Quick answer: Yes, many people in pre-industrial Europe seem to have slept in two blocks, called "first sleep" and "second sleep", with a quiet spell of waking in between. Historian A. Roger Ekirch found hundreds of references to this pattern in old diaries, court records and medical books. But newer research shows it was probably not the only way people slept, and some modern groups living without electric light sleep in one block.
The long nights are back. The clocks go back this weekend, and the evenings are getting darker across the UK. If you sometimes wake at 2am and lie there wondering what is wrong with you, this true story about how our ancestors slept might change how you feel about it.
What are "first sleep" and "second sleep"?
Segmented sleep is when a night's rest is split into two parts, with a period of being awake in the middle. In old English writing, the first part was often called "first sleep" or "dead sleep", and the second part "second sleep" or "morning sleep" (World Economic Forum / Big Think).
Accounts of the timings vary. One summary of Ekirch's work describes people going to bed soon after dark, sleeping about four hours, waking for a few hours, then sleeping again from around 2am until morning (Psychiatric Times). Other accounts place the waking spell around midnight and describe it as lasting about an hour (ScienceAlert, 2026).
How did a historian discover the lost night?
The story starts with A. Roger Ekirch, a history professor at Virginia Tech in the United States. His university describes his work on the history of segmented sleep as "path-breaking" (Virginia Tech).
There was very little scientific sleep research before the 20th century. So Ekirch spent years reading the written record instead: diaries, court records, medical books and early literature. In his 2005 book At Day's Close: Night in Times Past, he reported more than 500 references to "first" and "second" sleep, going back as far as Homer's Odyssey (World Economic Forum / Big Think). More recent reports say he has since traced over 2,000 references (ScienceAlert, 2026).
What struck him was not just the number of mentions. It was how casually people wrote about it, as if everyone already knew what "first sleep" meant.
What did people do between first and second sleep?
The waking spell, sometimes called "the watch", was not a time of panic or tossing and turning. According to Ekirch's sources, people used it for all sorts of quiet tasks (World Economic Forum / Big Think; Psychiatric Times):
- Praying and quiet reflection
- Tending the fire or stove
- Small household chores, such as chopping wood
- Chatting with a bed partner or visiting neighbours
- Time with a partner: Ekirch even found a 16th-century French doctor who said the best time to try for a baby was after a restful first sleep
Picture a cold farmhouse in December. The fire has burned low, the house is dark, and someone gets up to add a log before settling back into bed. For many households, that was simply part of the night.
Why did segmented sleep disappear?
Ekirch and other historians link the change to the spread of artificial light and new ideas about time (World Economic Forum / Big Think):
- Better lighting: As homes and streets became better lit, evenings got longer and busier. Bedtimes moved later, and the two blocks of sleep slowly merged into one.
- Changing attitudes: Lying in bed for long hours started to look lazy. Ekirch found an 1825 medical journal giving parents advice along these lines.
- The Industrial Revolution: A focus on efficiency made the night-time watch seem like a waste of good rest.
Historian Craig Koslofsky, author of Evening's Empire, adds another layer. Before the 18th century, the late night outside the home was seen as belonging to people of bad reputation, so a quiet watch at home was the main night-time activity most people wanted.
The experiment that seemed to bring it back
While historians were reading old diaries, a scientist found something similar in a lab. In the early 1990s, US researcher Thomas Wehr studied what happens when people get long, winter-style nights.
Volunteers moved from their usual 16 hours of light to just 10 hours of light and 14 hours of darkness each day, for about a month (Wehr, Journal of Sleep Research, 1992). One account of the study describes eight healthy men taking part (Psychiatric Times).
At first they slept about 11 hours a night, likely catching up on lost sleep. Over the following weeks, their sleep settled into two blocks of roughly four hours each, separated by one to three hours of calm, quiet waking. They were not stressed or restless during that gap. The finding was a side result of a study on light and melatonin, the hormone your body releases in darkness to help you feel sleepy (Wikipedia summary of Wehr's work).
Is the "two sleeps" story true? What the critics say
Here is where the story gets more interesting. Segmented sleep is a real part of history, but it may not be the full picture.
Hunter-gatherers who sleep in one block
In 2015, a team including UCLA sleep researcher Jerry Siegel tracked sleep in three groups living without electricity: the Hadza in Tanzania, the San in Namibia and the Tsimane in Bolivia (Yetish et al., Current Biology, 2015). They slept between 5.7 and 7.1 hours a night, and their sleep was not broken up by long periods of waking.
People often stayed up for hours after sunset, rarely napped and slept a little more in winter (NPR). The researchers found that sleep lined up closely with the nightly fall in temperature, and people tended to wake near the coldest point of the night. They suggested that modern homes, which keep the temperature steady, remove this natural signal. If you are thinking about your own bedroom this winter, our guide on whether you should sleep with the heating on covers the best temperature for sleep.
To be fair to the other side, a 2017 study of 21 people in a farming community in Madagascar without electric light found they still mostly slept in two segments (ScienceAlert, 2026). So human sleep patterns seem to vary from place to place.
A historian takes a second look
In 2023, Niall Boyce re-examined the English evidence in the journal Medical History (Boyce, 2023). He did not deny that segmented sleep existed. But he found that "first sleep" in old texts could mean several things, such as the early part of the night or simply deep sleep. Many passages described unwanted waking rather than a normal routine.
His conclusion was that segmented sleep "may have been practised by some individuals", but "it was not the sole or even necessarily the predominant model of sleep in the early modern period."
So the fair summary is this: two sleeps was a real and familiar pattern for many people in the past, but it was probably one of several ways people slept, not a single "natural" rule.
What this means for your sleep
The biggest lesson from this story is a calming one. Waking briefly in the night is common, and it does not automatically mean something is wrong. As sleep psychologist Gregg Jacobs has put it, "Waking up during the night is part of normal human physiology" (World Economic Forum / Big Think).
Worrying about being awake can keep you awake for longer. If you wake in the small hours this winter, these simple steps may help:
- Do not clock-watch. Checking the time and lying there frustrated can feed the cycle (ScienceAlert, 2026).
- Get up if you cannot settle. If you are still awake after about 20 minutes, get up and do something dull until you feel sleepy again.
- Keep the room dark and quiet. NI Direct, part of the UK government, lists a dark, quiet bedroom and a regular sleep and wake time among its self-help tips for insomnia (NI Direct).
- Watch the evening drinks. The same guidance suggests avoiding alcohol, tea and coffee within six hours of bed. Our guide to alcohol and sleep explains why a nightcap can backfire.
- Anchor your mornings. A steady wake-up time helps your body clock, which matters even more as the clocks change. See our tips on protecting your sleep when the clocks go back.
There is one important difference between the past and today. Ekirch's sleepers seem to have woken calmly and drifted back off. If your night waking leaves you exhausted, or you lie awake for hours, that is not a history lesson to accept. NI Direct advises seeing your GP if changing your habits has not helped, if you have had trouble sleeping for months, or if it makes daily life hard to cope with. Our article on why you keep waking up at 3am also looks at common causes.
Frequently asked questions
What is first sleep and second sleep?
First sleep and second sleep are old names for two blocks of night-time sleep with a period of waking in between. Historian A. Roger Ekirch found hundreds of references to this pattern in pre-industrial writing, from diaries to court records.
Did people really sleep twice a night?
Many people in pre-industrial Europe seem to have done so. But a 2023 review of English sources found the evidence is mixed, and segmented sleep was probably not the only or main way everyone slept.
Why did people stop having two sleeps?
Historians link the change to better artificial lighting, later bedtimes and new ideas about time and efficiency during the Industrial Revolution. Over time, the two blocks of sleep merged into one.
Is it normal to wake up in the middle of the night?
Brief waking in the night is common and not usually a sign of a problem. If you regularly struggle to get back to sleep, feel exhausted in the day, or have had sleep problems for months, speak to your GP.
Should I try segmented sleep?
There is no strong evidence that switching to two sleeps on purpose is better for modern adults. A regular routine and enough total sleep matter most. If you are thinking about a big change to your sleep pattern, it is worth talking to your GP first.
The bottom line
For many people in the past, a night was not one long sleep but two, with a quiet watch in the middle. The full story is more mixed than the viral version, but it holds a useful reminder: waking in the night is part of being human. For more simple, evidence-based changes, read our guide on how to improve sleep quality.
This post is for information only and is not medical advice. If you have ongoing sleep problems or a health condition, please speak to your GP.
Written by the DELIM team, a UK sleep wellness brand.
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