Is having a daily nap a bad thing?

[Member869894]

Im 60, happy and active. I work from home in a stressful job and nearly every day I go to bed for an hour at lunchtime and sleep. I mentioned it to a friend who told me in no uncertain terms that she thinks that is weird . I've never really thought about it before and now I'm wondering if it is? I dont tend to do it at weekends and wonder if its my body's way of dealing with the work stress? I'd welcome any thoughts

Sounds idyllic to me.

Completely normal behaviour in the med …enjoy !

Sounds idyllic to me.

It really is!🙂

I’d love this

Perfectly normal to me

I have started doing this recently it’s so refreshing. Not weird at all.

I think research has been done which indicates an after lunch nap can be beneficial to alertness after. My father used to come home for lunch and have a 15 minute nap after it. However I think it’s reckoned that more than half an hour can impair night time sleep. But everyone is different so if it suits you why not.

Very healthy habit to have, my partner was obsessed with a sleep book he purchased and having a nap is up there with one of the best things you can do for your body.

I’ve started needing a nap one or two days a week and I’m 43. Normally after an early start at 8am and if I can swing in a light gym session mid morning. It’s such a nice feeling, and I wake up so much better for it. More alert and positive. In Winter these naps can go on longer (when not working). I went through a phase of feeling really
guilty about resting as I’m always on the go, but l slowly got around to telling myself that it’s important to listen to your body and when you do listen, you get the best out of it. Enjoy your rest time

It's not weird, no.

But you say it's to do with work stress. Really the best solution to any kind of stress is to tackle the cause of stress.

I will go through phases of napping, absolutely love it. If we're doing something, I'm fine to miss it, but if we're home, I will go for an afternoon nap a couple of times a week. I'm late 40s.

@Gtfc makes a great point here

I’m a bit older but don’t do it . I work full time so I can’t do it anyway as not at home . But I don’t think it’s weird and I remember my mum used to do it when she was younger and raising 4 kids . But don’t a lot of European countries have their siesta’s for that reason. Your friend is talking nonsense.

I'm 64 and I often sit down mid afternoon and have a 40 minute nap. I always seem to wake up after 40-45 minutes. I don't sleep well every night so I think my body needs it.

There's plenty of research showing the benefit of naps.

I think your friend is quite rude to say it’s weird.

Napping has never helped me though. When I have napped in the day, I’ve always woke up feeling worse and sometimes really sick, but I think it’s because it’s been when I’ve been seriously lacking sleep when my children were very young so a nap just wasn’t enough.

Now I get to sleep well at night, I don’t think I’d be able to sleep by lunchtime, but if other people can and find it helps, who cares.

I always have a nap.

Early fifties here and I love a nap. Your friend is rude and ignorant.

Sounds bliss and you are doing what your body tells you. Years ago in my 20s I worked shifts at T4 LHR and often had afternoon naps on my days off or after an early shift.

Completely normal! I come in from work and have a small nap most days around 4pm but if I’m at home or on holiday will have a longer one earlier in the day, our friends we just went on holiday with think it very strange but to me it’s completely normal and refreshes me for the rest of the day!

And the Middle East

I can easily (and do) have an hour or mores sleep sat on the sofa after lunch. I don’t even need to lie down. Sometimes well into 90 mins. I’m on beta blockers though which can make me feel sleepy. Back in bed for 9pm and I’m away again. Am 54.

I get up early due to the dog wanting to go out, so I have a nap when I can as I need to make the sleep up.

Exactly this. Napping been proven to benefit your physical and mental health, but try to restrict it to 15-30 mins so you won't fall into deep sleep which can make you feel groggy afterwards.

Some days I nap 2-3 times a day :)

I dont think you can say if it's generally a good thing or a bad thing as surely it depends on the person? some people clearly benefit from naps but whenever I nap, I feel groggy and drugged for the rest of the day- I feel genuinely awful.

I sleep very well at night (often get a sleep score of 95 or so from my Garmin) so for me, there is no need to nap during the day and it just makes me feel terrible. If you feel good from it though then do it!