Sleep Patterns

[China Doll]

Hi All,

I was once told that if you go to sleep before midnight, the sleep you get is worth more than if you go to bed after midnight.

I think the person who told me said it was akin to one hours sleep being like two hours before midnight. (I'm not entirely sure that makes sense. Oh well).

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone knows if this is true or not?

Cheers
China xx

[rom]

Hello

i never heard of this? makes sense though?
i always go to sleep before 11pm (except at the weekends when i am usually partying till the wee small hours and sleeping all day long!)

xx

[noxlumos]

I believe the saying is that an hour's sleep before midnight is worth two after. My granny used to regale me with such wisdom when I went out as a teenager.
I've no idea really if it's true, but she was right about most things so probably :)

[RATTER15]

I think that is hugely generalised, we are all different, our sleep patterns are very different. I rarely go to bed before 12.30 and up at 6.45 most mornings, if I have a long lie in, I get up at 8.30, no longer being able to sleep and always refreshed. Even as a teenager I would be out of bed before 9.30am.

[LazyGun]

Its a really interesting area of ongoing research China, is sleep, and its value.
We are conditioned to require 8 hours sleep as optimum for performance. Modern day living, with artificial light etc has changed the natural circadian rhythms that we still have. The first 1-2 hours of sleep and the last 1-2 hours of sleep are probably the most important. We have 90 minute cycles of REM and non REM sleep.

Typical 9-5 working days and family commitments mean that many people will need to wake at around 7am. In order to get the optimum 8 hours sleep therefore, you really need to be asleep at around 11pm.

I would think your friend is broadly correct.

[Octavius]

As said above, it is an old proverb: "An hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours of sleep after midnight."

[OBonio]

My Gran always said an hour before midnight is worth two after after aswell. For me, this is so true. If I'm in bed after midnight, I will be very tired the next day. If in bed for 11 I will feel much better. Alas, being a night owl, I rarely get to bed before 12....

[China Doll]

Thanks everybody, that's really helpful....

Naturally I have terrible sleeping patterns, (insomniac tendencies, one of those body clocks that only needs one night to be put out of sync for a week and I also wake up most nights for at least an hour.) I've also always been a night owl by habit. I just wondered if there really was some logic to what I was told.

My conclusion is that there is and I should try getting to bed earlier!!

[LazyGun]

China, re that waking up in the middle of your sleep cycle thing... read this link here, which suggests that this is actually a natural and very common feature of normal sleeping patterns.

http://circadiana.blogspot.com/2006/03/what-is -natural-sleep-pattern.html

[China Doll]

Cheers Gunner, that's really interesting and certainly sounds a hell of a lot like me. I'm a primative :0)