Late bedtime | Imamother

amother

Tue, Dec 12 2023, 12:27 pm

This might better go under mental health...
I've always needed my sleep. Anything less than 8hrs I am not functional. Parenthood was an adjustment, and for the first time in my life (since I was a baby I guess...), I learned to nap. I am a big believer in the sleep when your baby sleeps rule - that's how I stayed sane through my parenting years.. problem is.... My kids (some of them) are B"H getting older and needing less sleep!
I am having a very hard time with this transition. Since my oldest was a baby I noticed a pattern that has stayed pretty consistent throughout the years... From whenever the kids go to sleep it takes me 2 hrs to wind down and close up shop. Now that my kids are staying up until close to 9 most nights, I have been going to sleep at 10-11 - way too late if I need to wake up at 6:30 am plus a few times in the night to nurse... I am exausted and not being the parent I want to be... (Not to mention, at that time of night I am not doing anything useful anyhow, so the mess is accumulating, since I am too tired to focus properly during the day also....ok, ok, there is some organization difficulty here too)

I want to go to sleep at 8-9 every night just like I always have until recently... I know it would make a huge difference in my mental health, as well as getting the kids out in a relaxed manner in the morning, and general functionality during the day... but I don't know how to practically do that when I'm busy with bedtime until then!

How do people do it once kids start going to sleep later??

amother

Ghostwhite

Tue, Dec 12 2023, 1:37 pm

There seems to me to be a big difference between 8 hours (going to sleep at 10:30) and 9.5-10.5. Hours (going to bed between 8-9) 9 hours (going to bed at 9:30) isn’t enough sleep?

(I maybe way off though since I think it’s normal to get 5-6 hours of sleep, and see being tired as part of life lol)

:)iknowit

Tue, Dec 12 2023, 2:48 pm

I don’t have advice I just want to share I’m the same way. My entire family (mother, siblings) are like this. We all need lots of sleep (10-12hrs) in order to function. We all crash around 8pm even earlier if we didn’t get sufficient sleep the night before. I take a nap every day as well.

amother

Peony

Tue, Dec 12 2023, 2:53 pm

:)iknowit wrote:

Have you ever had the doctor look in to why you need this much sleep?
Perhaps it's just a thing in your mind that your mother ingrained in you & your siblings, and this is what you got used to?

amother

Sapphire

Tue, Dec 12 2023, 3:02 pm

I’ve never heard of an adult going to sleep at 8 or 9 unless they are ill or elderly. My kids are not even sleeping by then and my oldest is only 11. To the poster who sleeps 10-12 hours a night plus a nap, how do you find the time to sleep so much? That would never be realistic for me, maaaaaybe on a weekend but probably not even then.