# How many times, on average, do you wake up during the night to pee? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286 "2012-04-29T01:28:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/21 "2012-04-29T07:08:19Z")
Somewhere between .5 and .33, since it’s between every other and every third night when I need to get up to pee; generally speaking I try not to drink much of anything after 9 so I’m less likely to need to get up. And unlike **Monstro** , it’s the first couple of days _after_ my period that are the big exceptions to only waking up during the night 2-3 days a week. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/22 "2012-04-29T12:02:35Z")
I voted once, but it’s not every night. Maybe 2-3 times a week, on average. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/23 "2012-04-29T12:04:55Z")
You should have asked us guys how old we are. I’m 66, you do the math. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/24 "2012-04-29T12:35:06Z")
On average, less than one. I’d say over a week, it would be four or five times, so some nights not at all, the rest just once. It increases as you get older, though, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/25 "2012-04-29T12:43:19Z")
Invariably, at least one, occasionally twice. You should have age-graded it, although that would have complicated the question. I’m 75. ---
**Author:** ![Octopi\_Eye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b19c9b/32.png) [@Octopi\_Eye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octopi_Eye)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/26 "2012-04-29T12:43:37Z")
2-4 times a night. I’ve been to a doctor about it too. Doesn’t seem to help. They tell me not to drink water before going to bed. But I get super thirsty at night and absolutely HAVE to keep water on the nightstand. My throat gets totally parched and I can’t NOT drink water at night. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/27 "2012-04-29T13:36:54Z")
2-3, but it used to be 5-6 before I quit caffeine. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/28 "2012-04-29T13:40:52Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I voted “zero” because it is closer to that than one ;). Probably once every few nights. Yeah, that’s how I voted too. Generally, not at all, but when that alarm goes off in the morning, it’s like a Pavlovian response, only instead of salivation, it’s time to pee. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/29 "2012-04-29T13:45:49Z")
I’m a guy. Zero or one. It seems that if I’m having trouble sleeping anyway, then I’ll notice that I have to urinate and get up and do it. But if I’m sleeping well, I won’t notice it. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/30 "2012-04-29T13:53:55Z")
Generally zero. On rare occasions, and if I’ve gotten up in the middle of the night for some other reason, I may go to the bathroom on the way back to bed on general principle – but for the most part I _could_ just go back to sleep without going (and I often do.) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/31 "2012-04-29T14:17:09Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > I wake at least once an hour during the night and have to pee just about every time I wake up. So I feel like I’m up all night peeing. > > I only pee a couple times during the day so I don’t what the heck is going on at night. I can range from this down to once, I pretty much always wake up around 3 for an hour or two and I normally don’t actually have to pee, but I get up and pee anyways just because it gives me something to do while waiting to go back to sleep. > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Usually zero, because I restrict fluids near bedtime. I do that because I feel the icy hand of creeping prostatism… Dude, tell your proctologist to warm up his hands …😃 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/32 "2012-04-29T17:05:15Z")
The average (arithmetic mean) would be between 0 and 1, but you don’t include fractional options in your poll. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/33 "2012-04-29T18:05:15Z")
Almost never. But it’s one of the first things I do as soon as I get up in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/34 "2012-04-29T18:59:04Z")
Interestingly, almost always between 3:55 and 4:08 am. You’d think there would be much more natural variation in the exact time. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/35 "2012-04-29T19:42:06Z")
I said one, but that’s because its either 0 or many. Peeing is incidental, I never wake up from needing to pee, but if I wake up after more than 2 hours for any reason, me bladder wants attention. So on shitty nights where I keep waking up to a conscious state, I sometimes pee 4 or more. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/36 "2012-05-01T16:58:24Z")
science just can’t be held back. > **[Why the Urge to Pee Ruins Sleep for Some](https://news.yahoo.com/why-urge-pee-ruins-sleep-150335605.html)** > > For most people, sleep is undisturbed by the need to pee, because our bladders seem to hold more urine over night. But just how this happens, and why some people are unable to do this, has remained a mystery until now. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/37 "2012-05-01T17:06:08Z")
Female, basically zero unless something wakes me up into a decent level of consciousness. And yeah, after turning off the alarm and grabbing my glasses, it’s my absolute next thing to do in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/38 "2012-05-01T17:10:32Z")
I voted one, but it’s not every night. Also, it’s usually like an hour or two before I have to get up, so not the middle of the night. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/39 "2012-05-01T17:20:57Z")
I voted zero, because I don’t recall _ever_ doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286/40 "2012-05-01T17:49:10Z")
Depends how long I sleep but I checked four or more. If I only get six hours, it is more like two or three but if it is a weekend, I will get up every hour or two until I get up for good for the day. A 10pm to 10am sleep in would result in 5-6 bathroom trips. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-on-average-do-you-wake-up-during-the-night-to-pee/620286.md?page=3)