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Post by larataylor on Sept 23, 2014 13:07:16 GMT -5
moonglow - thanks so much for your perspective. NOT l@zy and undisciplined? Really? I think I'm gonna cry, too! I'm not sure if I have this or not … or if I'm somewhere in between. I *can* fall asleep early if I'm sleep deprived. But the next night will be a problem. And I seem to be able to fall asleep early in the evening, but not later … and that's a really hard schedule to stay on every single night. I've stuck to it in the past long enough that I seemed to "reset" myself … but it's really easy for me to slide away from that setting. Just one late night, or one oversleep will start pushing my cycle back again.
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Post by Arid on Sept 23, 2014 13:53:41 GMT -5
moonglow: I've written before about how I fit the Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder description (and DH has Advanced Sleep Phase Disorder--so, naturally, we married each other! !!). My mother used to complain that when she was pregnant with me, I would "sleep all day" then "move around all night" when *SHE* was trying to sleep! (For some reason or other, she didn't seem to be any too happy about that state of affairs . . . !) So, I think that I've--quite literally--been this way **ALL** of my life! Arid
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Post by larataylor on Sept 23, 2014 14:47:12 GMT -5
I think a lot of babies do that. What I've heard is that the mother in motion rocks the baby to sleep. After birth, they continue this pattern in the car!
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Post by lostchild on Sept 23, 2014 15:04:04 GMT -5
Still no sleep at bedtime but sleep by 12 and up at 5 am!!! Slept then up again to get kids to school. Fortunately I no longer have to be up at 5 am to get son on bus by 6:22 a.m. They changed his pick up time to 7:20 a.m. and 8:35 on Wednesday morning.
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Post by lostchild on Sept 23, 2014 15:07:07 GMT -5
moonglow if I get insurance I will look into sleep doctor because I have very hard time going to bed early!
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Post by larataylor on Sept 24, 2014 5:30:49 GMT -5
Another success! (You all notice how this is going … good, bad, good, bad?)
Dinner and DH time were rushed because DH was away all day, and was supposed to bring me fruits and vegetables, but didn't -- said he'd go out after he got home, and then got on the computer. So I heated up the vegetable I had left over. We watched one show, and it was 9:00. I said "no more." I went around turning off lights and locking doors, etc. Told DD the short-order cook was going to bed. In this neighborhood, it's *really* dark at night (unlike where we lived before).
I got in bed with a flashlight and a cup of chamomile tea, and read a book until I couldn't keep my eyes open. I don't think it was even 10:00 yet. I went right to sleep, and woke up at 6:00 to my alarm. Oh, I woke up at 2:00 first, and thought it was morning, but it wasn't, and I got right back to sleep.
So yay! Tonight will be the alternate-night challenge. But I think I can get through the day without a nap, and that should help.
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Post by cricket on Sept 24, 2014 8:20:13 GMT -5
Was up til 11, due to poor planning, (didn't start prepping for sleep until time to be asleep) but once I was in bed, I slept well with no waking 11-5:30.
I seemed to fall asleep instantly, no memory of trying to relax and settle down at all. I also remembered to turn on my white noise generator for the first time in a while, so I'm guessing that may have helped with both falling and staying asleep.
11pm was my original bedtime plan, so this is technically a success. However, I've realized I really need to shoot for at least 7 hours of sleep weeknights, so I was half an hour short even if I fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow.
My new bedtime plan is to be in bed by 10:30 weeknights. That doesn't allow for 20 minutes to fall asleep, but that doesn't seem to be set in stone after all, now that I'm paying attention. I'll just try to get at least 7 hours between bedtime and alarm, and let my brain decide how it divvies up those hours.
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Post by larataylor on Sept 25, 2014 3:03:10 GMT -5
I followed my new routine last night, and was asleep by 10:00. Again, I woke up at 2:30. But I couldn't fall back to sleep. So now I'm up, on the computer, having a cup of decaf tea. It's 4:00 a.m. I may go back in a little bit and see if I can sleep until 6:00.
I'm pleased that I fell asleep around 10:00 for two nights in a row. I think I'm making some progress.
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Post by cricket on Sept 25, 2014 7:55:38 GMT -5
Bed on time, slept like a baby. I think my white noise machine makes the difference for me. I have to never forget to use it again. Actually going to bed helps, too.
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Post by larataylor on Sept 25, 2014 8:08:32 GMT -5
Yes, going to bed helps a lot! . And going to bed without the computer!
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Post by larataylor on Sept 26, 2014 8:03:27 GMT -5
Last night I followed my routine, but a bunch of teens trooped in just as I was supposed to be going to sleep. I told DD to keep them quiet, but she did not succeed, and DH kicked them out. I did not fall asleep. But I don't think it was really their fault … I wasn't feeling sleepy anyway.
I was awake until about 4:00. I stayed in bed and read my book with my small flashlight. Got up to make a cup of tea at one point, but did not stay out of bed or get on the computer.
I got up at 7:00, and don't feel sleepy now, despite the lack of sleep. So I feel like I'm going two steps forward and one step back with this, and if I persevere, I will get where I want to be in time.
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Post by cricket on Sept 26, 2014 9:06:08 GMT -5
Got to bed on time and slept well again. I think I'm over the hump now, and as long as I make the effort to get to bed at a time with no disturbances, I seem to sleep well now. My only remaining test will be successfully switching to weekend mode and back again.
The plan is to stay up no later than midnight tonight, though I might turn in earlier. Hub does have plans that will keep him out past dinner, but I don't know when to expect him in exactly. I'll be in contact with him tonight (we often IM while he's out) so I should be able to time my bedtime around his plans (either long enough before he gets home to be soundly asleep when he gets in, or long enough after he gets home for us to have settled down and be ready to sleep.)
I'll set my alarm clock for eight and a half hours after whatever my actual bedtime is tonight, to stay on a normal schedule.
Larataylor, I have to believe having non-family members roaming around the house would have affected your ability to fall asleep, even though sleep might not have been in the cards last night anyway. At least for me, I need a sense of completion and safety to be able to relax and fall asleep, (except during times of complete exhaustion or illness) and having a group of teenagers visiting in house would be almost the exact of that condition. Even if they were being absolutely silent, a part of my mind would have been on alert for problems.
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Post by lostchild on Sept 26, 2014 9:21:49 GMT -5
Went to sleep at 11 awake at 3:15 sleep again by 4 awake by 6:45. Not sure if good or bad. I went to sleep earlier but now I wake up at a weird time and then back to sleep interrupted! I just want uninterrupted sleep thru. Still not waking on bounce.
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Post by larataylor on Sept 26, 2014 11:44:03 GMT -5
I need a sense of completion and safety to be able to relax and fall asleep, Yes. I like visitors gone, DD at home, doors locked, lights off. Otherwise some part of my brain is still on alert. But I'm going for such an early bedtime, I don't want to make my family conform to that if they don't want to. However, maybe we should set a curfew for school nights and another for weekends. DD likes what I've been doing lately--the clean, uncluttered living space makes her quite happy, and she gave me this high praise: "You're being a real mom." Last night I told her that I need to fix this sleep problem to be a better real mom.
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Post by larataylor on Sept 26, 2014 11:46:28 GMT -5
lostchild - that would be a mitigated success for me. Not perfect, though.
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