Alright, thx for all the replies... from what I could tell, it lessened the time we were asleep, but only by a lil bit... But hey, every lil bit counts, right?? :lol:
Bar status spells don't block the effects, they only shorten the duration. On top of this, they usually only shorten it by 1-2 seconds at best. This is most apparent in dynamsis against the petrification aoe spamming scorpions. Cast bar petrify (whatever its called) and your parties petrify will wear off after about 30 seconds only a couple seconds earlier than everyone else. Best way to block status effects is actually with the matching barelement spell. EG: combat aoe paralyze with barice because paralyze is ice based. Hope that clears things up a little.
I'm not sure of the mandy's sleep, but regular blm and rdm sleep and sleepga are dark which there is no barspell for. Bard's lullaby is light which again their is no barspell for unless you count bard's carols. So either way, there's no preventing it.