How many hours of sleep do you need?

[Nayner]

I need around nine. I regularly get 7-8 hours and am still always exhausted. I know many people whow thrive on much less. I've always been this way, even when I had better eating and exercise habits. Nothing seems to be wrong with my health... it's been checked out. I wish I could get by on less sleep. I could get so much more accomplished in a day!!

[KidsHappen]

Well, I used to need 9-10 and really could not function with any less. And then the dreaded insomnia arrived. Now days I would love to get six or even seven hours but I can usually function with only four. And those four are never consecutive. I go through periods where I can go a long time like that and then I crash and I am exhausted for weeks at a time. I have been able to change the pattern so I just sleep when I can and I am thankful for any sleep that I do get.

[Garga]

I need 8 - 8.5, but get about 7 usually. It's my own fault. I could go to bed, but instead I stay up to play on the computer or watch tv.

[Crissy]

8 or 9.

I have never been able to function on fewer hours of sleep.

It's just the way I was made. :)

 

For a while after I married my husband, a man who thrives on 6 hours, often less, I felt like a slug, and I tried to keep the same hours as him. I was miserable (and I think he may have been, too!) and I decided to accept the fact that my body just doesn't work the same way. I do need my sleep.

 

 

We are all happier when I don't try to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, or get up at 5AM.

[wenn]

7 is a good number for me.

[Jenny in Florida]

And, in fact, if I slept any longer than 8 hours, I'd wake up with a headache and feeling generally lousy.

 

But I've noticed in the last 18 months or so that this has changed drastically. Nowadays, there really doesn't seem to be such a thing as too much sleep. It's putting a real crimp in my style, too.

[Plucky]

I need 8-9. I wish I needed less. Then I'd get so much more done.

[Colleen]

I'm fine with 4 hours, though I imagine 5-6 is more optimal for me.

[Heather in Neverland]

Optimum is 8

Good is 7

What I usually get is 6

[LisaKinVA]

8-10. I've always been this way. Even when I was a small child, I would dissappear from the family room and put myself to bed. Except for the one time I wound up asleep on the bathroom floor:lol:

 

This was also why I was the only kid in my family without a curfew (I wanted to be home by 10 on a Friday night!), and why I never pulled an all-nighter in college (at least not for studying reasons). I'm a real pain if I don't get my sleep.

[Lovedtodeath]

9 on average. I will get 6-7 some days and 10-12 on others.

 

When I was a kid I always needed less. My mom didn't think so though.

[JudoMom]

I do well with 7-8. Any less for an extended period and I'm a bit cranky.

[Erica in PA]

I'm happiest and feel my best on about 8-9 hours per night. I usually go to bed around 11pm, and wake around 7am. I am not one who thinks requiring little sleep is necessarily a virtue, or that it's lazy to not wake up with the dawn. Every person is different, and require different amounts of sleep.

 

Sometimes I feel that people put undue stress on themselves to wake up very early in the morning. There are enough legitimate things in life to feel guilty about.... my view is that if you have time to get the things done that you need to in a day, there's no shame in waking up at the time that works best for you.

 

Erica

[joannqn]

I don't know how much sleep I actually get but I'm in bed trying to sleep 7-10 hours. I need a lot less sleep during the summer. I tend to stay up later and get up earlier. During the winter, I can be in bed 10 hours and still be tired all day. Like last night, I was in bed by 10:30pm and didn't get up until 8:00am and I'm exhausted right now. That's partially because I'm pregnant and needed to get up to use the restroom twice last night and my son was coughing so I got up to give him medicine and prop him up.

 

I try not to nap during the day if I can help it. When I nap, it's usually a 3 hour nap. Daytime is the only time I sleep really well.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

Yep. 8 or 9 hours (I've *always* needed a lot of sleep) and married to a guy who can live on much less than that.

[6packofun]

If I hit 7+ hours of uninterrupted sleep, I'm really good.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I feel best if I have 7.5 to 8 hours. Also, I do best if I have something I have to get done early so that I get productive right away. I can get by on 6 for a couple of days, but I start falling asleep at 2 pm and can't get to sleep at night, so the sleeplessness perpetuates itself. If I have more than 8 hours, I am groggy all day. there are days that I may need 8 hours (like when I am sick), but I don't feel well when I do.

[Chris in VA]

around 9 is optimal for me, but I can do 7 if I get a little nappie poo.

 

(where did THAT come from?)

[Tammyla]

I'm a happier, nicer, more patient person with a 8 or 9 hours. Now, of course I can live and function on much less, but then I'm a grump.

[*Inna*]

8-9 is enough for me to function, more is better, but that never happens.

I'm so jealous that my husband can go on 4-5 hours for weeks.

[Jen in PA]

Six is great, 4 -5 is closer to what I actually get. When I try for anything over 7 hours, I just end up awake at 4 am.

[caryn]

I usually need at least 7 hours. 8 hours would be nice. :001_smile:

 

 

Caryn

[Desert Rat]

8 or 9 for me. Lucky for me, my dh is the same way. Makes life easier!

[kalanamak]

6-7. If I get more I have trouble sleeping the next night. I can get by on 2 very well, but nap when I get home. Heck, I can go without sleep at all and still do well at work (not that I strive for this). When I was younger I was 8-9 hour, but your need lessens with age, and I took longer than I should have to figure out I needed less.

[Doran]

I can function fairly well on 6 hours. I can get by on 5, or 4, but not for more than a few nights in a row. I don't exactly crash; it just takes me a little longer to rally in the mornings and I'm more likely to feel sleepy around mid-afternoon. A week's average for me is probably around 7.5 hours. I think I feel best when I get 8.5 to 9. I have often mused about having the opportunity to sleep, awaken, and eat whenever the "needs" arose. I've wondered what pattern my body would establish, naturally.