Once again it is time for Tuesday 4 where Annie asks 4 thematic questions. This week is all about our sleep habits. It made me think about how erratic mine are.
This is one of the songs I would sing when I was getting my babies sleep. Fortunately for me, babies are not music critics!
1. Do you have a set bedtime that you stick to?
No and since I was old enough to determine what time I would go to sleep I never have. I like the late night and when everyone else is winding down my brain kicks into overdrive and will not allow me to sleep. What to drive me close to insanity? Tell me I have to be in bed by 10 every night. I rarely am ready for bed before midnight, but most nights I get in bed between 2 and 3 a.m. Once in bed I read until I fall asleep. Sometimes it is quickly, but often I am still reading at daybreak.
2. What kind of sleep attire do you prefer and why is that?
In the winter I either sleep in a flannel gown that has been cut off to upper thigh level, or I sleep in a flannel pajama top. I can't stand anything but sheets actually touching my legs at night. Blankets on the bed are fine, but they can't touch me.
In the summer I sleep in very short nightgown with spaghetti straps. Same thing__nothing but the sheet can touch my legs.
3. Do you have a night time routine before bed? I shower in the morning but in the summer I often shower one again at night. If I don't take a shower I do a quick spit bath thing regardless of the season.
I brush my teeth for 3 minutes every night before bed, then use the Waterpick, followed by a Listerine swish for 20 seconds.
I clean my face with a makeup removed, then dab some micellar water on a cotton pad and run it over my face. Next I take coconut oil and massage it into my face leaving it on for a couple of minutes. The next step is steaming my face, then a really good rinse followed by wiping it with a hot damp wash cloth. I try to do this before I even begin to think about going to be so it is done and out of the way before I ever get sleepy.
I don't eat before bedtime, mainly because I am not hungry then.
4. Quilts? Coverlet? Fluffy comforters? Woolen blankets? What do you need to sleep comfortably?
I have a fall winter bed and a spring summer bed.
In the fall and winter I have a heavy bedspread, a blanket, and of course top and bottom sheets.
In the summer I use sheets and a white coverlet on the bed. I do keep a quilt my MIL made on the foot of the bed, but it is for ornamentation rather than use.
What I can't do without is pillows. We have 7 pillows on our bed. TheHub uses three and I use four, though one of them is strictly on the bed as a place to rest my Kindle while I am reading in bed.
And now that it is near midnight, I am going to get off the computer, take a shower and begin to get ready for bed. Doesn't mean I am anywhere near ready to go to sleep, but the ritual takes time and is better done before I am actually sleepy.
Y'all jump on in, and play!
This was the other bedtime song I sang to them regularly. I can't say they preferred one to the other.
If you go to be that late, what time do you get up in the morning? I go to bed around 10:30 and then read for a while. However, as soon as it's light, my body thinks it's time to get up whether or not I've had enough sleep. This is a problem this time of year because I function best with 8 hours of sleep.
ReplyDeleteI don't function well if I sleep a lot. I usually wake about 7, though once in a blue moon I will sleep until 9.
DeleteI don't have a set bed time, either, and my nightly routine is saying my evening prayers and blessing the house. I do have plenty of quilts and blankets on my bed because I am always cold!
ReplyDeleteI am rarely cold, but last night the a/c was turned down and our room felt like you could hang meat in it. I actually pulled the quilt up and used it as a covering.
DeleteI am impressed at your routine. It sounds as if you are drifting off to sleep at about the time I am getting up.
ReplyDeleteI have always preferred the late night, even as a kid.
DeleteOh my goodness! What does your hubby do while you are awake all hours of the night? It sounds like he is there in bed too...he must be able to sleep through anything? And then, I wonder, what time do you get up? I guess everyone has their routines that work for them, and as long as it works, that is what matters most. My hubby is a person who needs a regular schedule for everything...meals, bedtime, getting up, etc., and so I have adapted to that routine over the past 53 years. But it works for us. However, just like "it's not nice to fool with Mother Nature" (remember that commercial?), it's not nice to fool with our daily routine too much. Some babies get cranky without enough sleep or meals not on time. LOL. But again, whatever works for a person is what matters. Our differences in life is what makes the world go round. It would be a dull place if everyone was exactly the same. I enjoyed reading your answers.
ReplyDeleteThere is no way I could adapt to TheHub's schedule. He usually falls asleep in his recliner between 7 and 9, then goes to the bedroom about 10. He wakes with the chickens and is out of the door before 6:30. My parents were both night owls so I imagine either nature or nurture is why I enjoy the late hours so much. I was lucky when our sons were babies because I was always still awake for the 2 am feeding so TheHub's sleep was not disrupted until the 5 a.m. one. That one woke both of us!
DeleteWe have four people here for a bit with varying schedules trying to stay out of each other's way. My daughter has to work at 4:00 so we're all going to bed earlier just to help her get in a patter. But, I can say, I'm falling asleep so must need the early time.
ReplyDeleteThat is very nice of you to accommodate her work schedule. If one of us needs absolute silence we can use one of the unoccupied bedrooms. Our strange schedule works for us.
DeleteOh my, I've already got in a good 3 or 4 hours of solid sleep before you get to bed! I'm a early to bed, early tor rise. I'm usually in bed by about 9:00 but read and/or watch television until 10/10:30 or so. Nights when I can't sleep, it's usually closer to midnight. I really can't recall the last time I was awake past then...maybe a few minutes on New Year's Eve.
ReplyDeleteIn warmer weather I always wear a nightgown, but in the winter I sometimes switch between the nightgown and two piece pj's. They're all light weight because I sleep under a lightweight comforter - I need some weight on me, but since menopause, I can't stand anything heavy.
That is the nicest thing about sleep. We can choose what works best for us!
DeleteI used to have a bedtime when I worked and had to get up at 6 every morning. These days? Whenever I want to go to bed is when I do. :-) Although I DO need sleep, so I'm usually asleep by 1 AM.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, most nights I am in bed by two, but there are occasions when it is 5 before I can turn my brain off. I have never understood how people can sleep before midnight.
Delete1. I like going to bed early. Here, in winter the sun sets around 4:30 - 5 p.m., so it was not, when the kids were younger, unusual for us to all be in bed by 8 p.m. Summer it stays light until 10 or so--as in, light enough to read. Generally, I aim for 9 p.m. to get to bed by 10 p.m.
ReplyDelete2. I can only sleep in 100% cotton lawn (or percale) white, sleeveless, knee length nightgowns. The ones I prefer are by Eileen West.
3. I floss and brush my teeth, take a quick shower, and that's it. Sometimes I will do a crossword puzzle or Jumble in bed before I fall asleep--in fact, in summer, I like to do those until it grows dark. (In a magazine, not on a device, NO devices allowed in our bedroom.) Another oddity, if you will: I cannot bear to have the windows in my bedroom covered in any way, shape or form...no curtains, blinds--I have to be able to look out.
4. Like my sleepwear, I am particular about my bedding. 100% cotton white fitted sheet. Down comforter with 100% cotton comforter cover (no top sheet), and down pillows, with 100% cotton white cases, (I prefer percale.)I have 6 pillows--3 for each of us, on our bed. I do have one of the quilts I made across the foot of the bed, as DH's feet get cold at night. I wash my bedding at least 2 x's week. Kids have the same bedding as well, all the same size beds (full) so Friday sheet washing day was easy--no trying to figure out whose bedding was whose. They personalize their rooms with handmade quilts at the foot of the bed.
I like good sheets, but since no one lives here any more other than TheHub and I I only buy the good sheets for our bed.
Delete1. I am a night owl like you are but, I do not like sleeping in and spending day time sleeping. I am trying my best to go to bed before 1 o'clock.. 2. Cotton nightgowns. If I could find comfy pajamas in my size, I would sleep in them too. 3. I brush my teeth and that's it. 4. I like cotton sheets and duvets. I use a cotton comforter in a duvet in the winter. I usually have a cotton thermal blanket in the summer but if it's hot, I do not use it at all.
ReplyDeleteEvery night I say I will be in bed by one and then I change it to 2 possibly 3.
Deletei am also a night owl. I have to have heavy covers always. It is the weight of the blankets that I need. Must have a top sheet can't stand a blanket on me. Sleep in undies in the hot summer, but in long sleeves pjs in the winter. Nightgowns constrict my legs. Must have pillows!
ReplyDeleteI can't abide anything touching my legs other than a sheet, but I also do not like weight on me at night.
DeleteSo when do you get your sleep? That's interesting about only the sheet touching your legs. Since Mark retired we shower later in the day because he gets all sweaty working outside and I like that I follow him so he can wipe down the shower. I love your routine with your teeth and face. That's a lot of pillows. I like two pillows. Enjoy the rest of your week.
ReplyDeleteI known it is a lot of pillows but we use each one of them every single night.
Delete1--I have not had a set bedtime since I was seventeen.
ReplyDelete2--In the summer I prefer a short cotton nightgown, a little below my knees. In the winter I prefer a longer nightgown and with long sleeves.
3--I sleep under a quilt and wool blanket year round. I did wear socks year round, but cannot stand how tight socks are on my feet now.
I always floss many times and brush my teeth. I have various routines but nothing all the time as I switch them up.
4--I did change bedding in spring and fall, but now I sleep under flannel sheets winter and summer. I prefer to have a wool blanket next to my skin. I don't right now, but I may. No matter how hot it is, I always have to have at least a sheet over me and hands and feet under it. I use one pillow. When I had a King size bed, I left the other pillow in place on the other side of the bed. But, I don't count that as a pillow I sleep with.
Not sure why I did not see this post before now!
Wool bothers me so I have nothing in my entire house that is wool other than some of TheHub's dress slacks and suits. But oh how I love all those pillows.
DeleteWith all my allergies, I am shocked I am not allergic or bothered at all by wool!
DeleteThere is no set bed time for me either. I go to sleep when I want to and wake up when I want to wake up. I like it that way too. :)
ReplyDelete