The experts say that’s what you need but I know lots of people who can’t sleep more than 3-4 hours per night. That’s all they need. After that they wake up and stare at the ceiling. The body is rested and ready to go. Some sleep 5, some sleep 6 and they are fine. I’m not like that. I probably do better on 9 hours. In stressful times, 10 hours is a lot better. In fact I’ve found that even that changes over time. I sleep as long as I need to sleep and I’m not worrying about what someone recommends as an average.
Don’t go by averages
Averages are mostly useless except as general guidelines. They may apply to your body or they may not. They are just guidelines. Don’t try to adapt to them. This is true in just about everything. You have to find your normal.
Babies teach us this, if we would just notice.
Some babies sleep through the night…every night. No problem. That’s never your child, it’s always your neighbors. Yours will be the one that wakes up every 3-4 hours and have never once slept through the night their first two years. You are always up with them. Try to change their routines, try to get them to sleep through the night because your neighbor’s baby does. Good luck with that.
I have two great nieces. One takes a solid 2 hour nap EVERY single day. She gets cranky after lunch and needs to take a break. The rest of the time she’s a ball of happy energy. The other one has never taken a nap and a major battle would unfold if you tried to make her take one. Why? She doesn’t need it, she doesn’t want it. Maybe the books say the average child of 3 needs a nap. My niece couldn’t care less. She’s not sleeping.
Don’t obsess about conforming to averages.
Free yourself up. Recommendations are just suggestions. Averages are interesting but shouldn’t dictate how you live. Go with what’s right for you and feel confident with that. We need to trust the feedback our bodies tell us and make our decisions from that rather than trying to conform to endless lists of recommendations from self-appointed experts.
