It's normal to wake up at night

I used to sleep through the entire night, and only recently started to wake up at least once nightly for bathroom. Is that a common experience amongst adults, or if it’s something I should be seeking advice from a health professional about?

Fix it, or live with it?

The Huberman blog post on sleep said waking up once in the middle of night is considered normal. Somehow that gave me some relief.

So I don’t need to fix it?

I did some more research, and found some good answers from Sleephub:

• continuous sleep experienced in childhood/teens is not typical for adults
• most people wake 2-3x during the night
• historically, humans don’t sleep 8h. The terms “first sleep” and “second sleep” is hundreds of years old.
• industrialisation / electric light made waking activity encroach further into the night
• we wake in night due to sleep cycles, a normal sign of body’s internal clock and sleep mechanisms working well

OK so it’s NORMAL! Phew, what a relief.

Some things I can do if I wake up at night:

• accept that it’s normal, so that it doesn’t frustrate you
• continue to lie in bed with closed eyes, do breathing/relaxation exercises, or other NSDR (non-sleep deep rest) protocols (e.g. yoga nidra)
• if still awake, get out and do something until sleep. The activity has to be not too stimulating or engaging, e.g. reading a book (not checking emails or work). Use low light.
• plan beforehand what you’ll do if you do get out of bed. That way you’re prepared.

Chatting with @therealbrandonwilson also got me thinking if my nightly pee is due to:

• fluid intake during the day (not enough?) and in the evening (too much?)
• meat heavy meals during dinner (something about high protein affecting sleep)

Maybe I can try drinking more in the day, so that I’m not dehydrated in the evening and drinking too much before bed. Will also try eating more fat and carbs at dinner to see if that helps with sleep.