Hello!

I am a night owl – I force myself to bed early but don’t sleep well. The only time I sleep well is when I go to bed at 2am and sleep till noon. So my mornings until noon are full of a lot of grunts, pointing and mumbled answers. I take quite a few vitamins, have tried meditation, coffee, exercise etc etc (the old adage of if you are tired enough you will sleep doesn’t apply here – I hardly slept for 8 weeks through ARMY Basic and they keep you hopping from 3am till 8:30pm every day except Sunday when you get 1/2 a day off). (Oh and my doc says “You are just a night person – some peoples clocks are set that way”) Do any mums out there have a tried and true wake up routine or fix?

Posted by Susan, 12/08/13

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  • I’m the opposite ! I like to go to bed early and wake up early. When I’m over my point and go later to bed, i can’t fall asleep and don’t sleep more then 2 or 3 hours a night.
    For many years I even used prescription sleep medication from the Gp, but would never recommend that as it’s very addictive.
    Melantonin a half hour before bed could help.
    https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-940-melatonin.aspx?activeingredientid=940


  • You’re a mum?! How on earth do you cope with kids with a sleep pattern like this? Sounds like you need a lot of hard work to change your routine, but I’m sure it can be done. Although to get through basic army training….if that didn’t get you to sleep, I’m not sure what will


  • A subtle wake up !!


  • I find the best way to reset my body clock is to force myself to wake up early rather than to try and force myself to bed early. After that I’m just naturally sleepy earlier. If you have a smartphone try getting one of the wake easy apps. It monitors your movement while you asleep and wakes you when you’re sleeping lightly. This makes for a smoother wakeup for sure!


  • get up one hour earlier in the morning and plan some fun stuff .gradually make it two hours earlier


  • I agree with that. U must be a night person. If I go to bed early I wake up all night! But if I go to bed later I have a good night sleep! Odd hey


  • And to add to what I said earlier – don’t sleep in. If you get up earlier, even an hour earlier each day, you will find yourself getting tired earlier at night. Your body will gradually adjust.


  • Try forcing yourself to get up before noon and slowly go to bed earlier and earlier each night. I like the shower before bed and the warm milk. Reducing screen time before bed is also a great idea. I would perhaps ask your doctor to give you a printout on sleep. I have trouble myself and you wouldn’t believe the advice in the pamphlets that you would never have thought of that actually works. Further to that I would go to my pharmacy and talk to the pharmacist about an over the counter remedy that you could try for a few days to help you to sleep while you reset your body’s rythms.


  • Make yourself get up gradually earlier each day, or have a very active day to make you go to bed earlier


  • Try and set a regular routine and pick the same time to go to bed each night. Sometimes a shower just before bed can help, don’t do anything too stimulating before bed.


  • If you are really worried about it then I would start setting an alarm for yourself to get up, and making sure that you are getting up and doing things as soon as you can. It should hopefully help to reset your body clock.


  • Another good tip – no technology at night. The flickering from computer and TV screens excites the brain and makes it harder to sleep. I read on the exercise bike at night and find that helps give me a good night’s sleep.


  • Camping! :) About a week out in the bush with no phone, no artificial lights, just a good camp fire! Rise with the sun and off to bed not long after the sun goes down. Works a treat. Also, once you are back in the big smoke, limit TV and other technology in the hour before bed. Works well for me!


  • Ive always been a shift worker till I gave up to be a stay at home mum. So I cant sleep before 11 and up at 5 or 6 with kids. Sometimes I struggle but usually I take a little while.to wake up in mornings properly but after that im all good but I have been told if want more.sleep to have a soak in hot bath and enjoy warm milk and try going to bed 30 mins earlier each night.wnd eventually it changes. Not sure it does but could be worth a try.


  • Try going to bed one hour earlier for a week and getting up one hour earlier. Then the next week, another hour earlier. I will take time, but hopefully your sleep patterns will shift. Good luck.


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