To think that actually most adults need more than the recommended 7-8 hours sleep a night?

[Arrowfanatic]

I can cope fairly well on minimal sleep, having 3 no sleeping kids helped with that. But I tend to find if I can get 9-10 hours that's when I'm best refreshed.

I know advice is 7-8 hours for adults (and that lie ins are not recommended, that's it better to keep the exact same bedtimes & waking times), but I also know 7 hours just feels like I've not slept enough.

My children all live happily and energetically on around 5 hours a night. They're 10, 8 & 7.

So, who are these adults that are full of beans on 7-8 hours?

I do on calls so my sleeping pattern is screwed - plus night shifts where 5 hours a day is considered loads of sleep for some biazarre reason

Some days I can cope on 3 hours or so, other days I end up catching up and would be happy with about 9-10 hours (then could easily doze or read in bed for a little longer) - but that is often when my sleep has been rubbish
Usually aim for 8 hours sleep though and thats fine

During the week I usually get 8 hours, which is ok. At the weekend when it’s my turn for a lie in I easily sleep for 9-10 hours. I’ve always needed lots of sleep though.

I agree, I’ve always needed 9-10 to feel human. Weekdays I only get 5-7 so I’m a zombie at work and in general unless it’s the school holidays or a weekend and I get to lay in! I’m another one who had an accidental 11 hour sleep over Christmas break and felt amazing. It’s the unnatural waking usually of an alarm clock that makes you feel worse, if you had that same sleep undisturbed and woke up naturally you wouldn’t feel half as tired.

My ideal is somewhere between 7 and 9 hours but I have a 10yo who barely sleeps and if he is awake then either DH or I needs to be awake, the 2yo is going through a phase of waking up at around 3am, and for some reason DH has been sleeping through his work alarm lately which means it wakes me up instead at fucking 4.45am. For the last few weeks I've been averaging 4-6 hours on week nights.

On weekends when DH is home he does the night wake ups and I sleep. 10-12 hours is my weekend sleep.

When I can sleep uninterrupted and wake naturally, I seem to go for 7.5 hours. Can’t remember when that last happened, though...

It is a generalised 'average'.
We are all individuals.
I need much more sleep than my dh. If I don't get enough sleep for 2 or 3 nights I can make up the hours with a day time nap - he hates napping, throws his system completely. He rarely 'lies in' whereas I love a lie in, and can happily sleep until 11 at times.
Same with our (adult) dc . One never sleeps more than 6 or 7 hours - even through her teens, she never slept in. As a baby she never went to sleep before about 11pm. Another one sleeps for England. Can easily sleep for 14 hours. Proudly told me a month or so ago that she'd manage two naps in one day that week . Other dc is somewhere in the middle, but leans towards only needing 6 or 7 hours.

I feel groggy if I have more than 7. 9-10 does seem excessive but, each to their own

I think it depends on what you are getting up for though.

I am a lark so will wake early morning regardless of bedtime, kids or alcohol. I love a nap and will happily kip in the afternoon. But I feel more tired if I know I have to get up despite it not bring any different.

Bit like going to bed at 4am in Ibiza but not feeling the love when your baby does the same.

I need more than 8 and DD1 and DD2 need about 12. I do know people who function perfectly well on 6 hours (through choice).

I managed 9.5 hours last night, but went to bed much later than I normally would & feel exhausted so I think the pp who mentioned about hours before midnight being the best may be on to something.

I tend not to nap in the day time, maybe once every couple of months or so. DH will nap more frequently, I joke he's like an old man needing his sunday afternoon nap

If the average person needs 8 hours of good quality sleep to be at their best, then nearly 50% of adults will need more sleep than that, and if your sleep is poor quality or you have other health issue you might need more than that again.

I had to spend 3 godawful weeks out in the back of beyond once for work. Except the work kept getting cancelled and I was sent ‘home’ (ie, hotel) each day. This went on for about a week.

Hotel was in a hamlet 8 miles from nearest town (not that there was anything to do there) and only 2 buses a day. Hotel had no wifi signal and you couldn’t even go out for a walk as there was only one busy road with no pavements.

The upshot was I spent most of the time in bed. Think I was approximating 14 hours of sleep a day. Sounds great but actually it was terrible. Awoke feeling exhausted, groggy, raging headache and stomachache and felt like I hadn’t had any sleep.

8 hours = good
14 hours = bad

NHS guidelines says adults need 7-9 hours sleep. I have probably 5 or 6 and feel fine 90% of the time.

7 is plenty for me, much more and I feel groggy all day

You should give yourself 9 hours os “sleep opportunity”. Read Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, it’ll make you want to go to bed earlier and campaign for later school starts for your teens. Also interesting regarding R.E.M. sleep in infants. Lack of sleep affects everything from memory to risk of poor mental health. Fascinating read.

The most I've ever slept was 15 hours as a teenager in the aftermath of a DoE expedition and with what hindsight tells me, was a very unpleasant bout of IBS that drained me empty as much as the big rucksack.

Generally I get 7-8 and am happy on that. Children taught me to manage better on less sleep than I once did. As an NQT, a few days of scraping 6 hours really took its toll, but in the night feeds years I stayed more functional, even when I RTW.

Occasionally I'll have a 9hr+ catch-up which is amazing.

I struggle to sleep-in these days though and am happier for getting up and doing something like parkrun, then having a rest. Saying that, my body clock shifted a couple of hours later around Christmas but has settled back again.

I need exercise to sleep well. If I haven't burned enough energy for a few days, I start getting very twitchy and restless which disturbs my sleep.

Interesting. I have always felt like I needed a good 9-10 hrs (with as little interruption as possible) to feel rested. I thought that was unusual but lots of people on this thread agree with me. I tend to get around 7hrs a night atm which is usually broken every couple of hours for periods of 30mins or so by DD shrieking through the monitor or DH snoring. Feel permanently exhausted.

5-6 hours is ideal for me
The longest I’ve ever slept in my life was maybe 8 hours

I sleep about 6 odd hours a night, simply can't sleep more without some form of medication. I make up for it with weekend naps.

I average 5 hours a night, I don’t feel particularly tired in the day or anything. My boyfriend however is a completely different story, he’s in bed and usually asleep by 9:30pm and gets up at 7:00am in the week. He was asleep by 10:30 last night, he is yet to wake up.

I think 6 to 8 hours is about what most people I know get. I get about 6.5. I can't imagine having the time for 8 or even more. I don't think many people need 8 plus regularly unless they have a medical condition! Most people I know are either early birds (sleep 10.30 to 6) or night owls (sleep 12 to 7). Approximate times obviously.

I am obviously basing my assumptions on my friends in their 30s to 50s. My elderly parents sleep much more, 10.30 to 8.30.

I'd love to get 8.5-9.0 hours every night. But even if I could have 7-8 uninterrupted sleep it would be great. I wake up a lot. I remember getting 8 hours uninterrupted one night about 10 years ago and feeling absolutely amazing the next day!

I can’t remember how much sleep is ideal for me. I had pregnancy insomnia, then wakeful baby, then pregnancy insomnia again, assume will be followed by wakeful baby again. I have averaged about 4-5 hours of broken sleep for a few years. I used to sleep as an adult very well/easily, rarely needed to nap unless unwell, but I forget how long for, I’m a morning person, so maybe 22.30-6.30? I can clearly survive on much less sleep however as currently I can take care of a child, work part time and study part time

I agree!
I wake up tired , I do have vitamin deficiencies though so maybe check your levels?

@AtLeastThreeDrinks - thanks for the book reccomendation - I've just got in on Kindle.