waking up at night
Sandra Dodd
Lifted from another discussion:
-=-(I literally woke up at 3 am in fits of tears) -=-
Aside from tears and stress, women often wake up more easily after they have children.
Then women wake up more easily when menopause is there (in any stage of it, and if you're lucky, it will be a gradual thing over many years).
And on top of that, there's more and more research, speculation, acceptance of the idea that sleeping eight hours straight isn't necessarily "right" or normal. It was certainly "taught" to millions of people in school ad the right way to sleep, and the only healthy reality. If that is health, then a lack of that must be disease! And sure enough, there are drugs to "cure" the things that keep people from sleeping naturally, so that they sleep like the people in school health books.
I was happy and healthier when I stopped being upset or embarrassed or frustrated for waking up at 3:00 a.m. and accepted it as a useful thing. I might just get up and go to the toilet, or check the cats, or see if it's snowing or get a drink of water. When my kids were all still here, I might check to make sure the door was locked, see who was home, maybe adjust the heat. One or two useful things and go back to bed.
Now that they're grown and elsewhere, sometimes I get up altogether and write for a while, or clean the kitchen, and later if I want to, I go back to sleep. That's a luxury of not having young children to take care of. It happens, someday. I also remember having three very young children for many years.
However your life is now, it won't be that way for long. So if it's great, appreciate it. If it's not great, don't project that out for years. Things change.
http://sandradodd.com/sleep/outside
Sandra
-=-(I literally woke up at 3 am in fits of tears) -=-
Aside from tears and stress, women often wake up more easily after they have children.
Then women wake up more easily when menopause is there (in any stage of it, and if you're lucky, it will be a gradual thing over many years).
And on top of that, there's more and more research, speculation, acceptance of the idea that sleeping eight hours straight isn't necessarily "right" or normal. It was certainly "taught" to millions of people in school ad the right way to sleep, and the only healthy reality. If that is health, then a lack of that must be disease! And sure enough, there are drugs to "cure" the things that keep people from sleeping naturally, so that they sleep like the people in school health books.
I was happy and healthier when I stopped being upset or embarrassed or frustrated for waking up at 3:00 a.m. and accepted it as a useful thing. I might just get up and go to the toilet, or check the cats, or see if it's snowing or get a drink of water. When my kids were all still here, I might check to make sure the door was locked, see who was home, maybe adjust the heat. One or two useful things and go back to bed.
Now that they're grown and elsewhere, sometimes I get up altogether and write for a while, or clean the kitchen, and later if I want to, I go back to sleep. That's a luxury of not having young children to take care of. It happens, someday. I also remember having three very young children for many years.
However your life is now, it won't be that way for long. So if it's great, appreciate it. If it's not great, don't project that out for years. Things change.
http://sandradodd.com/sleep/outside
Sandra