Sleep

[houseelf]

Let's talk about sleep. How good is your sleep hygiene?

It should be noted I'm writing this at 3:12 am with a 7 am alarm.

I enjoy the solitude of night: Reading for hours, screwing around on my phone,etc. it is also a time when I get "monkey mind" and can't turn it off. Finally (spoiler alert), remember those sleepless infant nights? Fast forward a few years. Teens up in the kitchen late at night, making noise in the basement with their friends, or worse yet...driving in a car doing teenager things. 😳 So not conducive to sleep.

I swear I get several nights of "short sleep" and then I sleep binge. Apparently that's bad. I consider my habits fairly healthful overall. Sleep is a particular low point.

How is your sleep? What tips do you have? I'm open to suggestions.

[rainbabies]

I don't sleep much. I've seen a specialist. The max dose of ambien doesn't work on me. I slept from sometime after 3am to 5, this morning. Some nights I never even fall asleep. I'm an emotional train wreck 90% of the time.


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[Vanquisher]

I don't sleep much. I've seen a specialist. The max dose of ambien doesn't work on me. I slept from sometime after 3am to 5, this morning. Some nights I never even fall asleep. I'm an emotional train wreck 90% of the time.


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I hate that this hasn't improved for you. Have you tried Remeron?

[gcuthbe1]

I've never been a great sleeper. I prefer to be up at night and if I awake for a small nose my mind kicks into high gear and I can't shut it off. Some things that help me.... making the bed, temperature control, white noise app, block out all light, not drinking or eating close to bedtime, getting a real workout in to wear me out, doing something relaxing right before bed (yoga moves, meditation, bath).

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[MrsK]

I was just thinking last night that I need to take something to sleep. I feel like I haven't slept well in years.

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[spotty_dog]

Oh, rainbabies.

I've been kind of obsessed with sleep since getting my Fitbit that tracks it. My husband is a sleep FIEND. He would get twelve hours a night if he could. So when he's home, we usually have the lights out by 9:30-10. So on those nights I can get between 8 and 9 hours even if I sleep restlessly, and I wake up refreshed. If he's working though, sometimes he wants to goof off and watch Youtube videos forever after he gets home. If we turn the lights off after 12:30 it means I'll get more like 6-7 hours, especially if I sleep poorly. Three nights in a row of that and I am FRIED. I can see my reflexes dull and my cognition fail -- it's the baby sleep deprivation days all over again. (Except during those days it was a complete miracle if I got 6 hours straight, LOL.)

It can be hard to get to bed before 10 if I haven't gotten much exercise during the day, so sometimes I will stay up a bit and read a book. I used to be a lot more prone to those persistent anxiety-related thoughts that would keep my mind whirring at night, but my bullet journal has helped a LOT with that type of fretting. And some meditative breathing usually clears out the rest. I do still get some brief spats of sleeplessness, but I don't let myself turn on any lights or screens, I just suffer through it in the dark until I can sleep (or it's a reasonable hour to get up!)

[MarissaNicole]

I love sleep. It is seriously one of my top priorities and my main source of "self-care." I have no social life, I don't watch TV or read, and I rarely have time to work out because I'd rather make sure I get 7-9 hours of sleep a night. I also need that to function and stay healthy. I cant think straight and I get sick when I don't get consistent sleep. On weekends or vacation I can sleep 10-12 hours easily.


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[alotofyarn]

I love sleep, but I average about 7 hours a night. Alarm is set for 6. I always try to go to bed at 10, but half the time I get caught up with work stuff, TV, or random Internet browsing and stay up until midnight. And this doesn't account for kids waking up. On the weekends we can get away with staying in bed until 7 or 8 some mornings, with C in the swing after an early bottle and E in bed with us, either still sleeping or on the iPad.

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[TulipsAndSunscreen]

How much I sleep is a sole function of what time I go to bed. I haven't slept past 7 in years. I can't.

We usually turn off the lights between 10 and 11. So that's 8 hours for me and 5 for DH. He catches up on some weekends.


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[OrionGrad]

I go through phases where I'm a great sleeper, and then at other times I'll have a 3 or 4 month period where I just have an impossible time falling asleep. Right now I'm in the "great sleeper" phase, but that's thanks in large part to how tired I am during pregnancy. DH and I usually try to head to bed around 9 and end up turning off the lights around 9:30 or 10. DH is up at 5 and I'm up by 5:30 most days. It's very, very rare that I sleep in past 6:30, even on a weekend. I also take naps in the afternoon right now, but I think that's a pregnancy-related thing because I never used to do that before.

[rufflesanddots]

I am someone who needs 8+ hours to feel rested. This week I've been getting about 5 hours/night. DH got more sleep than me this week, even with being on surgery rotation. 🙄

I used to be a great sleeper buy a few years ago I started having difficulty turning my mind of. And, similar to [MENTION=792]houseelf[/MENTION], I really enjoy the solitude I get at night. I get pretty drained being "on" all day. Nighttime is some guaranteed alone time for this introvert.

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[SoonerTexan]

Except when I'm pregnant, I can sleep just fine. I just don't. I am a very light sleeper though--anything will wake me up.

If I go to bed at midnight, I can wake up at 7-7:30 and be okay for the day. If I go to bed after midnight, I still have to wake up that early and I don't function well. I end up laying on the couch while my children destroy things and drink insane amounts of coffee. At least everyone is (mostly) sleeping through the night at this point in my house.

DH is on nights right now and that is the worst. I never go to bed on time and don't sleep well alone.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I basically haven't slept for the last 6 years. I don't sleep when I'm pregnant and usually someone isn't sleeping through the night. I had a glorious 5 months where D was weaned before I got pregnant with R. Really really looking forward to R starting to sleep in the next 6 months...


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[Ladybug]

I'm a champion sleeper. It's one area I truly excel in. Lol.

[ballibeg]

Downside- no sleep pattern left after day, night and on call shifts.

Upside- travel everywhere with my eye mask and ear plugs and mastered any bed at any time snoozing