To not get up with husbands 5am alarm?

I was going to say the same thing. Unless you’ve always been a light sleeper?

The insomnia in early stage menopause is awful. HRT made a huge difference for me.

If you can’t sleep because your dc are up and you would wake even if your dh had a vibrating watch and crept out the room, then you have to address your sleeping rather than focus on the alarm.

Even though HRT made a difference, I’ve never slept as deeply since hormonal changes in 40s. I just sleep less now and that’s okay.

I love yoga and have been doing it for years, but no amount of 5am yoga would compensate for broken sleep!

Could you get a bigger bed. Two duvets (once each) to minimise disturbance?

Have you always been the same or could it be menopause related?

Why can’t you go to bed earlier than teenage DC?

You sound exactly like my husband was until 18 months ago. Always been a really light sleeper, I could turn over in bed and he woke up. I get up to the bathroom and he woke up. I had to go to bed at the same time, as he would wake up when i walked in the bedroom, however quietly. For over 25 years, he would hear the slightest noise and be awake.
Then he researched weighted blankets, bought one. It is like he is a different person. I can go to bed later, he doesnt wake up. I can get in and out of bed, he doesnt stir. It has been a real help to him, sleeping better and also I dont have to tiptoe around.

What do you mean by you feel unwell? What symptoms are you experiencing?

I would avoid drinking anything after dinner (to see if it helps with the going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, try magnesium, no phone screen after 7/8, go to bed and read for a bit at around 9pm (encouraging DC to be quiet after 9) to see if that helps you get to sleep easier/earlier. Get up at 5am - prep dinner for later, do yoga, whatever, and try it for a good week or two to see if you can get into a new sleep pattern. But you need to be consistent with it. Good luck with it, feeling sleep deprived is awful!

My DH gets up at 5.30 every morning during the week. I have always worn earplugs to bed and could still hear his alarm (and him 'quietly' getting dressed and washed.) I make him sleep and get dressed in a different room now. Saves listening to him snoring too, bliss!

Agree with this, then get up at 5.30, your body clock will get used to it. Waking early then going back to sleep is the problem.

I think you have to give it a couple of weeks to let your body adjust to the new waking time - you'll probably find it means falling asleep more easily as you will be tired by 10pm - try not to have the nap in the afternoon after work.

Then you can start to make that 5-7am time productive - get things done and out of the way so that you'll have more time in the evenings and weekends.

My DH wakes naturally at 5 so at least I’m not woken by his alarm. He’s very quiet though and often uses a bathroom downstairs so he doesn’t wake me. After many years of getting four DCs up and to school I’m certainly not going to get up so early. I actually sleep better once he’s up, so I have a couple of hours of really good sleep before I struggle out of my pit.

You can get silent alarms that you put under your pillow and they vibrate, so only the person with their head on that pillow wakes up.

Does his alarm. Sound different to your one? Make sure it does. Then with a bit of luck within a few weeks you can "train" yourself to ignore it as your brain somehow registers it's not a relevant noise.
Make sure he gets dressed out of bedroom, all clothes, everything he needs ready in another room. Also really helps it they do not repeatedly use the snooze function but turn it off and get quietly up straight away.
That's what I've, on the whole, managed to do with DH getting up early, everytime he gets a new phone I have to train myself again to sleep through it.
Hopefully in a couple of weeks it will be better.
That groggy feeling you get when you you've had a short second sleep after being awake is horrible.

if you want to try being up at 5 you need to give it more than one night. You won’t get into a routine for a while and until you do you will have tiredness. Not sure why you can’t go to bed earlier with a teenager, I tell mine to turn the lights off when they come up. Other than that, as others have said invest in some earplugs.

You will get used to it, and soon sleep through his alarm. My dh has had various start times over the years. I actually prefer the early (5 or 5.30) starts as I am so deeply asleep I rarely hear him, your body will soon learn it doesn't have to be awake at that time.

Best tip is don't look at your phone to check the time, if you need a wee get up and have one and straight back in bed. If you can't fall back to sleep straight away just snooze and your body clock will soon learn.

Also dh gets straight up (snoozes are banned), his clothes are already out on the landing and he closes our bedroom door behind him.

I think I would think of it as a treat time. Make hot chocolate and get cozy on the safi with a Netflix series and enjoy that hour to myself x

Sleep divorce is the answer, separate beds in separate rooms if possible, at least on work days. I'm a very restless sleeper, can have several nights in the week where I wake up early hours or can't get to sleep until.early hours,. Sleeping separately means I am free to move about, get up, go.downstairs etc, without disturbing Dh.
My other thought was to have a general health check, sleep disturbances and fatigue often have an underlying physical cause

My DH used to get up at 5.30am & I’m a really light sleeper so we sleep separately but we’re lucky to have a spare room. Now I go to bed earlier than him & I’m up around 7am & he sleeps in until 8.30/9am so sleeping separately really works for us.
Can you do this OP?

My DC are the same age and I don't wait up for the eldest. I put the youngest to bed, then tell 14 yo to have a shower/get in bed/agree a time he's turning TV off etc....then just go myself
I do agree with you that it's harder on the cold dark mornings. Hopefully it'll improve for you as mornings get lighter.

Phenergan

Can you try white noise, there are different kinds and frequencies but I find it easier to block things out. Could your husband use a fitbit vibrating alarm? Although sounds like you will wake up anyway with him moving.

Magnesium before bed may help you to achieve a better quality sleep.

Why can't you go to bed earlier with teens though? Surely they can amuse themselves from 8pm onwards

As a life-long bad/light sleeper I sympathise.

From what you say, it's the dozing off after the 05.00 alarm that's causing the problem - this is what happens to me if I go back to sleep. I seem to go into a very deep sleep (which somehow eludes me overnight!) then wake up feeling groggy and it's hard to shake off.

As a pp has said I find it better to get up and do chores/meal prep in that time - it's 90 minutes less time in bed but overall I find it more beneficial.