Thread: Why do I have to sleep so long in order to recall my dreams?

I have noticed that while preparing for exams (and thus have been home from school for the past couple weeks) and have been able to sleep much more than usual that my dream recall has been excellent. In fact, the first two LDs that I've had in recent time were two nights in a row during this period. But when I actually had to get up to meet early in the day for the past few days, my dream recall was quite poor, even though I slept for about 8 hours. I've noticed this is recurring, so it seems to be a pattern. Some days I barely had anything to note down at all, perhaps two small dream fragments. But when I sleep for 9-10 hours I can remember 5-6 dreams on a good night, and my two recent LDs were both around the early morning after the sun had come up.

The few dreams I do remember during the earlier part of the night are almost always very dull and don't seem to last very long at all. When I fall asleep sometimes I see dream fragments coming together in my head, but they almost always vanish entirely when I fall asleep and the first memorable dreams come at least 3-5 hours later. But if I can sleep 9-10 hours and occasionally more, then when I've reached the 9-10 hour mark I can just start dreaming and keep dreaming over and over again, and thus have many dreams in succession, some even connected with the previous ones. During the night I am very often just awake and then I go out like a light, without any warning. I often "drop asleep" rather than "fall asleep", if that makes sense.

Is there anything I can do about this to improve my situation? Or will I just have to accept that this is how my sleep pattern is and so I probably only can LD when I have the luxury of sleeping for 9-10 hours or more?

Your dreams are more dull and are shorter when you sleep less time since your REM mode (the part of the sleep where you're dreaming) is shorter when you sleep less time, therefore your dream might be shorter /+ less vivid.
Your brain needs its rest,instead of watching television take an quick nap

Well, it is a lot easier to remember your dreams when you sleep longer for 2 reasons - 1st, REM periods get longer as the sleep cycle goes on. Your first REM periods are very short, but each one is progressively longer, until they're almost continuous just before you wake up (if you sleep for a long time). 2nd, when you sleep in, you probably allow yourself to lay in bed rather than jup up and immediately start thinking about the day ahead. This is a good technique to help remember dreams - anything you do that's related to waking life draws you out of the reverie of sleep and dream. In other words, lie still, keep your eyes closed, and just let your mind drift when you wake up, and yu'll start to remember your dreams.

In answer to your last question, the one thing I can think of that can help on'short' nights is to time it so you wake up from a REM period. They happen every 90 minutes, and each is longer than the last (I don't know by how much) so it goes like this:

90 minutes
3 hours
4 1/2 hours
6 hours
7 1/2 hours

Your best bet is to try to wake up at one of these times (slightly after, so you're already in REM).

I think I may try taking a nap more regularly, but how long should a nap typically last and when is the best time to nap in consideration to the REM cycle? I think I sometimes take too long of naps, but I don't know if it matters that much.

How do I know when I am in an REM cycle? I've heard of some people who use programs designed to predict approximate REM cycle, but I don't know much about those.

You should read the Sleep Stages, it might help.
If I am correct the REM mode is about 20~25% of the time you slept.
And about the naps, take naps so you won't be sleepy in daytime, don't take a nap that'll be to long because you won't be able to sleep at night.
I hope the information I provided you was helpful.

Thank you Harelori, your information is very helpful, and I will take a look at that link too.

Originally Posted by Norvii

Thank you Harelori, your information is very helpful, and I will take a look at that link too.

Your welcome.
Let me know how things went out for you, feel free to PM me for any more help.