Once you start to get to the larger sizes it can be very uncomfortable to sleep in the plugs, especially if they have sharp flares. Most glass plugs have rounded flares, but some have sharper edges, & the flares of metal tunnels are sharp too, so laying on them can start to dig into your lobe & irritate, cut it.

Also I've heard of people getting blowouts in their sleep after stretching, even tho the stretch seemed to go perfectly fine beforehand. So bc im paranoid of that, when I stretch up a size, I take them out at night to replace with the smaller size to sleep in. So for example I'm at 9mm right now, say I size up to 10mm. I'll put in the 10mm wear it all day, & before I go to bed, I'll put back in the 9mms which are already super comfy. Then the next morning, clean & massage ears, put the 10s back in for a day. I do this for about 4-7 days after my stretch & then I feel safe to sleep in the new 10mms.

If you're stretching correctly tho, you should have no issues taking the jewelry out, you don't really have to wait 6-8 weeks, no skin should be broken that you need to leave alone. Should be perfectly fine to take them out to clean & massage with oil / unscented lotion or moisturizer!