Fifty Plus (50+) - Sleep and aging....

I've always been one of those people who puts his head on the pillow and falls asleep instantly. Still am. But, whereas I used to get 8 hrs of sleep I'm now lucky to get 6 hrs. Doesn't matter when I go to sleep...hit the sack at 8 pm and I'm up by 1 or 2 am. When I am asleep about 1/3 the time, maybe less, I get up to pee. Go right back to sleep though. So, these days I'm staying up until 10 or 11 pm and am almost always up by 5 am. Just wondering how aging has affected sleep for others.

I'm generally up by 2:30 or so (2:02 this morning), no matter what time I go to bed. So I tend to go to bed about 20:30 or so, just so I can be sure of five or six hours of sleep. There was a time getting up at 7:00 seemed early...

Five hours is all I need now @ almost 64 years. I needed 7 when I was in university ages ago.

I'm in that 5-6 hour range too, but have been for decades. I'm 61. The difference now is that I use a CPAP machine and fall asleep fast and STAY asleep continuously for the whole time instead of waking several times during the night.

I'm the same, head hits the pillow and I'm out but 5 hours later I'm up, although I've never been a late sleeper. Even when I go to bed late I'm usually up before the sun. :notamused:

I find that I get less sleep (Around 5 or 6 hrs) at a time, but as this is not enough and start to feel sluggush, it catches up with me after about a week. I then get one day that I crash solid for about 9 hours and seem to catch up enough to feel better.

My normal bedtime is between 10:30 and 11:30, depending on what's on TV and which news I watch. I don't go to sleep instantly, but it doesn't take me too long to fall asleep most of the time. However, my body seems to have a 2:00 am and 5:00 am alarm set in order to make a bathroom call. Since I have been retired, I lay down after my 5:00 am bathroom call and once in a while I will snooze and find myself waking up around 7:00 am, but never past that.

At 63 I'm still clocking 7-8 hours with a couple of brief plumbing maintenance breaks.

I've always been one of those people who puts his head on the pillow and falls asleep instantly. Still am. But, whereas I used to get 8 hrs of sleep I'm now lucky to get 6 hrs. Doesn't matter when I go to sleep...hit the sack at 8 pm and I'm up by 1 or 2 am. When I am asleep about 1/3 the time, maybe less, I get up to pee. Go right back to sleep though. So, these days I'm staying up until 10 or 11 pm and am almost always up by 5 am. Just wondering how aging has affected sleep for others.

Welcome to 50+

Wait until you get to 70+

Asleep by midnight, up at 5:30. A short nap nearly everyday to reset my brain after work/before supper.

Wait until you get to 70+

Five more years. :)

Wait until you get to 70+


Five more years. :)

13 months here:)

I guess I'm the exception here . . . got 10 hours of solid sleep last night, didn't wake up until the alarm went off. I find the older I get, the more sleep I need (61 now), and esp. so if I've had a tough ride that day.

After a double century it's not unusual for me to sleep 12+ hours, but I'll get in a good ten after a century with a lot of climbing . . . and that's even if I take a nap in the afternoon directly after the shower/eat routine known as "food coma."

And if my wife and I are in our cabin in the mountains (at 6,700 ft. elevation) we can do a tough moutain bike ride, shower/eat, be in bed by 7:00PM and not get up until 8:00 or 9:00AM. We blame that on the altitude! So, anyway, Your Sleep Time May Vary!

Rick / OCRR

In my twentys I got by on 5-6 hrs. Nowadays it's closer to 8 hrs. I too fall asleep very fast after hitting the sack. A few pee breaks, maybe the cat too, but fall asleep immediately upon going back to bed.

The alarm gets me up at 5 am every morning. If I forget usually the cat gets mad and reminds me.

I still need 9 hours of sleep, always have. Rest, is a necessary part of life and is as important as nourishment and exercise.

I no longer get the uninterrupted sleep I enjoyed when I was younger. Several years ago when my life was more stressful, getting enough rest was an issue. I was using over-the-counter sleep aids a few nights every month.

Getting regular exercise has improved my sleep. I no long use any sleep aids. Changes in diet and weight-loss has helped also, I’m sure.

Sleep is extremely good for the body, and brain, as its when your daytime memories are "written to disk" as it were. "Long term potentiation" or LTP it's called. Sleep is also when your body repairs itself.

I read recently that people sleep much better when their heads are cold. Maybe its the mountain air thats so good for the quality of your rest?

When the air is clean outside I always sleep much better with some ventilation, either a window cracked open or our heat recovery ventilator on.





And if my wife and I are in our cabin in the mountains (at 6,700 ft. elevation) we can do a tough moutain bike ride, shower/eat, be in bed by 7:00PM and not get up until 8:00 or 9:00AM. We blame that on the altitude! So, anyway, Your Sleep Time May Vary!

Somewhere I read or heard that its common to experience a wake up around 1 or 2 am, no matter what. Its not a bad thing. Just go back to sleep so that you can wake up at 5 am for an early morning ride at 6 am.

Usually fall asleep reading around 11:00pm and up at 7:00, usually a solid eight but if I get up during the night, I sometimes have trouble getting back to sleep. Also sleep much more soundly on days when I have exercised.

I laugh when I read - just get more sleep - go back to sleep, etc. Or folks preaching on the value of 8 - 9 hours of sleep. Preach on folks, it doesn't work for me.

For my entire life, I have been an "instant awaker" I never have used an alarm clock, nor needed one. When I wake up, I am instantly fully awake, and there is no way I can get back to sleep, even if I wanted or had to. I generally go to sleep about 10:00 - 10:30 pm.

So, like this am, I woke up at 4 am. No sense fighting it. Get up and get started doing something productive. I rarely sleep past 5.

BUT - I often take a 20-30 minute nap during the day, which is a lifesaver for me.

At age 56, I still need 7-8 hours per night, and more if I've had a hard ride.

Sleep well enough but only about 7 hours a night-And if the chance arises- an hours cat nap in the afternoon and I never watch TV till after 10pm as that is instant resting of the eyelids.

I find that I get less sleep (Around 5 or 6 hrs) at a time, but as this is not enough and start to feel sluggush, it catches up with me after about a week. I then get one day that I crash solid for about 9 hours and seem to catch up enough to feel better.

That's how it tends to work for me... a nap on Sundays is usually enough to do the reset. But daily, anything beyond 6 hours just doesn't seem to work... I can't really get back to sleep for any length of time.

The other odd thing is fresh air... I have to have fresh air when I sleep... the temperature is not so important as is the circulation of air. If I perceive the room is stuffy, I can't sleep... I hate hotels where you can't open windows. And no, this is not a claustrophobic thing... at least I have no fear of confined spaces...

Oh and 4:00 AM, no matter what, I have a bathroom call... I've tried to see if there is some phenomena that is happening at 4:00 am that wakes me, because this 4:00 AM thing seems unbreakable, no matter what time I actually go to sleep.

Just wondering how aging has affected sleep for others.

As a kid & young adult it seemed like it would take forever to finally fall asleep; don't think I ever spent less than an hour head down on the pillow wondering when the hell I was gonna finally konk out. Fortunately, once I actually was asleep, nothing could wake me before the alarm went off.

In the last 3 or 4 years I've noticed a definite shift in my sleep habits: I definitely fall asleep much quicker these days, but I also wake up to pee every single morning sometime between 4:00 and 5:00AM, regardless of what time I got into bed.

I suppose it's also worth noting that from the time I was ~19 until probably age 40 I almost never got into bed before midnight...whereas now it's extremely rare for me to not be in bed by 11:00 or 11:30.

I'm surprised at the number of 'waking up to urinate' responses. That is worth mentioning to a doctor. More info here, how to tell if you have diabetes (http://diabeticnotes.com/how-to-tell-if-you-have-diabetes.php). There are other possible reasons for it, but that is a concern.

Someone mentioned sleep and healing, and that's my experience. If I have a cold or an injury, it's a little more time in bed for a very positive effect.

I'm 64 but in a slightly intense time of my life, and get less than 8 hours most nights.

I've always been one of those people who puts his head on the pillow and falls asleep instantly. Still am. But, whereas I used to get 8 hrs of sleep I'm now lucky to get 6 hrs. Doesn't matter when I go to sleep...hit the sack at 8 pm and I'm up by 1 or 2 am. When I am asleep about 1/3 the time, maybe less, I get up to pee. Go right back to sleep though. So, these days I'm staying up until 10 or 11 pm and am almost always up by 5 am. Just wondering how aging has affected sleep for others.

Babies need the most sleep while those past infant stage need about 8hrs of sleep but for some reason those that are past 59 start to need less and less sleep. Go figure.........

60 and I pee when I decide to. I've done 50 mile rides w/o peeing. I've always needed 8-10 hrs. sleep.

I wish I needed less sleep, but I seem to need more. At one time I would have been fine with 5 or 6 hours a day, but now that amount of sleep leaves me tired. Unfortunately I am a born night person who works days, which doesn't help. I feel much better on a schedule that lets me go to bed just before dawn and get up around noon.

I need much more sleep than I used to need when I was younger. At 64, I need at least eight hours but rarely get it because I sleep for shorter periods of time at a stretch. I wake up at 3 or 4 AM and lie awake for an hour or two, then fall back asleep into a deep sleep until 8 or 8:30. If I get up at 5 or 6 I'm tired for the rest of the day even with seeveral naps. When I manage to get my eight hours I still nap two or three times during the day. When I was young I could funtion perfectly well on five or six hours of sleep.

Don't know if will have an effect but over here we have the "New" low energy light bulbs. Apparently they throw out a light in the Blue spectrum and that is not conducive to sleeping well. Spend an evening with the "Blue" lights and you will have trouble sleeping. Maybe that is why I sleep better in the summer where I wear myself out with evening rides and lots of gardening.

This was highlighted on a programme today about cost saving in the home and came up as a recorded fact about energy light bulbs

Wow my sleeping schedule is similar to yours, asleep at 10:30 - 11:00. Wake up at 3-3:30 I'll read or watch some tv then back to sleep and up again at 5 am. I've lost about 20 lbs this year and I don't need as much sleep. Also I drive my family crazy on vacations because by they time they get up around 7:30 or 8, I've already been up for a couple of hours and am ready to get going.

I don't know how much sleep you need but 8 hours seem too long for me.

Wow my sleeping schedule is similar to yours, asleep at 10:30 - 11:00. Wake up at 3-3:30 I'll read or watch some tv then back to sleep and up again at 5 am. I've lost about 20 lbs this year and I don't need as much sleep. Also I drive my family crazy on vacations because by they time they get up around 7:30 or 8, I've already been up for a couple of hours and am ready to get going.

I don't know how much sleep you need but 8 hours seem too long for me.


This is pretty much my routine. The other thing I've noticed is that once I'm out of the house I can go all day without feeling tired. But, if I come inside during the day I start feeling tired and need a nap.

I laugh when I read - just get more sleep - go back to sleep, etc. Or folks preaching on the value of 8 - 9 hours of sleep. Preach on folks, it doesn't work for me.

I can usually sleep a bit longer in the morning when the time is available, but only maybe 30 minutes or so. Too much longer and I just get more lethargic. There's definitely a sweet spot for me in terms of sleep time.


For my entire life, I have been an "instant awaker" I never have used an alarm clock, nor needed one. When I wake up, I am instantly fully awake, and there is no way I can get back to sleep, even if I wanted or had to.

I pretty much have a built-in alarm clock, but I'm not "instant-on". I don't take forever, but I want a little while. Then again, how quickly I'm ready to go is strongly related to where I'm going... to work and I'm slow, on vacation and it's a matter of seconds! :D

I'm generally a 6 hour sleeper, but it almost always takes a while to go to sleep. Unless I'm reading that is... then it's minutes. I've heard that's one symptom of chronic sleep deprivation: Not being able to read without falling asleep. May be true.


BUT - I often take a 20-30 minute nap during the day, which is a lifesaver for me.
I've heard that men are afraid of comittment... not this one! When I commit to a nap, it's for a couple of hours at least. Trouble is, I awake (if you want to call it that) so groggy that it takes another hour just to get functional again. I feel like I'm drugged when I'm in that state.

I've heard that men are afraid of comittment... not this one! When I commit to a nap, it's for a couple of hours at least. Trouble is, I awake (if you want to call it that) so groggy that it takes another hour just to get functional again. I feel like I'm drugged when I'm in that state.

Not a commitment problem. I sleep 20-30 minutes because that's all I can sleep, and, once again, I am instantly awake, ready to start a new "day."

I don't know how much sleep you need but 8 hours seem too long for me.

But not too long for most. I've done a fair amount of reading about sleep. Obviously there are many that can thrive on 4-5 hours of sleep, but 8 hours or more is what the majority of people need.

Me, I try to get 8 hrs. a night, though I think I need more. I can get by on less than 8 hrs. but if it happens a lot it catches up with me and I'll need some extra sleep, whether it be a daytime nap or a longer time in bed at night.

I've been sleeping and aging for as long as I can remember.

So far, getting older (bout to be 53) hasn't affected my NEED for sleep, just how much I actually GET.

The last couple years, I haven't had more than 4-5 hours at a stretch, and going back to sleep is a toss-up.

Take last night -- since I almost never get laid down before midnight, 1:30AM isn't too extreme for a Friday night (I don't work Saturdays, faith-based). I was up at 5AM to drain the bladder, again at 10AM. Typical. During the week, when I have to be up and around before 6AM, I still can't get to sleep before midnight, often closer to 1AM. So, I NEED that morning ride just to function.

As often as not, evening 'naps' give me a headache. I know I get grumpier with the kids.