How much sleep do you really need?

2

Replies

  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    I can function on 4 hours , do okay with 6 hours, but about 8 hours of sleep is the best for me.
  • Mary_Anastasia
    Mary_Anastasia Posts: 267 Member
    edited December 2016
    These days, I feel best at 9. I usually get 7-8. I used to feel best at 12, but then I got on proper medication. I can survive on 6 per night but it will give me a headache and nausea and heavy-skin feeling after 2 nights of that.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    I get an average of 6 - 6.5 hours on the three days of the week that I work out before work, the other two I get usually close to 8. On the weekends I'll get 7-8, sometimes more. So I probably average 7 all together.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I can manage on 4, feel okay on 5-6, but my ideal is 7-7.5. When I was marathon training last year, I felt like I needed 8-9 to feel my best.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    I have always been a 4-6 hour sleeper. That said, I do feel better if I can be more towards the 6 or so hour mark more often than not. Never got into caffeine and such until after college. Now I only have caffeine in the morning. I am naturally wired as it is and caffeine late in the day messes with what little sleep I get.
  • PhilP0wer
    PhilP0wer Posts: 76 Member
    For me it depends. With no exertion I'm fine with 6.5. On lifting days I need 7.5 - 8 and on the Saturdays that I ride my bike for 4 or 5 hours I end up needing 9 hours to feel ok.
  • not_my_first_rodeo
    not_my_first_rodeo Posts: 311 Member
    Chronic insomniac here.

    Ideally 8 hours to function, but I haven't had that consistently in years.

    I weep with joy and fall to my knees in gratitude at 7.

    I can barely function at 6.

    With the onset of perimenopause, it's lucky now if I get 4 consecutive hours.

    I am a shadow of myself. I can't speak for other people, but I NEED 6.5-7 to feel like I am functioning.
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    I need either 7.5 or 9 hours to feel really good. 7.5 is fine for weekdays, usually I will wake up after that much sleep, but on weekends I can just keep sleeping until 9 hours and it feels so good and refreshing. Any longer is not good for me, any shorter than 7.5 makes it hard to run in the morning, my knees hurt.

    I try to eat well, too, but personally I'm healthier with a crap diet or not enough food, and enough sleep, than with a good and healthy diet and not enough sleep. Sleep is an enormous factor for me, health wise.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    I do well on about 7.5 hours. I have a bad habit of staying up late reading so I don't get that much sleep during the week often but then I get a bit more than that on the weekend.
    .

    Reading is like a very strong sleeping pill for me. A book lasts me a very long time, I'm lucky to get to 10 pages before i zonk out (i read in bed at night).

  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Oh dear.. I definitely do not sleep enough. Lately it has been a bit better, 6h of broken up sleep works for me.. but not long ago I was on 4-5h, sometimes less uchhh :( . My 10 month old loves to wake up and eat a lot at night, but I know this phase is (hopefully) temporary. On top of that I can't drink TOO much coffee or else it gets into the milk and then the kid and then he won't sleep. SO ... yea.. *falls asleep as I'm typing this*
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Oh dear.. I definitely do not sleep enough. Lately it has been a bit better, 6h of broken up sleep works for me.. but not long ago I was on 4-5h, sometimes less uchhh :( . My 10 month old loves to wake up and eat a lot at night, but I know this phase is (hopefully) temporary. On top of that I can't drink TOO much coffee or else it gets into the milk and then the kid and then he won't sleep. SO ... yea.. *falls asleep as I'm typing this*

    I dont want to derail, but was curious if the "recommendations" for night feeds have changed over the years @sardelsa ? My kids are 21 and 24, and the cut off for night feeds was 8 weeks old when they were little. So as soon as they turned 8 weeks, no more feed in the middle of the night, I gave them a top up at around 11pm, and when they woke up in the middle of the night i just popped their dummy back in, only took a few nights of doing this for them to sleep straight through.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Oh dear.. I definitely do not sleep enough. Lately it has been a bit better, 6h of broken up sleep works for me.. but not long ago I was on 4-5h, sometimes less uchhh :( . My 10 month old loves to wake up and eat a lot at night, but I know this phase is (hopefully) temporary. On top of that I can't drink TOO much coffee or else it gets into the milk and then the kid and then he won't sleep. SO ... yea.. *falls asleep as I'm typing this*

    I dont want to derail, but was curious if the "recommendations" for night feeds have changed over the years @sardelsa ? My kids are 21 and 24, and the cut off for night feeds was 8 weeks old when they were little. So as soon as they turned 8 weeks, no more feed in the middle of the night, I gave them a top up at around 11pm, and when they woke up in the middle of the night i just popped their dummy back in, only took a few nights of doing this for them to sleep straight through.

    Oh yea? I don't think there's a strict recommendation anymore. They used to say the first few days/weeks to wake them every 3 hours to eat but recently I've even seen that challenged. (I never had that issue since my kids were up every 1-2hrs on their own lol)
    I usually go with the flow and I nurse each time he wakes at night.. I mean unless he's up every hour in which case I know it's not hunger he just wants snuggles or something. I am doing ok right now since he is up every 3-4 hours which is a dream compared to before!
  • Heartisalonelyhunter
    Heartisalonelyhunter Posts: 786 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Oh dear.. I definitely do not sleep enough. Lately it has been a bit better, 6h of broken up sleep works for me.. but not long ago I was on 4-5h, sometimes less uchhh :( . My 10 month old loves to wake up and eat a lot at night, but I know this phase is (hopefully) temporary. On top of that I can't drink TOO much coffee or else it gets into the milk and then the kid and then he won't sleep. SO ... yea.. *falls asleep as I'm typing this*

    I dont want to derail, but was curious if the "recommendations" for night feeds have changed over the years @sardelsa ? My kids are 21 and 24, and the cut off for night feeds was 8 weeks old when they were little. So as soon as they turned 8 weeks, no more feed in the middle of the night, I gave them a top up at around 11pm, and when they woke up in the middle of the night i just popped their dummy back in, only took a few nights of doing this for them to sleep straight through.

    Oh yea? I don't think there's a strict recommendation anymore. They used to say the first few days/weeks to wake them every 3 hours to eat but recently I've even seen that challenged. (I never had that issue since my kids were up every 1-2hrs on their own lol)
    I usually go with the flow and I nurse each time he wakes at night.. I mean unless he's up every hour in which case I know it's not hunger he just wants snuggles or something. I am doing ok right now since he is up every 3-4 hours which is a dream compared to before!

    Mine just turned 1 and thankfully started sleeping better. Hang in there, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
    @Christine_72 the recommendation now is to follow their lead. If they wake up, feed them, if not then leave them. When my older kids were babies they used tell you to wake them up every 3-4 hours to feed until about 6 weeks.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    I do best with 7-7.5. Any more than that brings on a migraine. Any less and it's not a good day.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited December 2016
    I function well on 6 hours (unbroken). 5 - 5 1/2 is ok, anything less my day is toast.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    I can go weeks at 5 or 6 due to a SNORING husband., But when I get 7, I kick big time butt! and feel wonderful.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I do best on 8 or even more. I usually get 5.5 to 6.5. But that's pretty much because I'm an idiot: I'm retired, can do pretty much what I wish, but keep staying up late even when I need to get up early (I'm typing this at 1:37AM - LOL!). It works even less well at my age (61).

    This sounds familiar.

    I often get even less than that because in addition to being a habitual night owl, I have a territorial dog that barks at every critter that moves in my yard or across the street, and I have cats that have taken to parading restlessly all over me at random times for no apparent reason. I'd shut the cats out, but the one is old and I just can't do that to her. Besides, she'd be yowling at the door to the bedroom all night and worse than the dog.

    Today I'm operating on about four hours of sleep.

    If I schedule runs in the wee hours I do better. I get tired at a 'normal' time of night and sleep more deeply.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    Between 7 and 10 hours for me. Most nights I get around 8 hours.
  • Cerealsensei
    Cerealsensei Posts: 1,625 Member
    at least 7 hours for me is preferred but I can survive off of 6 hours as well, anything less than 6 and I'm waking up in zombie mode.
  • aamberrr
    aamberrr Posts: 115 Member
    I feel fully rested and function well with 9-10. I'm pretty good with 7-8. Unfortunately on weeknights, I usually only get 6.5-7, and then sleep about 10-11 on weekends because I'm so tired. Anything less than 6 and I'm a complete zombie. I'm totally making it a goal to get at least 8 hours on weeknights. I have also wondered if needing 9-10 hours of sleep is indicative of some sort of problem, or if I only feel like I need that much because I'm always in a deficit.
  • aamberrr
    aamberrr Posts: 115 Member
    Mary_Anastasia wrote: »
    These days, I feel best at 9. I usually get 7-8. I used to feel best at 12, but then I got on proper medication. I can survive on 6 per night but it will give me a headache and nausea and heavy-skin feeling after 2 nights of that.

    Please feel free to tell me it's none of my business and/or not answer, but I'm curious if your medicine has to do with a sleep issue... I ask because I feel like I require an absurd amount of sleep to function and feel "normal," and even when I go for periods of time where I'm consistently getting the "recommended" amount, I'm either always tired, or always taking naps. I can fall asleep almost as soon as I shut my eyes, I can have a full on dream during a 15-20 minute nap, and no matter how much sleep I get, I never have trouble sleeping more. I've been thinking lately that maybe there is a legit issue with my sleep habits, so wondering if you have any insight...

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 11,616 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I have a 4 and 6 y.o...my eldest does fine, but my youngest has never been a good sleeper...so we aren't either. Between the two of them, I don't think my wife and I have had a good nights sleep in about 6 years...

    I'll see your two and raise you to four, but this.
  • Lisa_Ookoo
    Lisa_Ookoo Posts: 134 Member
    I fall asleep easily, but wake up 2 hours later. Then I'm awake for at least an hour, and then doze off-and-on for a few hours. I would love to be able to sleep through the night.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    An aside to the main point here: I got sleep interruption insomnia big time after chemotherapy. I'd go to sleep quickly, but wake up every hour and a half, then go right back to sleep. No deep sleep. Went on for months, into years.

    I tried everything - drugs, home remedies, sleep hygiene, old wives tales, supplements, sleep studies at a hospital sleep center (plus sleep apnea treatment), you name it. None of that worked.

    The thing that worked the best was hypnotherapy by a psychologist. It took me from waking up every hour and a half all night, to a point where I would get 3-5 hours sleep before the first wake-up. It may not sound like a big difference, but the change in rest from that is huge.

    I'm a skeptical, fact-oriented, non-woo-y person. But it helped.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    I need more than I'm usually getting. Damn student schedule. You have to get up at 8, tomorrow you have to get up at 10, the day after at 6...
    Unless I start getting up at 6 every day even when I don't have to do *kitten* until 12, I just don't get a good sleep rhythm in.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    Ah! I knew I saw a news report on this recently!
    "Getting only four to five hours of sleep in a night is the same as driving when legally drunk, and if you sleep less than four hours in given 24-hour period, you are as impaired as you would be if you are twice the legal limit of alcohol," - Jake Nelson, director, Traffic Safety Advocacy and Research of AAA

    "Driving Drowsy as bad as driving drunk" (US News & World Report)
    "AAA Study - Drowsy Driving Comparable to Drunk Driving" (CBS News)
    Facts & Stats about Drowsy Driving

    9ykzuk884vjm.jpg
    Wheaton AG, Chapman DP, Presley-Cantrell LR, Croft JB, Roehler DR. Drowsy driving – 19 states and the District of Columbia, 2009-2010.[630 KB] MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2013; 61:1033.
    Drowsy Driving - Asleep at the Wheel (CDC)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    stevencloser wrote: »
    Unless I start getting up at 6 every day even when I don't have to do *kitten* until 12, I just don't get a good sleep rhythm in.

    This happened to me when I got older. Used to have to set an alarm, now I never do, and I wake up around 5-5:30 even on the weekend.
  • drawaimfire
    drawaimfire Posts: 83 Member
    Hi,

    Since my late teens, I am golden on 5.5-6.5 hours a night. Anything 7+ and I usually get headaches and feel spacey. Under 5 and I am OK for a few days but try to catch back up to the 5-6 range. If diet and exercise are on track I can go that way for awhile, if two out of three gets derailed, then I am in trouble. Proper nutrition fuels me and workouts make me drop into a great sleep that night. I tend to have a surplus of energy so if I don't expend it, I have fitful sleeps. I fall asleep easily, which is new, but I no longer have a snoring husband so that might be why. I also do not need to use an alarm, unless I have had to take medicine for a cold or upset stomach (Nyquil/Gravol knocks me down hard)

    I don't mind caffeine but am pretty hyper all on my own and I don't want my co-workers to mutiny so I try to not drink it too often on work days :-) I make it, walk around with it, and then end up tossing most of it once its cold lol

    It kind of blows my mind how long some people are sleeping, but maybe they would think the same of those of us who sleep less?

  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    8 hours. Less than that and I'm not a nice person :p
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    I'm solid on six, but I meditate and can get to sleep in seconds.
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