To Nap or Not to Nap?

This is the question we are asking today.

Current thinking is that you should get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night.  

Why then would you feel tired between 2:00 and 4:00 each day?  When you do get sleepy, should you nap or should you try and power through the rest of the day?

When you wake up early for work or if you have an internal clock that wakes you up, around 2:00 you can feel terribly exhausted.  The cause is post-lunch hypoglycemia and melatonin that is released. Both make you want to nap in a big way.

If you are a working person that can be a problem.  You can’t step away for a quick nap.  What you can do is get up and move a bit.  Change your environment for a short time and shake it off.

If you are a senior and retired, that’s a different story.  The day is yours to make of it what you can and a nap might be just what you need.

When you take a nap, the positives are that it gives you relaxation, you feel less tired and more alert.  You should also be in a better mood.

A caution about some downsides to napping.  You could have sleep inertia and feel groggy when you wake up for the next 35 or so minutes.  You might also interrupt your nighttime sleep finding it difficult to go to sleep or stay asleep.

For those who can nap during the day, what are some tips for napping?

Take short naps, between 20 and 30 minutes

Nap in the early afternoon

Plan naps as a part of your daily routine (if you can fight it, join it!)

We at Private Home Health Care appreciate naps for seniors even if we cannot do it ourselves.  Naps can be very restorative.  Embrace the sleepiness without any guilt and have a restful zzzzz.