<p>I’ve simply found that I only need about 6 1/2 hours of sleep now. I don’t like waking up at 4:30 am so I stay up later instead. Unless I’ve done something extremely strenuous or had less than 6 hours sleep for a few nights in a row, I just wake up naturally after 6 1/2.</p>
<p>Trouble sleeping…that’s why I am up now…and will be up at 5:30…and wake up a few time before then. Ugh…</p>
<p>I actually would like 9 hours but get about 7 until the alarm wakes me up. long hot showers help. exercise really helps.</p>
<p>As I was lying awake in the wee hours I wondered how many others were thinking of this thread.</p>
<p>Same thing for me too. But I’m never tired or unable to function during the day at work (teacher). Best advice I ever got from a doctor is “don’t worry.” So I don’t, and I actually do some really good thinking and problem solving at 3:00 am!</p>
<p>I think we should all come to this thread and chat when we are up in the wee hours. I was consistently waking at 4, would throw off the covers, and then go back to sleep. Now I am up at 6 (which is when I typically get up for work) but even on non work days I cant sleep in. Add to that the fact that my DH keeps his cellphone by the bed and it dings and beeps all night…</p>
<p>^ I was going to suggest the same, jym. :)</p>
<p>I have no problem falling asleep at 10:30 ( I get up at 5:45), but 4-5 x per week I am wide awake at 2 or 3 AM. I usually go downstairs and read. I feel much better when I manage to sleep through the night.</p>
<p>I have found that 3 am is a good time to book a flight – I got the cheapest deal for Thanksgiving that way. And 2016BarnardMom pointed out on our HS Class of 2014 thread that it’s also a good time to submit common app’s (no “pdf generating please be patient” delays).</p>
<p>I would like to point out that if I do not stay in bed until my normal 5:30am, I will be tired next day. Say, I woke up at 3am. If is stay in bed between 3am and 5:30am, then I am fine next day (and I do not think about anything at all, I do not toss and turn, I am completely relaxed, I just do not fall back to sleep). However, if I get up at 3am, I would be in a really bad shape, falling apart next day. I do not know how it works. However, in my case, the amount of time that I am in bed (sleeping or not) seems to be important.</p>
<p>That reminds me of when my kids were little. When they said they could not fall asleep I always told them that they still needed to stay in bed and “rest their bodies”. (And, of course, they then eventually fell asleep.)</p>
<p>
My husband recently changed his alarm tone to my ring tone resulting in my being shocked awake thinking there was a crisis with my elderly parents. He kindly changed it back to the harp.</p>
<p>I have heard that Eskimos have 11 different words for ‘snow’, depending on the state of the snow (wet, granular, powdery, etc, etc). I think you could extend the same idea to ‘sleep’. When I first go to sleep at night, it’s the deep, sleep of the dead kind of sleep. Then like so many in this thread, in the early hours of the morning, I am almost in some kind of state between sleeping and being awake. I lie there, more aware of my surrounding, turning onto my right side, then my left, periodically, but still with my eyes closed. And I’ve basically talked myself into the idea that it IS sleep. Just a different state of sleep. Then I go back deeper into sleep around 4 am, and wake up ready to start the day at 6:30.</p>
<p>When I started thinking of that middle time of night as SLEEP it really helped me. Instead of being annoyed, or getting up trying to find something to do, I just say to myself “I am still asleep, just more aware of my surroundings”. And I truly feel rested in the morning, so I think I might be on to something :D</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>This is my situation also. But I’ve also learned that it’s quite typical, perhaps even “normal.” I’ve been attending some Sleep Medicine scientific meetings for my work. (I’m conducting research on sleep apnea - a different problem, but the meetings cover all medical conditions related to sleep). And one thing I learned, that this thread confirms, is that people as a rule get/require less sleep as they age. The young child that sleeps 9 hours/night will typically sleep 8 hours/night as a teenager, 7 hours/night at age 25, and 6 hours/night age 60.</p>
<p>When I was young and living at home I used to think my dad was so lame because he would always fall asleep watching TV in the evening. And of course now I do exactly the same thing,</p>
<p>I think as others have already mentioned that some exercise during the day helps. </p>
<p>I will second the comment by an earlier poster about carbs. Completely anecdotal, but tougher to hit deep sleep and stay sleeping while on high protein/low carb or limited calorie diets. There’s just something, especially as the season gets colder, to having warm, carb-laden comfort foods that helps to induce that deeper sleep. So it’s not necessarily the number of hours slept, but how deeply refreshed you feel in the morning.</p>
<p>I will also point out the possibility of being in the midst of the college timeline process as a contributor for the “sleeplessness.” It’s hard to watch teen transition to young adult and separate their journey from our own as parent & sideline cheerleader. </p>
<p>Wishing you better sleep ahead!</p>
<p>This is random, but here goes. I went to a traditional Chinese medicine herbalist for another issue. Before I even told him what was wrong, he checked my pulse and looked at my tongue and asked " Do you have problems sleeping?" He gave me a mix of 12 different roots & herbs to simmer into a tea. I drank this twice a day and within the first week, I was sleeping much better. I discontinued the tea after two weeks and am still sleeping great. I think part of the concoction included dried fructus lycii (goji berries) which is a source of melatonin.</p>
<p>Insomnia is a major complaint as we age. Good sleep hygiene can be helpful, so that you’re doing all in your power to have a good night of sleep.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/ask-the-expert/sleep-hygiene[/url]”>http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/ask-the-expert/sleep-hygiene</a></p>
<p>We can fall into bad habits that interfere with our sleep. It’s useful to check to see if any of these tips help improve sleep quality and quantity. There’s nothing like a good, sound sleep to make one feel refreshed and ready to face a new day. :)</p>
<p>At least for me there’s two separate issues. The first is that we’ve been told that 7-8 is required for health. I’m a rule follower and the fact that I’m only sleeping 5-6 is worrying me. </p>
<p>Then there’s the simple fact that if I wake up at 3 or 4 am, I am tired during the day and tend to fall asleep on the couch after dinner. That tells me that I’m not getting enough sleep. But WHY won’t my body get the sleep it needs during the night?</p>
<p>Right, I get PO’d that I am so dang tired at night that I fall into bed but am still waking up at 2 or 3 a couple times a week and spend an hour trying to get back asleep.</p>
<p>I would suggest people would find the middle of the night a good time to explore the new health exchange, but now Healthcare.gov is shutting down 1AM-5AM each night, so common apps & airline tickets are the online choices.</p>
<p>Forgot to mention, I cannot consume meat at dinner. Any food consumtion after certain hour will affect my sleep. The exceptions are a small peice of cheese and alcohol. In general, I do not eat meat/chicken/fish after 6 pm and even that is way tto late for beef. I will digest it all nigh long, I would not sleep much. And another general rule, starving before bedtime works great if one can do it. I am not the one. But sometime I might forget to eat and will be way too lazy to go downstairs to grab something. I would sleep much better if my stomach is empty.</p>