<p>For various reasons, my sleep schedule has been a mess lately (too many people to deal with in different time zones). After getting 5 - 6 hours of sleep for the past few nights I am about to go take a nap. I know that 8 hours of sleep is supposed to be beneficial – just wondering if dividing up the 8 hours reduces or eliminates the benefits. In other words, are naps good for you? (Not that I really am debating the nap–I am too tired to concentrate on the material I should be reading, plus I keep getting up for a snack.)</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ll get responses from people with real credentials, but I think all women (people?) of a certain age are interested in sleep. What I know is sleep goes in 1.5-hour cycles, and it’s better to wake up at the end of a cycle than in the middle of one, even if you get less sleep. (For example, I discovered in college that if I couldn’t get three hours of sleep it was better not to go to bed.) I think this is why many people settle in to 6 hours a night (or 7.5–perfect, IMHO). Re: naps, I think sleep studies will tell you that humans were meant to nap and perform better late in the day if they’ve been able to nap.</p>
<p>Bottom line is you if you’re tired you should sleep, and it’s great to be in a situation where you can do that.</p>
<p>I’m in the 8 hours PLUS a nap camp…</p>
<p>napping: greatest invention since sliced bread (as long as it is not longer than 20-25 minutes)</p>
<p>I’ve never been much of a napper, but whole societies have been built around the idea of a siesta, so I say if it works for you - go for it!</p>
<p>I’m in the 8 hour camp. I don’t get 8 hours on most weekdays though and catch up on the weekend. I generally run into health problems if I don’t do the catchup thing over the weekend for a few weeks. Sometimes I catch up during the week too.</p>
<p>I workout a lot and the body needs time to heal damage and I find that sleep helps there.</p>
<p>5 to 6 hours a day is my normal, and has been since my teen years. Naps are nice, so are meetings :). Maybe 7 hrs on weekends.</p>
<p>7 to 8 hours is my normal, preferably 8, with maybe 9 hours on weekends. And I feel dandy with that. I can go with 6 hours for one night, but after that I’m a basket case. A nap is absolutely essential if I don’t get my 7 to 8 hours.</p>
<p>“I say if it works for you - go for it!”</p>
<p>I say the same. Studies can’t tell you what patterns will work well for your body. Your body will. This is one area where you’re the best judge of the right rhythm.</p>
<p>I very seldom get more than 5 hours a night. I go to bed between 1100 and 1130 and get up at 430 to take my dog out for a 45 to 75 minute walk 7 days a week. I was not able to walk any distance (back injury) for the longest time and only since getting this pup a year ago have I forced myself. I never nap so the days are very long and nights are short. Wouldn’t trade it though as I have lost about 35lbs and 3 inches off my waist. I too believe that your body will tell you what it needs you just need to listen</p>
<p>I have been getting about 5 hours of sleep a night for the last few years. I occasionally nap in the afternoons.</p>
<p>The biggest issue I have is that I wake up at 3:20 AM. I don’t know if it is the melatonin, but waking up at that hour doesn’t work well…</p>
<p>It is wearing on me. I should go to bed now, but it is still light out here on the west coast. Hopefully, I only have to wake up this early for one more month. </p>
<p>I once had a swing shift and a night shift during the same. That was brutal too. Awful.</p>
<p>I’m awake then too dstark. find a solution please!</p>
<p>Well…my job will probably be over in a month. Otherwise, I may have to hit my boss in the head with a 33 oz baseball bat.</p>
<p>I am not up that time by choice.</p>
<p>Bethievt, why are you up so early?</p>
<p>Don’t some people just wake up in the middle of the night? Am I nuts? You can all control your sleep? I never could even as a kid. Bad dreams almost every night. Well enjoy it. We all have our own problems.</p>
<p>Eccl 5:12.</p>
<p>Or just workout a lot.</p>
<p>Ok…I am sorry to read about the bad dreams.</p>
<p>dstark–your 3:20 is my 2:00. When my mind is particularly cluttered, I wake up around 2:00 and stay awake for two hours. And back to the sleep research–I’ve read that all humans go through a two-hour period of lighter sleep. The theory is it has to do with when we took shifts being on watch. (Just found an article on “segmented sleep” on wikipedia that says perhaps humans were meant to have/operate best with several periods of sleep throughout the 24-hour period rather than one. Yeah naps!)</p>
<p>I don’t wake up at 2. That would be even more insane. </p>
<p>But when I wake up at 3:20, I am up. I am at work now. It is 4:20. </p>
<p>I actually sleep pretty well. I only got 4 hours of sleep last night, but that is unusual, and it was continuous.
I don’t wake up in the middle of the night and then have problems going back to sleep.</p>
<p>I don’t have segmented sleep like you MyLB. I don’t know about that study. I think I would have problems…sleeping for a couple of hours, awake for a couple of hours, repeat pattern.</p>
<p>Do your sleep patterns work for you, MyLB?</p>
<p>We have the 2 AM involuntary wakey wakey in our house (DH and I). MyLB I have wondered about the taking shifts possibility - where did you read about it? Older ppl wake in the night regularly. My Grandma said once, “I never sleep anymore.” I wonder if the elders in a tribe took shifts watching the clan in the night. Keeping the predators away while the hunters and youngsters slept soundly. The mid day nap is one of my favorite things in the world. Yum. DH struggles and has been working on 6 hours sleep for decades now. It wears on him. Melatonin doesn’t really help. Benadryl on the weekends is the only thing that really works but I’m not sure that really allows full deep sleep…</p>
<p>My dad slept around six hours a night and had lunch and a nap every working day of his life at his mom’s house down the street from his office. He lived with no health problems (well Parkinsons for the last few years) and no medication (other than for the Pksn) to the ripe old age of 88. Pancreatic cancer took him down fast. Till the PKsn he had not a single health issue. Sure I’ll attribute that to the napping.</p>
<p>I love those rare nights when I can sleep a straight 6 hours!!</p>
<p>I think someone was referring to the wolf study, where average sleep cycle was 90 minutes. As times were staggered, the wolf would wake for about 10 minutes, and circle the camp. Wish I could remember the author, but the study was done over 25 years ago.</p>
<p>So, if I wake after 4 1/2 hours, I’ve had 3 solid sleep cycles. Often can go back to sleep for more cycles. Eight hours is ideal. If I nap during the day, expect to need one less cycle at night. Night shifts are very difficult to adjust to.</p>
<p>I can’t remember where I read about the “watch” theory of light sleep for two hours–it was several years ago.</p>
<p>And I must say I can’t complain about my sleep. None of us sleep when we have young kids in the house, so I just didn’t worry about it then. And back in college I figured out that after a very late night or all-nighter, what really bothered me was my dry/stinging eyes. So now when I’m awake at night I lie quietly with my eyes closed. DH has serious insomnia issues, but I think worrying about <em>not</em> sleeping is counterproductive.</p>
<p>FWIW–I haven’t used an alarm clock in 20-30 years. I think if you need one you’re obviously not getting enough sleep.</p>