Sleep is one of the most important things that you do each day. Without adequate sleep, you will find yourself exhausted, your productivity decreases and you are not as sharp and focused as you need to be. It is important that you know how much to sleep because you need a good sleep balance.
How many hours of sleep is healthy? The answer to this question will vary based on your age and several other factors. It is important to determine the right amount and that you get this amount each night to ensure optimal health.
How Many Hours Should I Sleep?
When you sleep, your body goes through three primary sleep cycles and it is important that you are going through all of these for the right amount of time in order to get restful sleep. The three stages of sleep are as follows:
- Stage one: During this stage, the sleep is not very restorative. You are just lightly dozing.
- Stage two: This is middle sleep and it is moderately restorative.
- Stage three: This is the most restorative stage of sleep. It is a slow-wave deep sleep.
You also have non-REM and REM sleep. When you are dreaming you are in REM sleep, or rapid eye movement. When you are not dreaming, you are in non-REM sleep.
To get through all of the stages of sleep, you have to sleep the right amount of hours and this will vary by age. For the average adult, for example, the average is 7 to 9 hours per night. It is important to note that while you need to get enough sleep, you have to be mindful and make sure that you are not getting too much sleep because this can cause problems too.
How Many Hours of Sleep Do Adults Need?
Adults ages 18 and older should make sure to get seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Even if you think you feel great on more or less sleep, lack of sleep is doing damage. There are some signs that will tell you if you are not getting enough sleep and these include:
- To wake up in the morning, you have to use an alarm clock
- Within five minutes of going to bed, you fall asleep most night of the week
- You feel the need to take naps several days a week just to get through the day
- You start to feel drowsy when you are relaxing, such as when you are watching television
- When you do not have to work on the weekends, you feel like you have to sleep in to catch up on sleep
- You frequently hit your snooze button to get a few more hours of sleep
How Many Hours of Sleep Do Teenagers Need?
Those weird moods and other issues that you notice in teenagers may not be related to their hormones, but due to not getting the right amount of sleep. These may include:
- Lack of motivation
- Irritability and moodiness
- Having a difficult time solving problems or being creative
- Having a hard time trying to cope with stress
- Impaired motor skills
- Getting sick more often than is normal for them
- Gaining weight
- Having problems with memory, focus and concentration
- Sleeping in very late on the weekends
It is common for teenagers to not get enough sleep because they are so busy with school, extracurricular activities and trying to keep up with their friends and a busy social schedule.
Teenagers are those ages 13 to 18 years old. Those in this age bracket need to get between 8.5 hours and 10 hours each night. This is critical to ensure things like good grades and good extracurricular performance.
How Many Hours Should a Newborn Sleep?
Your newborn needs a lot of sleep to grow and thrive. On average. Newborns need 12 to 18 hours of sleep per day. Newborns are those ages birth to two months old.
Newborns tend to sleep in spurts throughout the day, but make sure that the sleep schedule is relatively regular to ensure that they are getting enough sleep and to make sure that the sleep is high in quality.
How Many Hours Do Babies Sleep?
The baby and toddler years are a critical time of development and to ensure proper development, children in this age bracket must get adequate sleep. Babies, which include those ages three months to one year old, need to get 14 to 15 hours of sleep each night.
This ensures that their body is restored and getting the rest that it requires to grow and thrive. Create a bedtime routine for your baby and stick to it. This will help them to sleep well through the night.
How Many Hours of Sleep Do Children Need?
The age of the child determines exactly how much sleep they need. Use the following to ensure that your children are getting the right amount of sleep each night:
- Children ages three to five need to get between 11 and 13 hours of sleep every night
- Children ages five to 12 need to get between 10 and 11 hours of sleep each night
Make sure that you set a solid bedtime for your children and create a relaxing pre-bed routine. This will make it easier to get your kids to bed and make sure that they get all of the rest that they need.
How many hours of sleep is healthy? You now have the answer to this question and you can start working toward getting good sleep every night. Make sure that you set up a sleep schedule that you are able to stick to on a nightly basis.
This makes it easier to ensure that you are getting adequate sleep. A solid schedule will also balance your sleep-wake cycle so that you can be sure that you are able to get a restful night’s sleep because your body will be ready for sleep when it is time to go to bed.
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