To nap or not to nap?

I sometimes have a nap after lunch if I'm tired - and if I'm in the garden on a sunny day. It doesn't spoil my nighttime sleep. Generally though I have some project on the go and keep at it

I've been a poor sleeper for many years, but I've stopped worrying about it now. I usually go to bed about midnight, fall asleep quickly and then wake about 1.30. Then that's repeated until about 5.30, when I seem to fall into a deep sleep. I don't usually get up before 9 and I rarely feel tired enough to nap in the daytime. Tinnitus plays a part, as it always seems louder at night and harder to get back off to sleep. I usually watch the news on TV as speech drowns the noise out best. Thank heavens I can get up when I want to, now I'm no longer at work. Such luxury!

I never nap during the day, that's for old folks.

I might however have a siesta, that's continental

I have a sleep in the afternoon. My G.P. said to follow the Mediterranean diet because they have less health problems but never mentioned the fact that they have a siesta. I think it is important to let your body relax for a short while and even if you don't sleep, then rest for a while. I love to get into bed in the afternoon, read for a bit and then drift off for an hour.

I do have health problems though that I get tired after only a few hours, exhausted really, and so need to lie down in order to cope later in the day. It's just how it works for me.

Ana you ask how to sleep for a short while in the day, so here is what works for me.

Close curtains in bedroom
Lie on top of bed
Set cooking timer for 20 mins and put under duvet so it mutes sound when it goes off.
Close eyes and breathe deeply and slowly
Now the optional bit imagine you have on a parachute and let yourself jump off a a ledge and very slowly float down over an enormous field on a warm summer's say. It sounds mad but it works for me.
2nd option put on headphones and listen to a mindfulness meditation.
3rd option go to sleep

Hope that helps.

Young folks too, aka, or hadn't you noticed?

Although I do nap in the afternoon it's always in a chair. I don't go to bed. I have a friend who's 9yrs younger than me and she has had 'a rest' in the afternoon which means going to bed for a couple of hours for as long as I can remember. She does have some heath issues though.

bags your comment has brought back memories of living with my grandparents, and as children being instructed to go to our rooms every day after lunch (having returned from school) - "because the grownups are resting now". We would read and generally have a quiet hour and be out like a shot when we heard the first stirring from my Oma because we knew that tea and cookies or biscuits would be offered soon.

So I always made my two rest in the afternoons.

I don't nap much in the afternoons - well, I worked full time until yesterday! but usually on a Saturday afternoon I will retreat to my bed with something to read and do what rubylady does. Bliss.

I like your approach, Aka!

I wake up feeling very muzzy and unrested on the few occasions I have slept in the daytime. I have found myself drifting off a few times recently in the afternoon but I have been very active with family and driving half way round the UK so put it down to that - and the heat!

nankate good advice. Practicing deep relaxation once a day is good stress control. It might help sleep at night if practiced regularly if worry and tension is causing poor sleep.

Lily The real danger lies in reading unscientific articles in the newspapers and then worrying about the contents.

I sometimes have a nap in the afternoon, if I'm tired or if we are going out somewhere in the evening.

I sometimes don't sleep well at night, but I've stopped worrying about it and get up when I feel like it. It seems to balance out and I feel much less tired during the day than when I was working.

I wouldn't recommend going to bed for a nap, or even lying on the sofa. Falling asleep over a book, just for a little while, is fine. Well, that's what I find.

Different, of course, if you have health problems.

I fall asleep all over the place. Can't seem to help it. But I always feel better afterwards, and still sleep well most nights, so I am not too worried about it. (I never go to bed in the daytime, just nap wherever I am!).

Well I have just managed to sleep through the last 3 games of the Ladies' Singles Final

Hello everyone, this is my first time on here, but wanted to make a comment on this subject.
I always find it difficult to nap in the afternoon, feeling that I'd probably not sleep at night if I did nap. I've just come off a night shift (this morning) and I have to say I was very tempted to have a nap this afternoon, but have been fighting it all day knowing that I will not sleep tonight if I did.
I think napping in the afternoon is different for everyone and if your body is telling you to nap, then do it.

I get up very early - 5ish at this time of year - and very often have a nap in the afternoon. Never in bed, I just put my head back and sleep for about 20 minutes and that keeps me going until bedtime.
What a blessing it is to be able to sleep anywhere and to drop off the moment my head hits the pillow at night. I inherited my sleep pattern from my father but unfortunately none of my children ever want to get up in the morning.

Welcome Roxann. Hoping to hear a lot more from you

I used to fall asleep if I sat down in the afternoon but my GP said it was bad for you-he got quite adamant that I must stop it!Since then,I try to take the dog for a walk at that time-not always possible due to arthritis and back pain.If I doze off now,I don't worry about it.I don't sleep well either way.

Thank you Greenfinch.
I remember years ago my sister in law telling me that she always needed a nap in the afternoon and that when I get to her age I'll be doing the same...........(she was 50 then), as yet I've not had a nap in the afternoon, but who knows.

50? Aren't most people still working at that age? I don't think my boss would have taken kindly to the idea of my having to have a nap in the afternoons!

I am fine if I am doing something, but if I do sit down off I go, usually only for about 10 minutes or so. If I fall asleep in the evening, even for 10 minutes, I can't get to sleep at night.

Not a morning person, 8 o'clock is early enough for me unless I am going off somewhere early.

If you are wondering whether you sleep too much during the day, take this test:
web.stanford.edu/~dement/epworth.html

I take deliberate naps if I feel I need them. I got a low score on that thingummyjig.

Slept eleven hours last night, which is extremely unusual for me, but then I felt a bit ill when I retired at eight o'clock last night. Woke up at 0730 this morning. That is also extremely unusual as I'm usually awake around 0600. I don't feel morethanusually ill this morning. "Listen to your body" is the habit I go by.