What time do you go to bed?

[Phteven]

What time do you go to bed?
Is it possible to change the habit of a lifetime and start going to bed early if you're a night owl? How do you do that?

[skybie]

between 11 and 12.
not sure if u can break the habit. DF goes to bed at about 930-10, i like to have some me time at night with noone to annoy me

[feeb]

I have been getting later and later!
Now that I have a 21 month old that will settle to sleep with DH lieing with him or me BF him and then be put in cot for an hr or so waking again around midnight! I tend to be getting to bed about 1am after sorting him out and cleaning up house and doing uni work 1am is the general bed time.

I have always been a late to bed person.

I think a lot of mine comes from being a nurse/midwife for so long and doing a lot of evening shifts so the wind down after work when not getting home til 2215 takes a bit.

[minniemouse]

around 11pm to midnight, we should go to bed earlier as DH gets up for work at 530am but it just never seems to happen

[Catastrophic]

go to bed around 10. Go to sleep anywhere between then and 2 in the morning. Depending if I am thinking or not.

[~Kim~]

depends what the kids are doing in the morning.
ATM DS is getting up at 5.30am, which means my usual bedtime of 11pm-midnight isn't really cutting it for sleep requirements, so I retire a couple of hours earlier and read or do puzzles in bed and usually I feel tired earlier.
When they weren't stirring before 7 it's whenever I feel like it, or what ever time I finish my book lol, but I too am used to much broken sleep and night work.

[Joeve]

Usually before 10, but tonight I just can't sleep!

[lilima]

For me it's about 11. On iPad in bed now! I loathe mornings

[kelebek]

11pm is an early night for me not sure how to change it, I have always been a night owl too and tend to find anything I can to distract myself from going to bed.

[Cranky Kitten]

Usually from 9-10pm or thereabouts. I wouldn't say I'm a morning person exactly, but I do usually get up by about 6.30am, 8am on weekends. Well, when I was working and not quite so pregnant at least...

It can be changed, but it's a lot of effort to train yourself to sleep on demand. After years of shiftwork and keeping odd hours I've found having a good bed routine is paramount - my preference was to wind down with a warm milo and a few chapters of a favourite book, one I've read plenty of times that is safe and familiar, not gripping or exciting. Put the book down and turn off the lights as soon as you start to feel sleepy. Bed and bedroom is for sleep and sex, not much else - certainly never arguing or working. It helps build that mental association that now is time for sleep, whether it's 9pm, 2am or 9am.

[misty]

The easiest way to change is to do it gradually. Going to bed a half hour earlier for 2-3 nights, and then another half hour earlier for the next 2-3 nights, and repeat until you are at the time frame you wish to be.

[Pandora]

Lately, between 12am-2am
Im not really looking to change that though, its hard enough with a heap of my friends in another timezone.

[HotI]

By posting at 10pm, you were only going to get the night owl replies My DH and DD have changed my bedtime to later at night (from 10pm ish - closer to 12), although i was hoping i could train them. So, if you are keen, you could change your own habits.

[Sopdet]

Bed time routine is the one thing you need to train your body when it is bed time.

My Doctor said to me that what you need to do is start slowly, try going to sleep 15 mins earlier than you do now, for a few weeks, then another 15 mins, slowly bringing it back to the time you want to actually go to sleep. It may take you a couple of months to get your body trained properly.

Right now I'm ignoring mine so my sleeping patterns are terrible. Back to the ritual again methinks.

My usual one.

Light candles in bedroom
Shower
Warm drink & multi (have the night time ones)
Meditation
Snuff candles in room, slide into bed
Relaxation technique to relax all parts of body

Then drift off to sleep.

At the moment I'm not getting into headspace for sleep until after 11pm so the routine is thrown out of the window.

[Sibbie]

I used to go to bed around 9:30-10ish, but now it's anywhere between 12:30 or 4am on a really bad night.... Tempted to just pull an all nighter when that happens but it just throws everything even more out if whack. I'm trying to re-adjust my bedtime to earlier, it's better for me mental health wise if I'm more consistent with my sleep.

I've heard that a good way to change your body clock is with food. So I guess eating earlier? I can see how it works with wake up times (eat regularly at a certain time in the morning and your bound to wake up hungry for that time) but I'm not exactly 100% on the going to bed side of it *shrug* idk.

[Maruschke]

between 11 and 12.
not sure if u can break the habit. DF goes to bed at about 930-10, i like to have some me time at night with noone to annoy me

Us too. I even get up after DTD if it before 11.

[Fleur]

Usually around 11.

DF goes to bed at about 930-10, i like to have some me time at night with noone to annoy me

Same here, although DH is in bed usually 8-8:30. I really crave that time on my own at the end of the day. I should go to bed much earlier though, I have no trouble getting to sleep earlier & I often feel tired. I don't get enough sleep.

[Rouge]

We aim to be in bed by 10:30. Our new routine has been in bed by 8:30'ish to snuggle and watch some episodes of something... ATM it's MadMen. But getting to sleep actually varies from 10:30 to dunno when. Depends on yanno... stuff

I can't imagine going to sleep earlier as DH and I are very selfish with our time together. Going to sleep earlier saddens me at the thought of not getting that quality time with him.

I have been through bouts of insomnia before. But DH is very on the ball with this and gets very very upset if I haven't got into bed by 10:30 as he believes that anything after that and I get a second wind which then perpetuates the problem. And y'know since he's been all bossy about it I haven't had insomnia so maybe he's right... just don't tell him that