# How light/heavy a sleeper are you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146 "2011-03-18T13:32:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/1 "2011-03-18T13:32:16Z")
How light/heavy a sleeper are you? Extremely light: almost any noise or disturbance wakes you, even very soft ones. Light: soft noises/disturbances wake you, like a person walking past your room in shoes or your bedmate shifting position next to you. Fairly sound: sharp noises or mild disturbances wake you, like someone clapping softly or gently shaking your shoulder. Sound: sharp noises or disturbances wake you, like a loud clap or a rigorous shoulder shake. Heavy: only extended sharp and loud noises or disturbances wake you. Extremely heavy: you don’t wake until you wake; it would take a white-hot needle in the eye to wake you, and possibly not even then. I’m somewhere between two of the described levels. It varies depending on \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/2 "2011-03-18T13:43:16Z")
I’m a heavy sleeper in general; alarm clocks not intended for me don’t rouse me, etc. But the sound of a dog about to vomit will get my ass out of bed and downstairs to shoo them out the door in about two seconds flat. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/3 "2011-03-18T14:12:22Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > … > It varies depending on \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. where and how tired i am. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/4 "2011-03-18T14:21:53Z")
Sound, bordering on heavy. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/5 "2011-03-18T14:29:57Z")
It varies depending on if its a “normal” sound/event or not. My wife getting up and ready for work is a lot of noise that I just don’t hear and that doesn’t disturb my sleep. But a few nights ago I came wide awake and on high alert and it took me about 5 minutes to narrow down the cause and discount it – it was my neighbors visitor/friend having a toke on his back porch. Weed smell is so foreign to me these days that the hint wafting through a closed-up house was enough to trigger the “this isn’t normal (forgive the pun)” part of my brain. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/6 "2011-03-18T14:50:28Z")
Extremely heavy. A couple of years ago my neighbor called the police thinking that I was dead. She had knocked on my door expecting me to still be awake, the lights were on but I had gone to bed unusually early. When the ambulance guys \*\*really \*\* knocked on the door I got up, to much personal embarrassment. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/7 "2011-03-18T16:45:47Z")
My default condition is Light Sleeper. I have in recent months been using a sleep mask and ear plugs and do much better. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/8 "2011-03-18T17:11:10Z")
It varies depending on the time of night. I typically sleep soundly for two to four hours, then lightly after that. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/9 "2011-03-18T17:56:52Z")
Pretty heavy, generally - once I’m out, I’m out. Unless Junior squeaks and then I’m instantly awake. Even when he’s just rolling over in his crib. _Stupid evolutionary impulses/maternal instinct/whatever_ ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/10 "2011-03-18T19:10:02Z")
I would categorize myself as a sound sleeper because outside noises don’t seem to disturb me once I am asleep. But I randomly get woken up by bad dreams, by worries that my alarm clock should have gone off by now, if I need to pee, or when I need to switch the side I’m sleeping on (flip left to right, and back to sleep). I have never in recent memory slept the entire night without waking up. I am reassured by looking at my alarm clock every 2 hours or so, then falling right back to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/11 "2011-03-18T19:16:15Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Unless Junior squeaks and then I’m instantly awake. Even when he’s just rolling over in his crib. This is me. I can sleep through HUGE thunderstorms, but if a kid wakes up coughing or just gets up to go to the bathroom, I’m up. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/12 "2011-03-18T19:26:31Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > …by worries that my alarm clock should have gone off by now… I always wake up exactly 3 minutes before my alarm goes off, even when it’s set to a different time than usual. And every single time I think at least for a moment that I forget to turn it on then sure enough, I look up and it’s 3 minutes before I set it. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/13 "2011-03-18T19:32:19Z")
Extremely light, with two exceptions: 1. When I am very very tired (as in, I’ve missed a night of sleep). 2. When I am very very drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/14 "2011-03-18T20:32:15Z")
Depends on the type of noise. I can sleep through the occasional very loud noise with out any real problem but constant noises regardless of how quiet will generally wake me up. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/15 "2011-03-18T20:43:37Z")
It varies depending on how tired or worked up I am. This week I’ve been having really crappy sleeps even though I’m totally bagged. Maybe a total of 4.5 to 6 hours a night, no matter how tired I am. Other weeks I’m sleeping a solid 8 every night. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/16 "2011-03-18T20:44:24Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I always wake up exactly 3 minutes before my alarm goes off, even when it’s set to a different time than usual. And every single time I think at least for a moment that I forget to turn it on then sure enough, I look up and it’s 3 minutes before I set it. I do that, too (wake up just before the alarm). I can also set myself to wake up at any time without using an alarm. I get a couple of hours of solid sleep, then I move into quite light sleep where any noise or movement will wake me. Even in my solid sleep phase, things will still wake me, but not as easily. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/17 "2011-03-18T21:14:00Z")
I went with light, which is how I am most of the time, but there are times when I can be quite heavily asleep. Eventually, though, the sounds of people awake and going about their business in another room will be enough to wake me at least once a night. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/18 "2011-03-18T22:28:50Z")
I slept through an earthquake that woke everybody else in the house, when I was a teen. I was a very heavy sleeper. I currently live within earshot of a railroad bridge, a major interstate, and a raceway. I am also under the flight path of the airport. Those noises used to bother me a lot. now that I’ve lived here a while, they don’t. I am not a heavy sleeper anymore, but I’m not a light sleeper either. I am a medium sleeper. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/19 "2011-03-18T23:04:18Z")
Extremely light and have been ever since my firstborn arrived in the world 29 years ago. I used to be a good sleeper (not heavy, but sound). His own ‘sleeping’ habits wrecked mine and I never got back to normal. He, however, could now sleep through the final trumpet. There’s no justice. ---
**Author:** ![Waldelfe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f08c70/32.png) [@Waldelfe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waldelfe)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146/20 "2011-03-19T12:29:06Z")
It varies depending on the noise. I wake up when my cat sits on the windowsill and asks me to let her in and of course I hear my little son. But I totally missed it when some jerks stole a couple cars down in the village and had a race up to where I live. My bedroomwindow was open and it goes out towards the street. And one car had lost its exhaust pipe. I never heard anything. My neighbor told me about that race. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-light-heavy-a-sleeper-are-you/575146.md?page=2)