You’ve heard the standard advice: Get eight hours of sleep a night. But is that true across the board? The answer seems to be that it depends.
How much sleep you need depends on factors such as age and health status. You may need to experiment to find your personal sweet spot.
Age
As you would expect, infants and toddlers need the most sleep — nine to 10 hours at night plus naps during the day. School-age children, including teens, do best with nine to 11 hours a night. Most adults require seven to eight hours of sleep each night.
While older adults need about the same amount of sleep as younger adults, older adults tend to sleep more lightly and for shorter periods than do younger adults. Older adults often compensate by spending more time in bed at night or napping during the day.
Pregnancy
Changes in a woman’s body during early pregnancy can increase the need for sleep. Yet pregnancy symptoms, including nausea and vomiting, frequent urination, back pain, leg cramps, and heartburn, may make it difficult to sleep.
Health problems and medications
People who have chronic asthma or bronchitis tend to have more problems falling asleep and staying asleep than healthy people, either because of their breathing difficulties or because of their medications. Other chronic painful or uncomfortable conditions — such as arthritis, congestive heart failure, gastric reflux and sickle cell anemia — also can make it hard to get enough sleep.
Certain commonly used prescription and over-the-counter medicines contain ingredients that can keep you awake. These ingredients include decongestants and steroids. Heart and blood pressure medications known as beta blockers can make it difficult to fall asleep and can cause more awakenings during the night.
Sleep deprivation
If you’re sleep deprived, the amount of sleep you need increases. And if you consistently skimp on sleep, a sleep debt builds up that affects your health and quality of life.
Many people try to make up for lost sleep during the week by sleeping more on the weekends. But if you’ve lost too much sleep, sleeping in on a weekend can’t completely erase your sleep debt. In addition, sleeping later on the weekends can affect your biological clock, making it harder to go to sleep at the right time on Sunday nights and get up on time on Monday mornings.
Genetics
Do some people just need fewer hours of sleep a night? Yes, it’s estimated that somewhere between 1 and 5 percent of the population are short sleepers — people who sleep six hours or less a night without ill effects. The need for less sleep tends to run in families, as does the need for more sleep, which suggests a genetic basis for sleep duration.
The sweet spot
Studies suggest that getting less than seven hours — or more than nine hours — of sleep a night is associated with increased risk of health problems and psychiatric disorders, especially mood disorders, and a higher mortality rate.
Beyond the numbers
The most important factor in determining how much sleep you need is whether you routinely feel sleepy during the day. Do you tend to fall asleep in low stimulus situations, such as long drives, reading, watching television, talking on the phone or completing desk work? If you do, you’re likely not getting enough sleep.
Take steps to increase the amount of sleep you’re getting. If that doesn’t help you feel more rested and alert during the day, consult your doctor. He or she can look for possible underlying causes, such as sleep apnea, that can be treated to improve your sleep quality and reduce daytime sleepiness.
Insomnia
You are having trouble sleeping lately. Does this increase your chances of getting sick?
Yes, lack of sleep can affect your immune system. Studies show that people who don’t get quality sleep or enough sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus, such as the common cold. Lack of sleep can also affect how fast you recover if you do get sick.
During sleep, your immune system releases proteins called cytokines, some of which help promote sleep. These cytokines need to increase when you have an infection or inflammation, or when you’re under stress. Sleep deprivation may decrease production of these protective cytokines. In addition, infection-fighting antibodies and cells are reduced during periods when you don’t get enough sleep.
So, your body needs sleep to fight infectious diseases. Long-term lack of sleep also increases your risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart and blood vessel (cardiovascular) disease.
But more sleep isn’t always better. For adults, sleeping more than nine to 10 hours a night may result in poor quality of sleep, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep.
7 STEPS TO A BETTER SLEEP
You’re not doomed to toss and turn every night. Consider simple tips for better sleep, from setting a sleep schedule to including physical activity in your daily routine.
Think about all the factors that can interfere with a good night’s sleep — from pressure at work and family responsibilities to unexpected challenges, such as layoffs, relationship issues or illnesses. It’s no wonder that quality sleep is sometimes elusive.
Although you might not be able to control all of the factors that interfere with your sleep, you can adopt habits that encourage better sleep. Start with these simple sleep tips.
No. 1: Stick to a sleep schedule
Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends, holidays and days off. Being consistent reinforces your body’s sleep-wake cycle and helps promote better sleep at night. There’s a caveat, though. If you don’t fall asleep within about 15 minutes, get up and do something relaxing. Go back to bed when you’re tired. If you agonize over falling asleep, you might find it even tougher to nod off.
No. 2: Pay attention to what you eat and drink
Don’t go to bed either hungry or too stuffed. Your discomfort might keep you up. Also limit how much you drink before bed, to prevent disruptive middle-of-the-night trips to the toilet.
Nicotine, caffeine and alcohol deserve caution, too. The stimulating effects of nicotine and caffeine — which take hours to wear off — can wreak havoc with quality sleep. And even though alcohol might make you feel sleepy at first, it can disrupt sleep later in the night.
No. 3: Create a bedtime ritual
Do the same things each night to tell your body it’s time to wind down. This might include taking a warm bath or shower, reading a book, or listening to a soothing music — preferably with the lights dimmed. Relaxing activities can promote better sleep by easing the transition between wakefulness and drowsiness.
Be wary of using the TV or other electronic devices as part of your bedtime ritual. Some research suggests that screen time or other media use before bedtime interferes with sleep.
No. 4: Get comfortable
Create a room that’s ideal for sleeping. Often, this means cool, dark and quiet. Consider using room-darkening shades, a fan or other devices to create an environment that suits your needs. Your mattress and pillow can contribute to better sleep, too. Since the features of good bedding are subjective, choose what feels most comfortable to you. If you share your bed, make sure there’s enough room for two. If you have children or pets, set limits on how often they sleep with you — or insist on separate sleeping quarters.
No. 5: Limit daytime naps
Long daytime naps can interfere with nighttime sleep — especially if you’re struggling with insomnia or poor sleep quality at night. If you choose to nap during the day, limit yourself to about 10 to 30 minutes and make it during the mid afternoon.
If you work nights, you’ll need to make an exception to the rules about daytime sleeping. In this case, keep your window coverings closed so that sunlight — which adjusts your internal clock — doesn’t interrupt your daytime sleep.
No. 6: Include physical activity in your daily routine
Regular physical activity can promote better sleep, helping you to fall asleep faster and to enjoy deeper sleep. Timing is important, though. If you exercise too close to bedtime, you might be too energized to fall asleep. If this seems to be an issue for you, exercise earlier in the day.
No. 7: Manage stress
When you have too much to do — and too much to think about — your sleep is likely to suffer. To help restore peace to your life, consider healthy ways to manage stress. Start with the basics, such as getting organized, setting priorities and delegating tasks. Give yourself permission to take a break when you need one. Share a good laugh with an old friend. Before bed, jot down what’s on your mind and then set it aside for tomorrow.
Know when to contact your doctor
Nearly everyone has an occasional sleepless night — but if you often have trouble sleeping, contact your doctor. Identifying and treating any underlying causes can help you get the better sleep you deserve.