How much sleep do you need?

Sal - posted on 07/03/2011

about an hour more than i seem to get.......reguarless of how much i get lol, my 1st daughter was a horrid sleeper and if i got 3 hrs a day i was excited, now unless i get 7+ i feel i am dying

Shannintipton - posted on 07/02/2011

Your post sounds just like me. I will give up sleep for alone time. But my kids are older now but they stay up late. So I stay up even later. I cant stay asleep. Constantly waking up .....and checking CoM. LOL

Joanna - posted on 07/02/2011

Yeah, plus I couldn't have caffeine until my daughter was about 6 months old since it bothered her tummy. Thank god she can tolerate it now, it's been a savior! We are working on getting her sleep on track though... We found that she'll only cry for a couple minutes when she wakeful at night, then goes back to sleep. So I'm working on just letting her cry instead of running to her. She's just such a mommy's girl, she loves to be on me 24/7.

Erin - posted on 07/02/2011

Wow Joanna. That's hardcore sleep deprivation :( I can not imagine having to function like that for so long.

Joanna - posted on 07/02/2011

I am so jealous reading all these replies. In the last year (I'm including the last trimester of my pregnancy since I didn't sleep well then), I've gotten ONE night of uninterrupted sleep. It was when Eva was in the hospital at 3 weeks old for an infection, my husband took the night shift (she would take a bottle then, but won't now), and I came home with my 3 yr old. I got 8 hours, and I was awesome. But I need that more than once a year. All I get now is a 3-hour combination of 15 minutes here, 30 minutes there, etc. Blargh.

Kate CP - posted on 07/02/2011

More than I get. :P

Sapphire - posted on 07/02/2011

I'm good with 5-7 hours of sleep during the work week. But even in that time frame I have so many sleep issues: difficulty going to sleep, and difficulty staying asleep. Extreme tossing/turning. Can;t shut my body down. Extreme sleepiness during the day. My insurance will pay for the sleep study that my dr. recommended, so I'm really excited about that! It's scheduled for next Sat. night.

Cathy - posted on 07/02/2011

6 hours works fine for me in summer.

In winter I need a good 10hrs!

Dana - posted on 07/02/2011

I need at least 8 hrs of sleep. I find that I average about 7 though. And since I've become further into the pregnancy, it's less than that because of the interrupted sleep. - readjusting, peeing, heartburn (that's not your normal heartburn). It sucks.

My theory on that is, your body is just slowly getting you used to sleep deprivation for the upcoming baby. ;)

Corinne - posted on 07/02/2011

Before the kids, I was on 5-7 hours a night which was great. When I got prego (both times) I literally could not keep my eyes open, which was a pain in the butt when I was working early. It got so bad, the bus drivers used to get off the bus to rouse me and get me on the bus so i at least got to work! Now that the kids are a bit bigger (3 & 5 yrs) and don't usually get up in the night I'm back to only needing 5-6 hrs. Any more than that and I'm a crappy, moody piece of work and I don't like that person, gimme happy, bouncy mummy any day. :)

Laura Zoey - posted on 07/02/2011

I don't think I've woken up all on my own for over two years now, also I haven't had uninterrupted sleep for that long too!well, right before Fierna was born Eric slept a few nights all the way through, but now he's back to waking once a night.

Elfrieda - posted on 07/02/2011

I'm good with 7-9 hours of sleep. If I get only 7 a few nights in a row, I start dragging myself around and take involuntary naps at 2 pm, just when my toddler wakes up from his nap! Not good.

I love my sleep. During the first months of babyhood, I thought a lot about sleep deprivation as a form of torture. :P It didn't help that my babe had to be held and rocked or bounced all 16 hours of the day that he was awake, so I couldn't even sit still except for nursing, when I had to sit very still at an unnatural angle. I was not a happy camper, and am so glad that's over.

I don't find sleep to be a waste of time. I love the dreams I get (when they're not scary) and I feel so refreshed when I've slept deeply and am able to wake up without the alarm before the baby wakes up. Mmmm.

Samantha - posted on 07/02/2011

I've never been a huge sleeper, I feel its an utter waste of time. Of course everyone needs their rest. I am good with 6-7 hours a night, if I get more I get grouchy

Laura Zoey - posted on 07/02/2011

I saw on the doctors tv show that 13-25 year olds need 9-10 hours
25-55 year olds need 8
And 55+ need 9
So I'm 22 and I need more sleep! Lol

Laura Zoey - posted on 07/02/2011

Before kids I slept 9-10 every night, with Eric I still got usually 8-9 cuz he slept about 11-12 so I had plenty of time in there to sleep, even with waking to nurse him through the night. Now with Fierna born it's not so much, Eric goes to sleep around 8, then Fierna will fall asleep around 9-10, she will sleep 6 hours straight almost every night! Then she nurses and sleeps more. Eric wakes up once a night sometimes 3am or so and then he will sleep til 5 ish. So I'm getting from 9-5 or 10-5 with two wake ups in between. NOT enough! So when Eric wakes I'll put on the tv and with Fierna still asleep I'll doze off again for a broken amount of time putting on different tv shows and falling back until either Fierna wakes, Eric demands food, or I feel rested :)
So I make it work, but it would be nice if Eric slept more then 9 hours a night.....or if Fierna could fall asleep at the same time would work too.

I need 6 minimum to function
7 is adequate
8 is very good
9 is ideal
10, ha! In my dreams! Maybe when I have teenagers who sleep all day :)

Ashley=) - posted on 07/02/2011

8-9 is the normal amount.

Shannen - posted on 07/02/2011

I will add that my almost 1 yr old still wakes at least once a night but more when teething and they are all early to rise no matter what time they go to bed and like Mary once they are up they are up.
I'm kind of lucky though at least my 3 wait until after 6am to wake up and if they wake earlier i tell them it's still sleep time and if it's dark enough they sometimes fall back asleep.

Mary - posted on 07/02/2011

How much sleep do I need? More than I usually get! Like Erin, I too have an early riser. She normally wakes up somewhere between 5 and 6am, every freakin morning. And when she's up, she's UP. She has no interest in getting into bed with us and snuggling, or even watching tv while I try to steal a few more zzz's. This is also complicated by the fact that my dogs sleep in my bedroom, so when she comes in, she wakes them up as well, and my one dog absolutely, positively must go outside within a minute or two of becoming conscious, or I'll be cleaning up the repercussions.

I used to stay up later, but that just made me tired and cranky all the time. There was just no changing or manipulating the natural biorhythms of child and beast. The only option was for me to adjust mine. Most nights, I'm asleep before 10pm, which (usually) gives me at least 7hrs. If I don't get to bed that early, I will end up napping the next day when she does - and god help us both if that's a day when she chooses to skip her nap!

Liz - posted on 07/02/2011

I haven't had one night's unbroken sleep since my 9mo son was born. So right now I could use about a 2 year coma.

Erin - posted on 07/02/2011

Holy Jebus Joanna! I would be a total headcase on that amount of sleep. Milla had a bad stretch when she first started teething, and I was up and down all night for about a month. I was getting roughly 3-4 hours of broken sleep and it just about killed me. I totally understand why they use sleep deprivation as a form of torture :-/

Lady Heather - posted on 07/01/2011

I need 8 hours at night, but more than 9 and I can't wake up properly. Right now I need that and seemingly endless naps throughout the day. But I'm not sleeping well at night on account of the baby gut so that's probably why.

Even with a baby though, I could never survive without my 8 hours (at least throughout the day/night). Hopefully I can get it when the new one arrives. Fibromyalgia is kind of a bitch.

Joanna - posted on 07/01/2011

I used to require 9-10 hours of sleep. After having my first, those first 7 months I got 4-6 hours a night. Then she started sleeping through the night and I got 8-9 a night.

Unfortunately now with my newest, I've been surviving on 0-3 hours (4 if I'm reaaalllly lucky) a night for the last 8 months. I got used to it, but about once a month the exhaustion gets to me and I have a breakdown. Unfortunately I'm a light sleeper and age uses me as a pacifier. *sigh*

Chatty - posted on 07/01/2011

P.S. Sleep is SUPER DUPER important. For EVERYONE! Just sayin...

Chatty - posted on 07/01/2011

I've never slept well. Well, not until I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, and got a machine that did the breathing for me! ;)

Seriously though, I am a mess without a minimum of 8 hours. I can function on less, but you might not wanna come over that day.

Stifler's - posted on 07/01/2011

Oh before kids... it would live on maybe 4 hrs sleep. LOL.

Stifler's - posted on 07/01/2011

I have a newborn so I go to bed at 830 at least. Both my kids go to bed early and wake up early so I need all those hours so I can wake up and be able to function. Broken sleep sucks though, my first only just started sleeping through then I had the baby and she wakes up at least once a night still then early in the morning like 5 or 6 am then I just stay up after that and watch tv or go on here until Logan wakes up. I used to go to bed at like 12 before I had the baby and was always tired and cranky.

Rosie - posted on 07/01/2011

7-8 hours is what i find to be optimal for me. if i sleep more i drag ass, if i sleep less i drag ass too.
it depends on the day but i go to bed at 10 and get up at 5:15 3 days a week, and the other 3 days i have to get up at 3:15 so i TRY to go to bed earlier. some days i do some days i don't, it really depends on how tired i feel.
sundays i sleep in until 8ish usually. :)

Shannen - posted on 07/01/2011

Sorry i edited my post because i realised it was nothing really to do with the topic.



He had them almost 2 years ago as well. He had 3 in less then 12 hours because the stupid doctors just wanted to monitor him. Turns out he was severly dehydrated, had croup and double middle ear infections.

This time i knew that there was an underlying issue and when i knew what that was we were all good to go. I think having delt with it before and knowing they were only febrile is why they sent us home. We were only in the hospital this time until he came out of the seizure induced sleep and hallucinations.

Wow what did Milla have that needed IV antibiotics? I know for Adam the Amoxycillan works right away.

Teresa - posted on 07/01/2011

I get 6-9 hours of severely broken sleep (think... up every 1-2 hours right now). No clue how much sleep I need cuz I can't remember the last time I wasn't constantly exhausted. My total hours would probably be enough sleep if I slept through or only woke once.... but I haven't slept that well in 20+ years (if ever)......

Erin - posted on 07/01/2011

Shannen, that's bizarre that they sent you home after the convulsion. When Milla had one last year, they said it's standard to keep them for 24hrs for monitoring. We ended up being in for 4 days because she needed Iv antibiotics anyway :(

Shannen - posted on 07/01/2011

I have been living on about 5 hours broken sleep a night. It is not enough. My ex has the kids this weekend and thid morning was the first time i have been able to sleep until my body was ready to wake up, I slept until 10:30am. I didn't go to bed until 11pm though so i'm guessing 12 hours would be good for me. From what i've noticed though as long as my sleep isn't broken i function and feel good.

Charlie - posted on 07/01/2011

Before I had kids I never went to bed before midnight and stayed up all weekend...now I need to be asleep by at least 10pm ..I need at least 9 hours sleep.

Katherine - posted on 07/01/2011

Yeah before kids I slept A LOT. Maybe that was my bodies way of getting me regulated lol.
Now my kids won't sleep so I get about 4 hours. I'm with Erin, my me time is late at night. I stay up until 12-1am. Last night I MADE myself go to bed at 9, because I was so exhausted. I function the best on 6-7 hours now. I've slept for 12 hours and felt like crap. Like I was hung over or something.
So realistically, with having kids, I say 6-7 hours is ideal.

Jenni - posted on 07/01/2011

Before kids, I'd say 8-10 hours. Heck, sometimes I'd sleep 12 hours.
Now if I sleep 8 hours I feel incredibly groggy, moody and tired. I do best on 6-7 hours. I'm peppy, full of energy in the morning and a damn pleasure to be around if I do say so myself! Plus I have more hours in a day, so that's a bonus.