I’m a mum & DOUBLED my sleep to 14 hours a night like Dakota Johnson – I lost weight & had midnight sex
I DRAW the curtains, pull on my PJs, do my skincare routine and jump into bed.
Lying there in the half-light, I try to will myself to sleep. But it isn’t easy. It is only 5pm.
It is mad to think that I’ll be staying here for the next 14 hours, taking me to 7am the following day.
And I am planning to do this for the next three days.
It is all thanks to Fifty Shades actress Dakota Johnson, who recently spoke about how she prioritises sleep and ensures she gets 14 hours — a whopping seven hours more than I normally get and double the adult average.
I usually go to bed around 10pm with my husband Cornel, 43, watch an hour or so of Netflix then go to sleep at 11pm.
I’m up at 6am to go swimming so I’m used to getting by on seven hours’ sleep.
In fact, my first reaction was to agree with people who thought Dakota’s routine was absolutely bonkers and a luxury only a multi-millionaire actress could afford.
It might sound like bliss to some, and part of me does yearn for more sleep. But another part of me thinks it will be an impossible nightmare.
I prod hubby in back – sex helps you nod off
How on earth will I cook the children’s dinner (I’ve got 15-year-old Alex and Adriana, ten) and get them to go to bed? If I go to bed later, how will I get up for the school run?
Of course there are benefits too. I’m often known to snack late at night. If I was in bed, I couldn’t gorge on carbs after 8pm.
So would 14 hours of sleep a night be heaven? Or hell?
ON day one, I pick the kids up from school and make sure their dinner — a hearty stew that can be reheated — is already made.
I tell them what homework to get on with and then bid them goodnight.
I get myself ready and into bed. Thankfully, winter means it is dark early so there is no annoying daylight creeping in. But it does feel weird going to bed at the time I’m normally cooking dinner.
I have to try to zone out from the kids arguing and the banging of pots and plates in the kitchen.
But despite my best efforts I just can’t nod off.
My mind is whirring, I can hear everyone talking and can’t switch my mind off.
I put the light back on and try reading. That helps and an hour or so in I feel my eyes growing heavy.
When I wake up I check my phone. It is 10pm, I’ve slept four hours.
I try to sleep again but Alex is brushing his teeth and banging the bathroom door.
When Cornel eventually comes to bed at 11pm, I feel jet-lagged. I finally fall asleep again around midnight, wake at 2am, try again to sleep but can’t. I feel I’m mucking up my circadian rhythm.
Finally, I nod off again but wake at 4.30am and cannot for the life of me get back to sleep, so lie there until 7am.
On day two, I feel knackered, not rested. “How can you be tired?” Cornel asks. “You were in bed by 5pm!” I decide the only way to do this is to try to go to bed later.
When did Dakota get anything done?
That evening goes more smoothly. I can eat dinner with the family and by 7pm, when I have to go to bed, I’m genuinely tired from last night’s fractured sleep.
When I go up to bed, I actually go straight off to sleep.
But when my husband comes in at 11pm, I wake up. I rack my brains for things that are renowned to help you sleep and I try my lavender sleep pillow spray — but it doesn’t work.
Having sex can release endorphins which can then promote sleep. So I prod my hubby in the back and we do it — to his surprise — in the middle of the night.
Afterwards, I sleep until 6am when his alarm goes off to get the kids up. I explain I have to sleep in until 9am for this to be a legitimate test and drift back off before my alarm wakes me at 9am — for the first time in about 15 years.
On day three, I thought I’d feel full of beans but I don’t. I feel sluggish and have a headache.
I read that Dakota felt better for her 14 hours a night.
But I feel less energetic, not more.
By now, I am looking forward to sleep and am feeling ready for it.
I’ll try a happy medium, going to bed at 6pm and waking at 8am.
That way, I can be some use and do the school run as well as talk to my kids a bit in the evening.
Questions race through my mind. When did Dakota eat? When did she get anything done?
Thankfully I fall asleep at 6pm, in a sleep mask to block any light, and wake at 11pm when Cornel comes in.
He looks hopeful that I might require more nookie but I am exhausted. I roll over and fall asleep, waking at 4am.
I can’t get back to sleep. It is frustrating as the whole house is silent and Cornel is breathing rhythmically next to me.
At 8am, after being awake for four hours, I get up and see the kids off to school.
I try to work but feel exhausted so I find myself napping on the sofa by 10am.
There is one plus point, though. My jeans feel a little loose, so I step on the scales.
I’ve lost a pound! It must have been from three nights of not snacking, coupled with three mornings of no proper breakfast.
My eyes look tired and I’d like to say my skin looks brighter, but I don’t see much of a difference — but the pound of weight-loss was enough for me.
That might not sound like much, but if I could stick it out, that would be the equivalent of more than 2lb a week — or around 10lb a month.
JULIE’S VERDICT
DOES 14 hours of sleep a night change your life for the better?
For me, no. I found myself irritated, tired and sluggish more than rested.
Sleep expert Dr Neil Stanley says: “Fourteen hours is outside what would be considered normal.
“Sleep is like height or shoe size – we are all different and it is, to a large degree, genetically determined. Ten to 11 hours would be considered the upper limit of what would be ‘normal’.
“The important thing is to get the amount of sleep that you, as an individual, need. This is the amount that leaves you feeling awake and alert during the day.”
I’m with Dr Stanley.
The idea of 14 hours’ sleep sounded blissful in theory, but in practice it was not easy – and made me feel worse than kipping for less time.
So Dakota, I’m happy for you if 14 hours makes you feel good.
But I’m back to my seven hours a night.