How much sleep do you get a night?
Categories: Just for moms, Sleep
I've recently seen some version of the study linking weight loss to the amount of sleep moms get in at least five different places, and it kind of makes me want to cry a little. If I'm getting six hours of sleep, I call it a good night.
I mean, really, when was the last time you got eight hours of solid, uninterrupted sleep? Maybe it's just me, but I can't seem to make that happen, even on a good night when my 3 year old goes down like a dream (which is never) and my to-do list isn't two miles long (also never.)
I have three jobs: my full time day job, writing here, and full time parenting. In other words, when some people's day ends after the kiddo is finally in bed and the laundry is going, mine is just starting. Apparently this isn't good for my overall physique, or my mental health, but I can't even begin to fathom how to do things differently so that I could sneak in another hour of sleep here or there.
Even when I go to bed early, or perhaps more accurately, especially when I go to bed early I can't fall asleep. Instead I lie in bed, my brain going at a million miles an hour, worrying that I'll forget to do something, or strategizing about how I'll get it all done.
And I can't take any comfort in a recent poll by the National Sleep foundation, that found that half the nation reports having frequent insomnia, because it seems that the drug companies who market sleep medications are behind it.
But I am curious--misery loves company after all-- how much sleep do you get every night, really?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ash 5-14-2008 @ 6:51PM
Last night i got 11 hours sleep. :) i was woken up twice during the night/morning but the sleep was really needed!! i was nice and refreshed for my 8.30am start at work
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kristin 5-15-2008 @ 12:43PM
I go to bed at 11 p.m. wake up at 6 a.m. and am up 3 times during those hours. I am usually awakened by one or a combination of my baby crying, my son waking up in the middle of the night, my husband snoring or my cats mewing.
It's a three ring circus at hours from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. I would sleep later but my older son gets up at the crack of dawn.
I am still holding out hope that one night I will get to sleep uninterrupted.
Ash 5-15-2008 @ 4:37PM
You are lucky you have kids! but i really understand the three ring circus. We live on the biggest boy-racer main road, and it is terrible for sleep. Too bad i love my wee flat to much!! but that combined with the partner snoring, the toilet that really really needs to be fixed and the cats mewing, purring or smooching at really stupid times of the night or not to mention the normal things... like getting up to go to the toilet or have a drink. Phew its a suprise i get any sleep at all. (good practise for when/if we do manage to have a baby)
ame s 5-14-2008 @ 7:02PM
I don't want to depress parents of infants and toddlers, but as a SAHM of an 8 and 10 year old, I still only get 6-7 hours a night. On a happy note, if it isn't soccer season I can sleep for 8-9 hours on a Friday night while my girls are spending the night with my parents.
I do take an hour of downtime after lunch everyday. I set a couple of timers and read, then try to nap for 15 minutes or so.
I tend to get a burst of pep after I get the girls to bed around 8:30. The "brat" in me (thanks, flylady) wants to stay up and read and watch tv. Every morning when my husband gets up at 5:30 to drive the 90 miles each way to work, I vow that I will go to sleep earlier that night. Rarely happens, though.
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sandyquinn 5-14-2008 @ 7:06PM
I get 8 to 9 hours of sleep almost every night. Our daughter has been sleeping through the night since she was nine weeks old. I'm lucky because I need a lot of sleep.
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Monica 5-14-2008 @ 7:08PM
I've now gotten to the point where I really cannot function on less than 7 hrs sleep and I usually get 8.
However, my kids are technically adults now. Through their baby/toddler years I often stumbled around on 5. I was working full time and single parenting, and really the only time to get anything done was after they were alseep.
I went through one 5 month period of insomnia getting 2-3hrs of sleep a night. By the time that was worked out I was almost insane. Oddly though insomnia comes accompanied by a complete lack of appetite for me. In hindsight, probably a good thing.
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Katheryn 5-14-2008 @ 7:09PM
I'm lucky if I get 6 hours - and that's broken sleep.
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mamaloo 5-14-2008 @ 7:42PM
I think, if you put all my sleep together, I get maybe 4 hours.
This is a massive improvement over my first son, though, who nursed constantly (we had milk issues, so he ate often) and I got maybe 1 hour to 2 hours every night for two years.
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Tamyu 5-14-2008 @ 8:34PM
I`ve always gotten plenty of sleep... After my son actually goes to sleep. Once he`s down, he`ll sleep for 10 to 12 hours... It`s just getting to that sleep that has always been a problem for us. Otherwise, he`s technically been sleeping "through the night" since he came home from the hospital. I would actually wake him up to forcibly feed him.
Last night I slept 8 hours, which is actually very short for me. Our schedules have changed a lot now that he is in kindergarten. I have to actually wake up early and get things ready to go - otherwise, I`d just stay in bed until he woke up naturally in another hour and a half or 2.
But it`s alright, because I can take an afternoon nap!
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Maureen 5-15-2008 @ 12:07AM
5-6 hours. It's not my kids' fault, I just don't sleep all that well. I can't seem to fall asleep before 11:30ish and my eyes pop open, whether I want them to or not, by 6. I also regularly wake up in the middle of the night and am up for about 30 minutes or so. I've always been this way, so I can't blame the kids. Weight isn't an issue for me, but I know that I have a short temper because I'm tired all the time.
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Jack 5-15-2008 @ 9:50AM
SWMBO and I get a good 8 hours rest on weeknights, and 9-10 hours on weekends. Our kids are 5 & 7 years old.
For those who have trouble getting to sleep, try Melatonin. It works very well for our 7 year old who takes Concerta for his ADHD (which has an unfortunate side effect of causing sleeplessness).
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