Is breaking up sleep okay?

Question

I work at night and i usually get in at like 4 in the morning. Well i have one 9 month old and 3 toddlers and they get up at like 8 in the morning since two of them are about to go to school I was wondering if its okay to sleep from 4 to 8 then get up for they day and take a 3 hour nap with the kids would that be healthy for my body does any one know does any one have to do this????? if so how do u feel????????

Answer 1

Sleep cycles through stages throughout the night. There are four stages (one, two and delta), plus REM sleep.  Normally, when you first fall asleep you go into stage one, then two, then delta, then REM, and then it starts all over again, usually at stage two, and you cycle through this way about every 90 minutes.

If you wake up, instead of starting over at stage two, you start back at stage one which is a lighter, and less restful stage of sleep. So, when you wake in the middle of your sleep, it disrupts the cycle of these stages and causes you to have more of stage one sleep and less of the deeper, more restful stages.

When this happens, you usually get less Delta and REM sleep. Delta sleep is what helps refresh you physically and REM helps refresh you psychologically, so if you have less of these "deep sleeps" you don't feel as rested.

Quantity of sleep is important, but quality of sleep is more important. If you're chronically sleepy during the day it can cause depression, memory loss, imparement of motor skills and even health problems.

Answer 2

I dont see why that wouldnt be ok. You're getting around 7 hours sleep a day so your body is having a rest. How do you feel? If you are having unrefreshing sleep, feeling out of the norm then its obviously not working however if you feel fine then your body is accepting it!

Answer 3

try it and see.  once it becomes routine, it'll be no different than having a siesta in the middle of the day like millions of people in hot climates across the world.  for the first couple of weeks while your body adjusts it might be quite difficult and you will probably get very tired and then find you are wakeful when you should be sleeping, but you will adapt within a week or two if you keep a fairly even routine each day.