# Night owls vs Early birds



## Giro flee (Mar 12, 2013)

I'm an early riser, up at five asleep usually by ten. My husband loves to stay up late and sleep to ten on the weekends. We've both tried switching our sleep schedules but it always reverts back to our original pattern. Anybody else struggle with opposite sleep patterns?


----------



## DesertRat1978 (Aug 27, 2013)

My wife is up at 6 am on the weekends and full of energy. I am awake by 830 or so. I seem to have this second wind of sorts at night. She crashes out between 8 and 10 pm. At 8 pm, I am ramped up and ready to do something. It is one of our struggles as well.


----------



## marshmallow (Oct 15, 2013)

I'm an early riser only because my job requires me to wake up early. Even if I pull night owl hours (which I have been known to do on the weekends), I'm still up after only having slept a few hours.


----------



## John Lee (Mar 16, 2013)

There's some research suggesting that these sleep patterns are somewhat natural and ingrained -- I read an article about it recently, although it wasn't clear from the article whether you can "change" your innate sleep pattern or not. I'm a night owl, wife is an early riser. It causes some friction, but we've learned to embrace it, and it means she gets some time to herself early and I get some time to myself late. Of course, since the little one came I've been rising a lot earlier, but a lot of times it's like I'm in a diving bell for the first 20 minutes or so of consciousness.


----------



## Pandakiss (Oct 29, 2010)

We are night owls. I fully feel awake at 3pm. Weekends or days off, we are usually up til 4-5 am. We adopted this schedule years ago when he worked fast food, and he usually closed which meant he got up late and didn't get home til 2am. I would wait up for him. 

Of course school was during the day, and we wouldn't see each other til after 4pm, and we would be together nonstop until 2-3am. (back in middle and high school)

Once we decided to stop smoking, we went to bed very early, between 9-11pm, then up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 4am. 

Perhaps we are neither early birds nor night owls.....as long as I get 5 hours of sleep, dosent matter, and if he gets 6, dosent matter. It's cold here, like frost adv tonight, going home early, prob around 11pm. We will be so bored lol.


----------



## Oldrandwisr (Jun 22, 2013)

After a straight 35 yrs of daytime work, I thought my sleep patterns were set for life. Now that I'm off work (unfortunately due to lay off), it is interesting how it changed.

I relish waking at dawn to a fresh cup of coffee, usually around 5 am to watch the sunrise and before the traffic and city noise begins. I also like to stay up until around midnight for the same reason, to enjoy quietly reading or other form of relaxation to wind down. 

With my current situation, I'm able to nap in the afternoon to make up for the short nighttime sleep. At first I felt guilty sleeping in the day, but realized it's all the same amount of sleep/wake time. Of course, it's not a daily routine as there are commitments and appointments, but this is what comes natural.

Many retired people I know have this same sleep pattern.

My stbxh worked nightshift for years and never adjusted. Even during a three day weekend, he wouldn't feel awake enough to go on a daytrip.


----------



## HangingOnHope (Oct 26, 2013)

Natural night owl here...spouse a natural early bird. Doesn't seem to matter about jobs, vacations, etc. Its been an issue at times.


----------



## RandomDude (Dec 18, 2010)

I'm both. If tired I sleep at work.


----------



## sparkyjim (Sep 22, 2012)

RandomDude said:


> I'm both. If tired I sleep at work.


:sleeping:

I wish I could get away with that...

I can be either one. But I have found that I am happier and better adjusted if I go to bed earlier and get up earlier.


----------



## swade87 (Oct 23, 2013)

We're the opposite.. I usually can't fall asleep until 1 or 2 am, and like to sleep in until about 9 am (I don't go in to work until 11 or noon). My fiance likes to go to bed at 10 or 11 pm, and wakes up at 5 or 6 every morning. We worked it out by going to bed together, having sex or cuddling or talking until he falls asleep, then I get up and read or surf the web until I'm tired enough to pass out myself. Thankfully he sleeps through anything, so I usually read in our room or even in bed. He then wakes me up in the morning instead of me setting an alarm... which is wonderful.


----------



## Mavash. (Jan 26, 2012)

We compromise.

Weekdays he goes to bed with me and if he can't sleep he gets up after I fall asleep. I need more sleep than he does.

Weekends I stay up late with him. He sleeps in and I get up at my usual time.

I take a lot of naps.


----------



## skype (Sep 25, 2013)

I'm the early bird, and my husband is the night owl. We had to work hard to find ways to compromise and give each other space to be ourselves.

The only thing that I have not been able to resolve is weekend breakfasts. My husband wants me to wait for him to get up, and I hate waiting for my morning coffee! I have offered to sit with him when he does finally get up, but he says the coffee is too strong by then from evaporation. So then I offer to make him a fresh pot, but it remains an issue between us. I will find a way to prevail on this one!


----------



## captainstormy (Jun 15, 2012)

That's my wife and to a T. I'm a night owl and she's a morning g person.

Given our druthers I would go to sleep around 1-3 am and wake up around 8-11 am. My wife would go to bed around 10pm and wake around 6 am. 

That was our schedule when we were single. Since we got married and got a puppy I've adjusted to her schedule. Thou if she goes out of town for a few days I'll revert to my original schedule.


----------



## Wing Man (Jun 8, 2012)

I work from 12pm to 9pm with an hour for lunch every M-F and my wife works 8:30am to 5:30pm with an hour for lunch every M-F, so that means that I get up at about 9:00am every morning and her at 6:30am, but we both sleep in until about 10:00am on weekends.

So I guess I am the night owl going to bed at 1:00am on average and she goes to bed at 11:00pm, but we somehow make that scheduling work.


----------



## larry.gray (Feb 21, 2011)

My wife and I are neither, don't stay up really late nor get up really early. Not that we sleep a lot, but get 7ish hours starting around 11PM.

Two of our kids have early-wakers disease. I call it a disease if you're so tired that you're cranky but won't go back to sleep.


----------



## arbitrator (Feb 13, 2012)

*On a normal schedule, I'm up by 6AM and like to be bedded down by 10PM. Since the separation and subsequent divorce however, my sleep schedule has gone all weird on me, so it could really be at anytime.

My rich, skanky, cheating XW, who I considered to be a borderline alcoholic always seemed to get up around 10AM, do her ranch chores until mid-afternoon,(that is, whenever I didn't go do them for her) or wake up and play on her computer or make endless telephone calls; and start up drinking wine coolers by 3PM, then knocking back a bottle of Beringer's White Zinfandel from 6-9PM. And then topping it all off with at least a half bottle of Baileys Irish Cream before going to bed around 3AM. And as always, with precisional clockwork!

No small wonder why she always proudly considered herself as a "bag rat!"
*


----------



## Accipiter777 (Jul 22, 2011)

Early to bed, early to rise
makes a man health, wealthy and wise...


Early to rise, early to bed
makes a man healthy, but socially dead.


----------



## Wing Man (Jun 8, 2012)

arbitrator said:


> *On a normal schedule, I'm up by 6AM and like to be bedded down by 10PM. Since the separation and subsequent divorce however, my sleep schedule has gone all weird on me, so it could really be at anytime.
> 
> My skanky, cheating XW's was to get up at 10AM, do her ranch chores until mid-afternoon, come in and start drinking wine coolers by 3PM, knocking back a bottle of Beringer's White Zinfandel from 6-9PM. And then topping it off with a half bottle of Baileys Irish Cream before going to bed around 3AM.
> 
> An as always, with precisional clockwork!*


Sounds like an alcoholic to me and maybe one of the reasons why you all split.


----------



## Hortensia (Feb 1, 2013)

Night owl here ! My work schedule is a mix of am's and pm's so I have to get up early half of the week. He is a full time earlie. Wakes up early for work. Most of the time I wake up at the same time as him or even earlier to wake him up with a hot coffee and a nice breakfast in bed, maybe even a quickie. Then as he goes to work I go back to sleep , until I have to wake up for my work in the afternoon. I am not really a morning person, never been. My energy comes up at 3-4 p.m and it reaches its climax at evenings. After 3-4 am I start to feel sleepy. Tried to change my sleep habits, but nothing works. I make sure to dedicate him a lot of my time though. He never leaves home in the morning without his love time.


----------



## Holland (Aug 20, 2012)

We go to bed at the same time 99% of the time and even when we have different work schedules we usually get up together to share a shower and a coffee.

For me it is really important that bedtime in particular is the same time. No TV in the bedroom, only ever reading in bed, sex and sleep. We fall sleep cuddling which is a must for us.


----------



## Bellavista (May 29, 2012)

I am an early to bed, I will go to bed about 9:00pm, and read for a bit. I am nearly always asleep by 10:00am. I wake up between 5:00-6:00am.

Husband goes to bed around midnight, gets up at 8:00 or later on the weekends. It is just the way we are. We still manage sex at least every second day, he just comes to bed when I do, and then gets up afterwards.

I actually find it weird if he goes to bed before me, because this is the way we have been for many years. In the sub-tropical climate we live in, I sure don't need to be cuddled to sleep, it would be too hot to have him draped all over me.

Both of us will have a nap through the day if we feel the need. maybe even a midday romp, since the office is only a few rooms from the bedroom...


----------



## Wing Man (Jun 8, 2012)

Holland said:


> We go to bed at the same time 99% of the time and even when we have different work schedules we usually get up together to share a shower and a coffee.
> 
> For me it is really important that bedtime in particular is the same time. No TV in the bedroom, only ever reading in bed, sex and sleep. We fall sleep cuddling which is a must for us.


I get home some nights at 9:30pm so when she lays down at 11:00pm I am still quite restless and wound up, so there's no way I could keep her schedule.


----------



## jcatam (Aug 22, 2012)

I'm an early bird married to a night owl. We have adjusted to each other. I relish the quiet of the early morning and he likes the late night hours to do whatever he wants.


----------



## I'mInLoveWithMyHubby (Nov 7, 2011)

I wake up anywhere from 2am-5am, sometimes earlier. I don't sleep well or long due to my neck injury. I don't sleep longer then 2 hours at a time either. Before my neck injury I was always an early riser.


----------



## Almost There (Oct 23, 2013)

We're both night owls, and we hate being off schedule with each other. It just sucks; can't spend much time together, etc. We make an effort to fall asleep and wake up together whenever possible!


----------



## bbdad (Feb 11, 2013)

I am the early bird. She is the night owl. We make it work. I get the kids ready for school in the morning as she is still asleep or just waking up when we leave. She then puts them to bed at night.

Thankfully, I don't really sleep much, 4-5 hours at night is all I really need. So, I can often stay up later with her so we have some time after the kids go to bed.


----------



## Wiltshireman (Jan 23, 2013)

I have all ways been an early riser and this fits well with my work (I have to be up by 05:00 M-F) so if I have work the next day I like to head up for my bath / bed by 10:30 at the latest.

My wife does not normally have to be up until 07:00 (but with kids you can never be sure) so she may stay up a bit later than me (she will catch up on her soap's whilst I have my bath). 

Friday & Saturday nights we will stay up later together, grabbing some much needed "mum & dad" time once all the kids have gone to bed but I will still be up / awake by 06:00 at the latest, I do enjoy having the house to myself in the morning, grab a relaxed pot of tea, read the paper, catch up on chores as the kids drift down from 07:00 onwards and then its pop the kettle on and get anyone else up by 09:00 as otherwise nothing would get done.

The only real night owl in our house is our eldest daughter (18) will happily stay up all night getting an assignment ready for college but would stay in bed until noon if we let her (we did in the past but it just encouraged poor time management).


----------



## SimplyAmorous (Nov 25, 2009)

I'm both ! 

I get up every morning at 6:am (sometimes earlier if I wake up)...to cook for him, get the kids off to school..... I stay up later many times after he conks out......last night almost till 1:30am..... I don't need much sleep, I try to buy decaf tea because the last thing I need is caffeine... 

My husband has made comments that he never sees me sleep. ..If I fall asleep in his arms, it's more of a rare occasion...(though I tend to do this when we put a movie on in the middle of the day with my head on his lap)... He needs a good 8 hours a night.. going to bed around 10:00ish...and he sleeps in a little more on his days off.... Me... I am fine on 6 hrs. This is why he refers to me as the Energizer Bunny ...







.


----------

