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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder if you can 'become' a morning person?

34 replies

Marble179 · 21/10/2018 09:14

I figured out some years ago that I need around 9 hours sleep a night to feel OK, having had a baby since then I can survive on 4 Hours albeit only surviving!

If I was to go to sleep at 10.30 and rise at 7.30 I feel less alert than if I was to sleep at 1am and rise at 10.

I know some people are morning people and some aren't but is there anyway to become more of a morning person. It baflles me that I can still feel hazy for over an hour after waking when it's earlier but more alert of I wake later!

OP posts:
BrieAndChilli · 21/10/2018 09:18

I hope there is! I’m useless in the mornings.

LisaSimpsonsbff · 21/10/2018 09:21

If you consistently get up earlier your body will adjust, though it won't be nice in the meantime! I used to get up at 5.30 for my commute without much fuss, but I changed jobs a couple of years ago and now I really struggle to get up before 7. If I went back to consistent 5.30 mornings though I'm sure I'd adjust back after a painful adjustment.

Stuckforthefourthtime · 21/10/2018 09:21

Yes! I am a natural owl, but now greet the day relatively happy when my 4dcs get up between 5.45 (gulp) and 6.

Sadly there was no great key, except getting so tired that I finally started forcing myself to go to bed early. I'm a bit sceptical now of people who say they just can't go to bed earlier - I used to say it too, bimut of you can change entire timezones when travelling, you can do this!

Earlier dinner helps with resetting the clock, then I also brush my teeth with the kids straight after so I'm not tempted to stay up for snacks. No caffeine after lunch, and turn off your phone at 8.30.
Eat something or at least have tea when you get up, also helps reset you a bit. Arianna Huffington has really good tips on this, after she collapsed from exhaustion she has done a lot on sleep hygiene.

JustDanceAddict · 21/10/2018 09:22

I have to get up for work at 6.30 and It’s horrible! I go to bed around 10. I’d rather go to bed at 11 and get up N hour later even if it’s the same amount of sleep. It just feels sooo early and I’m knackered in the evenings.

GlitterGlassEye · 21/10/2018 09:22

I became more of a morning person when I abstained completely from alcohol. I must do that again soon.

CherryPavlova · 21/10/2018 09:26

I’m still trying. I much prefer to wake naturally around 8, tea in bed before greeting the world. If I have to be up earlier for work, I struggle a bit but go to bed earlier (hard if it’s one morning but better if several mornings in a row). I then doze on the train to try and catch up.

KeysHairbandNotepad · 21/10/2018 09:27

I don't think you can.

I have 3 children and still have trouble getting out of bed at a set timeMy dh is so chatty in the morning and I have to tune him out until I've had some caffeine.

MissEliza · 21/10/2018 09:32

Definitely if you have to. My dh was terrible when I first met him but a couple of years in the army sorted him! We now find the problem now is we can't sleep past 8am no matter what.

Slytherdor · 21/10/2018 09:32

I am a lark and my OH is an owl. He managed to adjust himself to my morning schedule simply by asking me to ‘engage with him’ when I wake up- meaning I wake him up, chat a bit, drag him with me if I’m going for a run etc. We also have a routine where he gets up to put the kettle on and I then get up and make us both a cup of tea- this works because he is forced to get up, then forced to stay awake and drink the tea.

He says that when he first started doing it it was very tough, but got easier very quickly, and he now wakes up early with me there or not!

BollocksToBrexit · 21/10/2018 09:34

There was an episode of Horizon recently that covered this. It's all to do with light exposure and it explained how to adjust your body clock.

DryIce · 21/10/2018 09:38

I don't think it's possible! My husband, and now our child, are early risers. I am definitely naturally not.

However being the only one at home during the week, I now have to get up at 6 every day (or even 5.30 bahhh). I do it, but I don't think I'll ever enjoy it!

bridgetreilly · 21/10/2018 09:39

I found that when I cut out most carbs (BSD), I not only slept much better, but needed much less sleep and was waking up feeling refreshed rather than tired. I had NEVER been a morning person. It was so weird finding myself up at 6am getting things done.

InfiniteCurve · 21/10/2018 09:39

Years of getting up with children and then having to get up at 6.15 for school runs and work mean that I do wake naturally much earlier than I used to,and I' awake and functional.
But I'm still an owl - if I don't have to get up I gradually slip to staying up later and waking later.

Womanlikeme · 21/10/2018 09:41

I think you can. I slept in for years, missing morning lectures in uni then up into the night.

Then I had children and had no choice. They are still early risers as teenagers. My one dc would wake at 5.30am until she was a good age and there was no point in encouraging her to go back to sleep as she was up for the day. Now I wake up naturally early, have a cup of tea and don’t mind.

NicoAndTheNiners · 21/10/2018 09:42

Definitely. I used to have to get up at 6am for work. Don't have to get up till 7 now but am always awake by 6:30 and feeling wide awake/ready to get up. At weekends I'm out of bed by 7am.

SymphonyofShadows · 21/10/2018 09:43

I'm naturally an owl but I've found age has made me wake up earlier. It's unusual if I sleep beyond 6am now.

Henryismyfriend · 21/10/2018 09:44

After years of not being a morning person through school, jobs, DC and life, and then I found the perfect answer. I now work permanent nights and instead I'm a grumpy cow for 2 hours in the evening instead of the morning 😁
I have to be up on my days off for a different reason and it entails a 2 mile walk, first thing. Oh I'm not very happy for the first mile, but by the time I get there I'm fine, must be the endorphins from the exercise. I only do it because it's a part of my lifestyle that is non negotiable, if it were a choice then I'd absolutely not do it.

Original poster
Marble179 · 21/10/2018 09:44

I did have a period of time one summer when DH was away in the army of getting up at 5.30 and loving it.

@BollocksToBrexit

Thankyou so much for the link, I will watch with interest!!

OP posts:
MysweetAudrina · 21/10/2018 09:48

I was never a morning person but just over 6 months ago I started getting up at 6 to attend a yoga class before work. I haven't missed a morning yet and my body wakes me up like a cat wanting to be fed at 6 every morning.

speakout · 21/10/2018 09:49

Good early mornings mean early nights.

You will never be a morning person going to bed at 1am.

I get up at 6am every morning, including Sunday, but I am always asleep by 10am.

I feel it's better quailty time at the beginning of the day than the end of the day.

laurG · 21/10/2018 09:51

No😢. I wish you could. I’m an owl and getting up at 6.30/ 7 every day with my baby kills me. Just can’t sleep before midnight then up during the night... yawn

speakout · 21/10/2018 09:53

MysweetAudrina

Same here.

I have a yoga class at 6.30 three times a week.

The class is always full- there are lots of us morning people around!

museumum · 21/10/2018 09:56

My experience and that horizon episode say you can adjust by an hour or two. So if you’d prefer to get up at 10 you’ll be able to adjust to 9 or 8. But never be a natural 6am riser.
I’ve adjusted since having ds. I now go to bed at 10 to sleep before 11 and wake between 7&8. Before ds I’d mostly be up till midnight, later on weekends.

DannyWallace · 21/10/2018 09:58

I think so. I went from being a student (barely sleeping!) to working for the NHS in a very busy/understaffed area. I did a huge mix of days, nights and on call so my pattern was all over the place and I HATED mornings as I was always exhausted. I used to offer to do more night shifts just so I didn't have to do mornings. I would comfortably stay up until the early hours, and in bed until at least 10.

I then quit and moved to another country. It was a hot, European country with amazing weather and, as the house wasn't furnished, our bedroom didn't have curtains. We ended up leaving it that way as within a few weeks both DH and I were up at 6 with the sun!!
Now I'm back in the UK I have an alarm clock with a sun light in it that gradually brightens the room. I still consider myself a morning person.