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Angie Mc
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| Posted: June 15 2010 at 2:49pm | IP Logged
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I have always needed a lot of sleep (like my mom) to the tune of up to 10 hours a day  . But, of course, I don't have the luxury of sleeping 10 hours a day (and I try not to be jealous of my dh who needs little sleep  .) I've always napped...or gone to bed early when able....or slept in when needed...co-sleeped...or found other ways to steal sleep. For the past few months, I've tried something different to help meet my sleep needs in a more orderly way (especially considering that my youngest is 5.)
I have three sleep pegs. Wake at 6:00. Nap anytime. Lights out at 10:00. My rule is to meet 2 out of 3 pegs each day. Then I pray to God to help me meet the third - but if I don't, to give me the energy I need without it!
I'm a morning person, so getting up at 6:00 is relatively easy.
As for napping, I take a 20-30 minute nap the vast majority of days. I have it down to an art! I splurged for this awesome sleep mask and I dab lavendar oil on it - ahhhhhhh. I use a timer and am honestly surprised by how refreshed I feel when I wake. Sometimes I'm reeeeeeeeeealy pressed and will take a 5 minute nap...sometimes as late as 6:00 o'clock! But, hey, I hit this peg because I know what's coming...
Lights out - my nemesis. But that's OK. I beg God to help me to get to sleep on time, but when I don't, to please give me the energy I need to face the next day.
Every so often, I need to take a mega nap but in general, even though I'm rarely getting more than 8 hours of sleep, I'm feeling rested considering my natural inclination.
I know this doesn't seem very original, but sometimes simple ideas can bring relief...especially to busy moms. Hope this helps and...
I would love to hear about how you get your sleep! And, being curious, how many hours of sleep is your ideal and do you get it each night?
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: June 15 2010 at 3:23pm | IP Logged
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After battling insomnia for several years (mostly due to peri-menopause and menopause), I've developed a couple pegs that have usually helped.
~A warm, soothing bath in the evening, preferably with lavender soap. The sleep mask with lavender oil sounds wonderful.
~Praying a Rosary or Chaplet. I have a rosary strung like sacrifice beads, so I can slide the beads along in the dark...it hangs on my side of the bed.
When the insomnia was at its worst, I slept in our spare 'oom/office. Somehow, sleeping in a room by myself made me less likely to worry all night long that I was keeping dh awake with my tossing and turning. Having a special sanctuary where you can sleep or nap can be very restful.
When kiddos were young we had siestas, especially in the Summer, when migraines hit hardest. Nowadays a nap is rare....when I need one, I know I'm really done-in or coming down with something.
We have several family members with varying sleep needs. I always thank God that dh requires less sleep and can sleep pretty much anywhere and anytime! I could never work outside the home like he does on my sleep-deprived days.
Praying you have sweet, holy dreams Angie!
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: June 15 2010 at 4:16pm | IP Logged
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Interesting thread! I, too, need lots of sleep (9.5-10 hours!) and struggle with envy over my husband's extra hours in the day. Two hours a day is a LOT of time!
Following this thread eagerly!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: June 15 2010 at 6:28pm | IP Logged
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best thing for sleep for me is work and getting outside.. if I'm physically tired it's much easier to fall asleep.. though hurting so badly I can't get comfy doesn't really help.
I'm good with 8 hrs on a pretty regular basis.. unless I'm pregnant and then I really need 9hrs.. and even then there's times I really really love a nap.. but for me a nap means my bedtime gets pushed back and then I start cycling out of a good wake/sleep pattern into my "bad" ones where I'm up until the early hours of the morning and sleeping until noon.
Keeping that morning time pretty consistent for waking up really helps me keep my going to sleep time consistent.
I do need a bit of time to wind down though.. My dh can just go to bed and fall asleep.. even if I'm really tired it can actually be beneficial to take the time and read 1 chapter of a book (being very careful to PUT DOWN THE BOOK at the end of the chapter) it gives me a bit of time to relax, when the book keeps me from fussing over my day or what I need to do the next day.
And if I'm expecting to go to bed and fall asleep immediately, I'll start fretting over not doing so and that starts up the whole cycle of not being able to sleep and then fussing at it which only makes it harder to go to sleep etc.
Sometimes if the next day is super busy and I'm having trouble falling asleep because I keep thinking of things I can't forget.. I'll grab a notebook and pencil and write those things down as they occur to me so that I can sleep and know they won't be forgotten.
But for pegs.. really it's both keeping my wake up time consistent and giving myself a few minutes of wind down time after I'm in bed.. not expecting to turn off the light immediately and fall asleep.
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Kathryn
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| Posted: June 15 2010 at 8:07pm | IP Logged
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I love to sleep. I think my ideal time to sleep is about 7 1/2 hours. Some days I sleep up to 9 hours and feel absolutely terrible all day. Now that I'm pg again and it's Summer, I'm back to needing a looong nap but then need tea to revive me. My naps are prob. too long but I sleep like a rock.
I am more of a night person so could easily stay up till 12-1 and wake around 8 every day. BUT, w/ kiddos, that doesn't work. And, ideally I would prefer to be up around 6...I just love seeing the sun rise and hearing the birds and feeling the cool air before the TX heat hits us. AND, being up before the kids. But I just somehow cannot physically do it...even if I go to bed at 10! Somehow I can't make that happen. And those are the days I end up w/ too much sleep and feel worse than when I get 6 hours.
I always have to read something or work a crossword puzzle before bed too. Again, being pg, I fall right to sleep where other times I struggle but then sometimes I wake around 4 and am wide awake but not energetic enough to use that time for anything. Then after about 2 hours I finally nod back off for another hour or so.
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Lori
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| Posted: June 15 2010 at 9:02pm | IP Logged
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I need either 5 hrs or less, or 7.5 hrs or more, to function the next day...anything in between and my body is completely out of sync. I know it sounds weird that I can function on LESS sleep, and I don't claim to understand it, but it is what it is.
I do need to start going to bed earlier, though, for sure!
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: June 18 2010 at 9:20am | IP Logged
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Thanks for sharing, everyone. I have found some gems here to help make my sleep pegs even better!
I'm praying for all of my friends who have insomnia. That must be very difficult. My difficulty right now is following our strict bedtime. We were on a roll with keeping this until recently. I see that I need to revisit it and fix it . The biggest obvious change I can see is that my ds is playing later baseball...
Any other words of wisdom on how you get your sleep?
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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stacykay
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| Posted: June 18 2010 at 9:53am | IP Logged
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My ideal is 8 hours, even. I have never had problems falling asleep, but in the past few years, I have had occasions of waking about 2 or 3 am, and being up for anywhere from 1-3 hours! I manage to go back to sleep, after that....but I really miss that sleep time! I've been told it's due to my age!
I think my biggest problem in getting all the hours I want is the range of ages. Angie, how do you manage to get to bed at 10 with teens? We have many late nights with practices, games, homework, their need for some time with me, etc. And with my teens who go out, I have always stayed up until they've come in the door. Then I have my younger set (except #6ds who can sleep 10-12 hours without a hitch,) who rise early!
In my ideal world  , I'd be getting up at 5:30 and go to bed at 9:30 summertime (I love those early hours for walking and enjoying the slowness of summer,) and up at 7 and bed at 11 during winter (love to snuggle in on cold winter mornings.) Sort of weird, I know!
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: June 18 2010 at 8:48pm | IP Logged
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stacykay wrote:
| Angie, how do you manage to get to bed at 10 with teens? |
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I don't very often, Stacy! That's the peg that I miss most days. Whenever I do get to bed at 10 these days I truly thank God for allowing it to happen. It seems to be less about me/us being disciplined (because in the past we have proven we can have a strict bedtime) but is more about this season of family life: teens + baseball + taking advantage of cool nights = me staying up later than I would choose.
I do try to find ways to meet the needs of my teens during the day, though. 14yo and I do our school work and one-to-one time in the morning. 18yo and I connect over food and girl chat/activity throughout the day. Yet...teens still need me at night for a variety of reasons. Best for me to enjoy this time and not stress too much about late nights AND to make sure that I get up on time and take a nap daily  .
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Getting Sleep - Pegs
