

In general, I wake up more as the day goes on.  I might hit a lull in the afternoon, but I really don't fully 'wake up' until late in the day.  Lots of times I feel most awake around 8pm or so.  It's hard to gauge it at home - I don't pay much attention - but when I'm out and about with friends I notice it.  

 

But yeah.  That's me.  Trying to change has proven really, really difficult.  DH doesn't get it, he thinks if I set my mind to it it should be easy.  But it just hasn't been.  :/

I wish I was this way! I hate having to be anywhere in the morning! It makes me super anxious the night before and I have to set several alarms. The only times it has helped me is if it's something really important and I notice the time as I'm turning off an alarm (often times I don't even remember turning them off) and we're running late. The sudden adrenaline from fear of being late for something important can get me moving but then I have a bad headache the rest of the day. 

 

I'm really worried about co-op this term. Last term we started at 10 but they moved it to 9 for this term. I have to be there on time as I'm being counted on as one of the main preschool teachers. And the most looked forward to class for both kids is, of course, first hour. I love our co-op so I'm excited for it to start back up, but I'm also quite anxious about the time. 

[ktgrok]

Can DH make you a mug of tea and put it in an insulated travel mug by your bed, when he gets up? that is a low tech, cheap solution. I remember watching Jon and Kate Plus 8 a zillion years ago and he did this for her, because she wasn't a morning person and got up later than him. The new travel mugs will keep it warm for hours and hours and hours. It could already have your sugar/milk/whatever in it (you could even measure out that for him the night before if need be). Then when you wake up it's sitting by your bed and you can sip it with your eyes closed. 

[Seeking Squirrels]

Can DH make you a mug of tea and put it in an insulated travel mug by your bed, when he gets up? that is a low tech, cheap solution. I remember watching Jon and Kate Plus 8 a zillion years ago and he did this for her, because she wasn't a morning person and got up later than him. The new travel mugs will keep it warm for hours and hours and hours. It could already have your sugar/milk/whatever in it (you could even measure out that for him the night before if need be). Then when you wake up it's sitting by your bed and you can sip it with your eyes closed. 

This is a brilliant idea! Thank you! I will ask DH this evening if he would be willing to do this. 

[Catwoman]

I’ve struggled with this my whole life. Still do. None of the “rhythm setting†solutions has ever worked for me, and a sleep study found that my biggest problem is my body has a 30 hour cycle.

 

The only thing that ever worked for me was necessity. When I had to work at 5am I’d getup, though I was half asleep for the first few hours at work. When I had babies I had to get up, but that often meant doing what was necessary and laying half asleep on the couch. As my kids grew, I started sleeping in more. My solution - farm animals. But, now my oldest is taking over morning chores (his choice) so I’m back to sleeping in. My newest solution - another baby coming. Not that I’d recommend that.

 

Congratulations!!!  :hurray:

[Catwoman]

Can DH make you a mug of tea and put it in an insulated travel mug by your bed, when he gets up? that is a low tech, cheap solution. I remember watching Jon and Kate Plus 8 a zillion years ago and he did this for her, because she wasn't a morning person and got up later than him. The new travel mugs will keep it warm for hours and hours and hours. It could already have your sugar/milk/whatever in it (you could even measure out that for him the night before if need be). Then when you wake up it's sitting by your bed and you can sip it with your eyes closed. 

 

This is such a great idea!