How long do you sleep at night?

[missbluex]

Posting for traffic, how long do you sleep at night?

I’m studying full time for a degree and managing a part time job whilst often caring for my elderly father. I need around 10 hours each night but my DP complains it’s too much?!

Baffles me how some manage on 6 hours of less!

[DONTMESSWITHMEDARNA]

3-4 on a good night or many nights none at all.
I'm a lone parent/carer to a disabled 12 y old (mentally 6ish) that don't sleep due to numerous disabilities.
Hes also home educated and needs 24/7 care and supervision.
(Can no one tell me to put him in school so i can get a rest as there's nowhere for him to go. Too severe for mainstream and here in south Wales valleys special schools don't exist)

i can't "work"(even though im on call 24/7) due to his complex needs so i don't have to worry about holding down a job

my oldest (18) has numerous disabilities (he never went to school either) so i haven't slept properly in 17 years and have a fair few more years ahead as well.

there's no one to have my son so i can't get a babysitter so i can sleep.

this is the life of a full-time/lone carer and im certainly not alone.

[Kennykenkencat]

@Gingernan

I'm in my 70s and sleep very little.Ive never slept a lot.If I have 4 good hours I function well, 6 and I can take on the world! I have had nights when I haven't slept,that's bad I know. Also I'm up at 4 am for my cleaning job. When I stay at my partners he can sleep the clock round.So annoying but what can you do?

Get yourself Ashwagandha. It knocks me out and I get a very good sleep. Maybe not the length of sleep I fully need but the dream sleep and deep sleep I think I need
I am always worried about lack of sleep and dementia.
I slept quite well until I went through the menopause

[RudolphTheGreat]

I could easily sleep 10 hrs a night. I need at least 8 to function and not be miserable!

[CYT67]

7 at best during the week. 8 or so at weekend.

[Funkyslippers]

I honestly feel as if there is something lacking in my brain so I'm unable to sleep soundly like lots of people. I mean, I feel like some people get to a certain level of tiredness and can sleep, but my level of tiredness needs to be much higher. For example, many years ago I went on a Christmas works night out and the bus broke down on the way back. Everyone fell asleep except me. I was wide awake for hours until the bus got going again

[Gingernan]

I'm in my 70s and sleep very little.Ive never slept a lot.If I have 4 good hours I function well, 6 and I can take on the world! I have had nights when I haven't slept,that's bad I know. Also I'm up at 4 am for my cleaning job. When I stay at my partners he can sleep the clock round.So annoying but what can you do?

[EndlessRain]

7-8 is best. Under 6 I struggle.

10 seems a lot to be a "necessity".

[Kennykenkencat]

Pre menopause and Adhd diagnosis (ADHD makes you permanently knackered no matter how much sleep you get. I always had to nap during the day.) I used to get at least 7-8 hours probably 10 hours if you took in daytime naps.

Menopause and undiagnosed ADHD was a killer. 1.5 -3 hours sleep. I wasn’t functioning. Couldn’t work. Doctors useless. I was crying out for HRT or sleeping pills or something to knock me out for 8 hours.

Doctor said to have good sleep hygiene and to spray lavender on my pillow and the practice didn’t believe in HRT and sleeping pills

(Did I mention doctor said there was no such thing as an allergy test) Turns out I could add lavender oil to my list of things I avoid as I have a reaction to it.
Dh worked in the US for a good part of the month. He brought e back Melatonin which helped. It meant I could consistently get 4 -5 hours each night


Then lockdown happened and Dh lost his job. Doctor said they could only give me 2mg of slow release Melatonin. I was taking 15mg of fast acting melatonin each month.
I came across an article online for Ashwagandha.

Bought first lot from H&B took 1 tablet each night and it was akin to the Melatonin. Saw it in Costco and bought 2nd lot from there. I take 2 1000mg each night and get 4.5-6 or even very occasionally 7.5hours per night

My fit bit says I consistently get over an hours deep sleep and over an hours REM sleep
even when I have only slept for 4.5 hours.

I think I would have either killed myself or someone else due to lack of sleep if I relied on the NHS.

Diagnosed with ADHD last year and even on the lowest dose of meds I stopped sleeping during the day.
After years of not functioning I can now actually work.

[VerifiedBot2351]

Anything between three and five hours.

[AhmenGwendolyn]

@Charcy

Naahhh u dont

Yes I do, I love sleeping.
it’s my hobby now everyone is grown and moved on

[YukoandHiro]

Do you have DC? I never get more than 5 hours. It's not ideal, I think require about 7.
Health wise 10 is considered too much. It's actually as unhealthy to have too much sleep as it is to have too little

[CrustyFlake]

I think 10 hours a night sounds great. It's probably good for your health, OP!

I get about 6, but that's not by choice. I have very young children, a full time job, and a shift worker husband. I look forward to a time when I am older and can get more sleep.

[Snarferson]

*it needs

[Snarferson]

Again sleep is not a luxury. It is a physiological process needed for us to live. Your body needs how much sleep is needs

Getting enough sleep for your body is a luxury due to the society we live in.

They are not the same.

I have a DC and I am a long sleeper. She needs v little sleep. It is the hardest thing ever but I manage. Due to this I stuck to one.

[arethereanyleftatall]

I wouldn't have time for ten hours.

The reality is op, that if you decide to have children, you can't have 10 hours sleep. Unless your partner does or you pay someone else to do half of the work involved.

Especially if your child is ND, there are lots of threads on here about children who barely sleep.

I would be inclined to investigate if there is an actual problem, or this is just a glorious luxury you're allowing yourself.

[89redballoons]

Before DC I'd have 7 or 8 hours, maybe with a lie-in at the weekend so perhaps 9 hours then.

Now have a 6 month old and 2 year old, and there have been nights recently when I've only had 3 hours all night. I have adapted but I am definitely short tempered, and not sure how I'd be at work on this little sleep. Mind you I did manage it when DC1 was tiny so maybe again I'd just adapt.

The night before DC2 was born, I'd been in latent labour for days and was really struggling. I was given lovely lovely dihydrocodeine and slept for 9.5 hours - ahhhhh. I woke up and knew that wouldn't happen again possibly for years 😭

[pbdr]

I have a 1 year old who is not a good sleeper, so I probably get a total of less than 6 hours broken up into about 3 chunks. That being said, I was averaging about 1.5 hours total a night for the first few months of her life so I feel relatively very well rested now!

[CuriousCatfish]

@rainbowandglitter

Op started the thread then never came back.

She's asleep

[rainbowandglitter]

Op started the thread then never came back.

[FiveShelties]

Average around 6 hours and this has been the same for around 40 years. 7 hours would be amazing and I cannot imagine sleeping for 10 hours.

[Montana1612]

I get around 7.5-8 hours a night but it’s usually a bit broken with me waking up a couple of times throughout the night. I probably function at optimum health when I regularly get 9 hours but that almost never happens these days. If I get less than 7 I feel like crap and my mental health takes a dip

[ouch321]

@AIIyMcBeal

Is this a competitive under sleeping thread? Lol peak Mumsnet

Yep. Someone will be along to say 4 hours is loads and 3 is sufficient soon.

I was thinking it's v reminiscent of the recent thread where people were trying to outdo each other on how many portions of spag bol they could get from 450g of minced beef.
If I recall correctly it got up to 17...

The fact is that if you're getting by on less sleep it simply means you're getting older or are less active or both. Neither are things to boast over...

[Snarferson]

Amazing amount of ignorance on this thread. Sleep is physiological process not a luxury. The lifestyle we live means getting it is a luxury, NOT needing it.

I have long sleeper syndrome (look it up). I am in all other respects a healthy adult.

Do I like needing 10 hours of sleep a night. No.
Do I get 10 hours of sleep a night. Also No.

So I spend my life feeling like crap and tired. I've had loads of medical tests and there is nothing "wrong" with me. I just need more sleep than the average person.

Some very rude and ignorant comments on this thread about people who need more sleep than others.

[ShovellyJoe]

People who say "how can you find time to sleep for that long" seem to be focusing solely on free evenings being the holy grail. I'm not too keen on evenings in the way other people cherish them ie for TV watching (I don't) or drinking wine (teetotal).

I don't know if people are imagining that those of us who need a lot of sleep are lethargic. Quite the opposite. Yesterday, I ran 12k in the morning and went swimming for an hour in the afternoon. Between those times, I pruned three trees, loaded rubble into a skip, shifted things into the loft, took DS on a bike ride and stripped levelling compound off the dining room floor with a chisel.

I also work (teaching), cycle a 20 mile round trip to do that work, run or lift weights daily, hike, walk, climb, swim etc. I think I need 9hrs sleep because apart from meal times, I almost never sit down.

[Funkyslippers]

Around 7 hours in total. I go to sleep around 10.45, wake around 7.15 but I'm always awake for at least an hour in the night. Slightly more at weekends. I get by fine most of the time