This method sets restrictions on the time you spend in bed each night.  The initial limit used is the same as the amount of sleep you tend to get on a nightly basis.  For example, you may only get five hours of sleep even though you spend seven hours in bed at night.  Two hours in bed are spent trying to fall asleep or go back to sleep after waking up.  In this case, your initial limit would be to spend only five hours in bed at night.  This means you would be likely to get less than five hours of sleep.

This sleep loss will make you even more tired at first.  But it will also help you fall asleep faster and wake up fewer times in the night.  This gives you a solid period of sleep and a more stable sleep pattern.  As your sleep improves, the limit on your time in bed is slowly increased.  The goal is to reach the point where you get the amount of sleep you need without reducing the quality of your sleep.

04/2008  Content reviewed by Richard Parisi, MD