Older guys, whats your sleeping pattern?

[clive]

Anyone else find they get dog tired in the evening, go to bed and then wake up 6 hours later early in the morning feeling really bright and alert.
I'll be 50 later this year and now finding I'm not sleeping as much as I used to.
The only down side I can tell is I'm not very good at night, especially when your socialising, everyone else seems to be chatting away and I just want to go to bed!

[jeffaus]

I get around 6 hours sleep a night and have always been like this. I have heard all of the golden rules about the importance of getting 8 hrs kip a night, but I wake up early every morning without an alarm clock going off, so I figure that if I am waking up naturally, then my body has decided its had plenty of rest. Everybody is different.

[clive]

I get around 6 hours sleep a night and have always been like this. I have heard all of the golden rules about the importance of getting 8 hrs kip a night, but I wake up early every morning without an alarm clock going off, so I figure that if I am waking up naturally, then my body has decided its had plenty of rest. Everybody is different.

I'm starting to think that way.
I've been concerned I'm not getting enough sleep when you hear "you should get at least 8 hours."
yes I agree I think we're all different.
I don't feel tired during the day so I guess 6 is adequate.

[Iron Barbarian]

I must be one of the weird ones. I work from 7PM to 7AM for 3 days and then I am off 3 days then I work the same schedule and work 4 days and am off for 4 days. So out of every 14 days I only work 7 of them. On my workdays I sleep around 7 to 8 hours a day and on my off days I sleep 9 to 10 hours a day but I take ZMA and I am out like a light and sleep really deep with lots of dreams. I used to have really bad insomnia and would only sleep like 4 hours a night and wake up about 5 or 6 times within those 4 hours. Thank goodness those days are behind me. It sucked.

[Klayfish]

I don't know if I'd be considered "older", as I just turned 37. But I average about 6-7 hours of sleep per night. During the week, my wife and I get up at 4:20am. Usually go to bed between 9:30 and 10:15pm. I'm energetic and feeling good through most of the daytime, but as 7:30pm approaches, I start to slow down. So by Friday, I'm sort of dragging. Maybe it is that my youngest years are behind me, but I never understand how so many people go out for happy hour late on Friday. For me, "happy hour" is that hour on Friday night (usually around 8:30pm) just before I go to bed and can lounge on the couch after my kids are in bed.

Weekends, we get to "sleep in". We get up when the first child gets up, usually around 6:15am. We try to take naps on weekends, when the kids do. So sometimes we'll get an hour to 90 minutes of nap on Sat. and Sunday which help get us through the week.

Steve

[RBH58]

Always felt I need about 7 hours. I can get by on 6 for a while but I notice it starts to have a negative effect after a week. If I'm getting 7 hours I can go indefinitely on that. I don't think this has changed with age.

The only thing that has changed is that I discovered afternoon "naps" in my 40's. Will grab 30-40 mins in the afternoon whenever I get the opportunity now. When I was younger I couldn't "nap". Now, just find me a chair!

[majuck]

I go to bed around 9 to 9:30 every night. I am up around 3:30 to 4 on working days no alarm. If I get woke up outside of that pattern, I have trouble falling back asleep. I could use a small nap in the early p.m., but usually just work through it. So roughly 6 to 7 hours per night.

[Nikonguy]

I've allowed my sleep habets to get worse over the last few years. 5 to 6 hours of actual sleep Sunday through Thursday with 7 to 8 on Friday and Saturday nights. Not good.

[snoack]

Generally in the 7-8 hour range. I'm usually in bed between 9:30-10:00 and will sometimes lay there awake for a little bit before I fall asleep. Same thing in the morning. Usually wake up about 6 (no alarm clock), lay around for about a half hour before I get up.

[Jill75]

I go to bed around 9 to 9:30 every night. I am up around 3:30 to 4 on working days no alarm. If I get woke up outside of that pattern, I have trouble falling back asleep. I could use a small nap in the early p.m., but usually just work through it. So roughly 6 to 7 hours per night.

About the same but at times I sleep at 10 or 11 when I dont have work.

[dmangiarelli]

I usually just wake up around 3:30 - 4:00 am even if I take ZMA. I set the alarm for 5:00 am (the time I used to get up at) and I don't think it has gone off in a year or so. I switched up my WO routine to my lunch hour about the time I started waking up earlier so maybe that has something to do with it? I am usually down for the count around 8:30-9:00 pm...

[Marius_Ursus]

Generally in the 7-8 hour range. I'm usually in bed between 9:30-10:00 and will sometimes lay there awake for a little bit before I fall asleep. Same thing in the morning. Usually wake up about 6 (no alarm clock), lay around for about a half hour before I get up.

Same here.

[HughDp]

I get about 5 hours sleep a night and, as I have the luxury of being self-employed and deciding my own working hours, usually have an hour's 'power nap' from 2PM-3PM.

Dropping the afternoon nap doesn't make me sleep more overnight either - I've tried.

I'm generally okay on those hours anyway. If I get less than 4 hours overnight it really does start to tell though.

[SP1966]

I have a hard time falling asleep, but once I am I could sleep through the house burning down! The amount of sleep I get depends upon how long it takes to fall asleep, but I usually get 6-8 hours.

[pmartel]

Most work nights I'm in bed by 8PM and out the door by 5:15AM

On my night off I'm in bed by 10PM and up around 7AM, depending on the previous night.

Right now with a cold, I was off sick yesterday and slept on and off til about 4PM.

At least one night a week, I aim for 12hrs based on how the week went and then I can function.

Regardless of age, I think a good night's sleep is ESSENTIAL!!

[...Kennedy]

I can sleep about 6 - 7 hours straight if given the chance, and along with that, if opportunity permits, I prefer to get a 1 - 2 hour nap in the mid-late afternoon.

[LogPressing]

I must be one of the weird ones. I work from 7PM to 7AM for 3 days and then I am off 3 days then I work the same schedule and work 4 days and am off for 4 days. So out of every 14 days I only work 7 of them. On my workdays I sleep around 7 to 8 hours a day and on my off days I sleep 9 to 10 hours a day but I take ZMA and I am out like a light and sleep really deep with lots of dreams. I used to have really bad insomnia and would only sleep like 4 hours a night and wake up about 5 or 6 times within those 4 hours. Thank goodness those days are behind me. It sucked.

I have a similar schedule, I work nights 6pm to 6am with everyother weekend off. We do a two on two off on the weekdays. Anyway, I usually get 5-6 hours of sleep, 9am to 3pm. That being said, today I got 12 hours straight from 3am to 3pm which was pretty nice.

[Blake Austin]

I can't seem to wake up any morning feeling good and alert. Unless it's the weekend and I'm looking forward to the the things I have planned for that day. It's just not consistant for me.

Work 8 ish to 5 ish, Monday through Friday.

[44caliberkid]

I usually sleep 5.5 to 6 hours a night, wake up at 3:30 or 4. Sometimes I can fall asleep again about 5 or 5:30 for an extra hour. About once a week I sleep 7 hours straight.

[agsuper]

Always felt I need about 7 hours. I can get by on 6 for a while but I notice it starts to have a negative effect after a week. If I'm getting 7 hours I can go indefinitely on that. I don't think this has changed with age.

The only thing that has changed is that I discovered afternoon "naps" in my 40's. Will grab 30-40 mins in the afternoon whenever I get the opportunity now. When I was younger I couldn't "nap". Now, just find me a chair!

same here but I discovered naps in my early 30s after my first child.

[hochspeyer]

I must be one of the weird ones. I work from 7PM to 7AM for 3 days and then I am off 3 days then I work the same schedule and work 4 days and am off for 4 days. So out of every 14 days I only work 7 of them. On my workdays I sleep around 7 to 8 hours a day and on my off days I sleep 9 to 10 hours a day but I take ZMA and I am out like a light and sleep really deep with lots of dreams. I used to have really bad insomnia and would only sleep like 4 hours a night and wake up about 5 or 6 times within those 4 hours. Thank goodness those days are behind me. It sucked.

I'm on a similar schedule- I work 2200-0700, 5 days a week. There are times where I just love getting 8 hours, but most days its 5 or six. Sometimes on weekends I go to work Friday night and don't go to sleep until 2200 Saturday night, and then wake up between 0630-0730 on Sunday for church, and I seldom nap on Sunday. I don't recommend this schedule, but it works for me.

[2nd_chance]

6.5 to 7 weekdays and 7.5 to 8 on weekends.

[musculardad]

Clive, same on this end. I only require approximately 5-6 hours, with an occasional 7 hour night. As long as the sleep is recuperative and you wake feeling rested and refreshed, carry on. I have noticed as I have aged, that my ability to stay up later and 'party' is much less important than the call of the mattress.

[dkemano42]

I go to bed at 10. My kids get me up at 6. That should be 8 hrs, but in reallity its usually about 6 hours or sometimes a LITTLE more, but I can't really stay in bed for more than about 8 hrs cause my back starts to hurt, so life sucks when you get older, or I need a softer bed.

DK

[jlczl]

Go to sleep at 10 or 11 and wake at 5. Abt 6-7 hours of sleep. As soon as my head touches the pillow I'm out.

[IronCharles]

This is my routine, has been for years:

bed at 12:00 am, up at 5:00 am

nap at 5:00 pm, up at 6:30 pm

[BJC22]

Given the amount of water I drink per day, I often have to get up to relieve myself several times during the night. The good news is I'm usually a zombie when I do it and fall back asleep again as I'm hitting the pillow. The bad news is, this doesn't exactly count as solid, uninterrupted sleep.

The other piece of good news is, I haven't had any "accidents" in bed.

[chodan9]

monday - friday is 7-7.5 hours (wednesday is 6 because ultimate fighter is on)
saturday and sunday 9-10 hours

[bodyhard]

Damn you guys wake up early!

I usually go up to my bedroom around 11:30 PM to 12:00 AM fall asleep around 1:00 or 2:00 AM and I am up around 11:00 AM roughly 9 hours of sleep. On the weekends I am up around 12:00 PM or 1:00 PM.

[Firminator4]

In bed at 10:30 on weeknights, could take me up to 1/2 hr to fall asleep. Up at 5:30 am. On the weekends down around 11pm , wake up at 5:30 and force myself back to sleep until 7-7:30.