How many hours do you usually sleep at night?

[Lovearestfulsleep]

Morning all.

Is it normal that as you get older, you get less sleep or have sleepless nights?
I go to bed around 11ish, but for the last few days, I've been waking up multiple times during the night. I can't go to bed early, or I will be tossing and turning.. I'm not sure if I should take anything.

4-5, 6 is a good one for me, but rarely uninterrupted. Caring for disabled DH who requires attention during the night; and have to do personal care early before heading to work by 8am. Unbroken 5-6hrs is unusual. I do take magnesium (menopause) to try and give me some sleep quality for what I do get. Can't take anything strong due to DH needs.

I really need at least 8 hrs but perimenopause has been a real nightmare! My brain just seems to be wired all the time unless I've been for a long run. I weight train too but find that although my body is tired, my mind is like a dynamo. Running seems to leave me in a generally relaxed state and leaves me able to sleep. I take a magnesium supplement (glycinate and malate combo which does aid relaxation. I also like to drift off to an audiobook or podcast and have a cup of sleepy tea before bed. Try having a look at lifestyle factors; dirt, exercise, sleep hygiene.

5-6 ish hours usually, and mostly thats interrupted. Menopause means I now wake at least once or twice in the night (too hot, too cold, need a wee), DH struggles with sleep always has so he's often up at 4am which sometimes wakes me, and the dog is usually frantic for me to get up by 6 at the latest, often earlier as she thinks the day starts when DH gets up. I spend most days feeling like I've gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. I'd say I generally have about 1 decent nights sleep a fortnight, and I really feel the difference the day after!!

I naturally wake up at 4 so go to bed by 10. I take magnesium and melatonin which helps me to sleep for those 6 hours without interruption (apart from when the dogs pull off the duvet).
Occasionally I’ll take a nytol and sleep until 7 which feels like a long lie in!

My weekly average at the moment is 7 hours 25 minutes. Compared with 6 hours 48 minutes as the 2025 average. I consistently score “high” in my sleep score. I wear an Apple Watch to bed to track my sleep.

I try and always go to bed around 23:00 and set alarm for 06:45 weekdays and 09:00 weekends. Maintaining this regular schedule helps.

I also take magnesium before bed. When I don’t do that my sleep suffers significantly.

I sometimes take magnesium, im 49. My apple watch says my average is 5hrs28 minutes
the busier work is, the more stressed i am, the less i can sleep properly.

Blimey I’m quite shocked at how sleep deprived some of you are! I aim for 8 hours but prefer 9.

I couldn’t function on 5-6 hours sleep.

Im also perimenopausal.

I know that a lack of sleep is not good for our health, regardless of age. I’m not alone in this; some of you are in the same boat and are struggling too. Solidarity❤️
Oh..just read that we need at least 7 to 9 hours sleep. I'm not sure how I can manage that.

I will take the ladies' suggestions and advice here. Thank you.

No, I have never tried herbal remedies, but I'm open to exploring options.

I'm 52 and I sleep as long as I can! During the week, this amounts to about 7 hours a night and at the weekends I usually manage 8. I am on HRT and suspect that this helps. I also sleep more in winter than in summer, when it's light in the mornings.

Between four and seven, seven is a good and rare night. I've had insomnia for the last year, I either usually take hours to fall asleep or if I manage to fall asleep quickly il wake at 4am.

I go to sleep around midnight and my alarm goes off 6hrs 40 mins later. I often just slip into a coma at night and i wont move all night long.

But, a year ago before discovering HRT i was getting 2-3hrs a night as I was waking every 10 mins in a sweat. Now my medication is regulated and thanks to nightly magnesium, I sleep soundly.

On a weekend instead often get 8hrs sleep. Bliss

I’m 47, and always slept well , 8 hours min, but last year or so I wake up around every 2-3 hours , not for long and usually go back to sleep , but haven’t had more than 4 hours straight in over a year . On my days off work I sleep around 10 hours total , work days usually 6, 6.5 . I feel ok though and am functioning still

I find valerian helpful if I'm struggling to sleep and/or jetlagged. It tastes foul so you need to knock it back quickly with a big mouthful of water, but it has no lasting effects. I never feel rubbish the next morning if I take it.

About 6 to 8. I am always asleep by 10.

Reading this thread I don’t feel so alone-10+ years post meno & my sleep is still very erratic. I’m late 50’s.

Some nights 7hrs, some nights 3hrs, most nights I fall straight to sleep but wake early, others don’t fall asleep until the early hours & still wake early-it’s all a bit grim.

I take magnesium glycinate vit d and cbd oil daily. I think the cbd oil helps a bit with relaxing back into sleep.

7ish during the week because I am up at 6am for work 8 to 9 at weekends. I do generally sleep well. I went through a bad patch a couple of years ago and started hrt and at nearly 50 my sleep has definitely settled again.

For those that get up when you wake at times like 4am is there no way you would drift back to sleep? If I wake at that time I just still rest tell my body my joints need to rest and I often do drift off again.

I’m 49 and usually sleep for about 8-9 hours. Not on any medication. Just edited to say I’ve massively cut down on alcohol the last couple of months which has obviously helped. Before that I was getting 3am anxiety wake up.

5 on a good night.

I am in perimenopause, 52 years old. For the last couple of years I get about 3 - 3.5 hours before waking up for a few hours then back to sleep for an hour or two if I am lucky.

I don't feel too bad on it now, seems have have adapted to it mostly. The only difficulty is that I exercise a lot and feel like it has an impact on my recovery.

About once a week or so I take a sleeping tablet just to get a few more solid hours. I find Kirkland Sleep Aid works really well, I am quite light and find I only need half a tablet.

Just editing to say I am on HRT, main symptoms were night sweats/anxiety. The night sweats are reduced but not completely absent now. I exercise almost daily but find it I exercise late evening I get wired and can't sleep so tend to do it early. I tried magnesium but it only helped for about two nights sadly.

Depends. Normally 9 hours but im
chronically ill with lupus and inflammatory arthritis and I need 12-16 hours when it flares. It’s ridiculous because I’m trying to work and look after children solo.

7-9 hours
perimenopausal but on HRT and take magnesium at night

I suffered with early waking for a few years, 4am regardless of what time I went to bed. I’d fall back to sleep at 6am and alarm would go off half an hour later. I was wrecked.

Then I started HRT and I started sleeping through the night again, it was a revelation.

I’m really trying to prioritise my sleep, no babies or toddlers to wake me up, but a teenager who loves to start telling me about her day at 9pm and doesn’t stop talking! (I’m not complaining, I love hearing about her day).

Maybe consider that at this time of year, you might be less active (especially at present during to bloody weather) therefore not as physically tired.
I’ve slept better since giving up worrying about waking up. I get around 7 hours a night.

I sleep so much better this time of year. I’m a really light sleeper but the dark mornings really help. I NEED min 7 hours but ideally 8 and sometimes 9

i love summer but dread it from a sleep pov. Despite wearing eye masks and ear plugs im often woken by the birds/light. Summer can mean nothing from 5.5-8 at a push. I often spend a lot of summer feeling dreadful tbh