Sleep Requirements, Needs, Cycles, and Stages
Why can’t I sleep? Why am I so tired? If you’re like half of all adults, you may not be sleeping well and not getting the right amount of sleep. Today’s fast paced society can make sleep seem like a luxury, not a need, but this is simply not true: you need quality sleep for good health. Sleep deprivation affects your entire body and mind.
Getting good, restorative sleep is not just a matter of hitting the pillow at night and waking up in the morning. Regulated by your body clock, your nighttime journey consists of sleep cycles with specific sleep stages, all vital for your body. Understanding these sleeping needs, cycles and stages can help you get better sleep.
What happens if we don’t get enough sleep?
Many of us want to sleep as little as possible. There is so much to do that sleep seems like a waste of time. Yet sleep, an essential time of rest and rejuvenation, benefits our minds and bodies in many ways. When you continuously don’t get the amount of sleep you need, you begin to pay for it in daytime drowsiness, trouble concentrating, irritability, increased risk of falls and accidents, and lower productivity.
Sleep benefits to our mood, memory and concentration
Have you ever pulled an “all nighter” to study for a final exam, only to find that you can barely remember what you studied during the test? Sleep helps to organize memories, solidify learning, and improve concentration. Proper sleep, especially sleep where you are actively dreaming (REM sleep), regulates mood as well. Lack of sleep can make you irritable and cranky, affecting your emotions, social interaction, and decision making. Sleep deprivation also affects motor skills, enough to be similar to driving while drunk if seriously sleep deprived. Driver fatigue, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, causes over 100,000 accidents and 1500 deaths each year.
Sleep benefits to our immune system, nervous system and development
Immune system. It doesn’t seem fair. Right when you are exhausted after a stressful move or a big project at work, you come down with a cold. That’s no accident - sleep is essential to the immune system. Without adequate sleep, the immune system becomes weak, and the body becomes more vulnerable to infection and disease.
Nervous system. Sleep is also a time of rest and repair to neurons. Neurons are the freeways of the nervous system that carry out both voluntary commands, like moving your arm, and involuntary commands, like breathing and digestive processes.
Hormone release. Many hormones, substances produced to trigger or regulate particular body functions, are timed to release during sleep or right before sleep. Growth hormones, for example, are released during sleep, vital to growing children but also for restorative processes like muscle repair.
Sleep deprivation and how it affects your life
How do you know if you’re getting the sleep you need? Sleep deprivation occurs when you are not sleeping the right amount for your individual needs. Sometimes sleep deprivation is short term, like a college student pulling an all nighter. Chronic sleep deprivation often occurs in professions who work long hours, caregivers with multiple responsibilities, a concurrent sleep disorder or another disease that interferes with sleep. If you are falling asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow, regularly need an alarm clock to wake up, or feel the need for frequent naps during the day, it is very likely you are sleep deprived.
Other signs you may be suffering from sleep deprivation include:
- difficulty waking up in the morning
- poor performance in school, on the job, or in sports
- increased clumsiness
- difficulty making decisions
- falling asleep during work or class
- feeling especially moody or irritated
Sleep deprivation can be dangerous not only to you but others, since it affects motor skills like driving. Chronic sleep deprivation is also thought to cause long term changes to the body, which contribute to increased risk for obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
Find out how much sleep you need
So how much sleep do you need? A rule of thumb is to consider how you normally feel after sleep. Do you feel refreshed and alert, or groggy and exhausted? If you don’t feel refreshed, chances are you’re not sleeping enough. Sleep requirements are highly individual and depend on many factors:
- your age and genetic makeup
- what you do during your waking hours, including exercise
- the quality of your sleep
Amount of Sleep Needed
Infants : About 16 hours per day of sleep
Babies and toddlers : From 6 months to 3 years: between 10 and 14 hours per day. Infants and young children generally get their sleep from a combination of nighttime sleep and naps.
Children
Ages 3 to 6: between 10 and 12 hours of sleep
Ages 6 to 9: about 10 hours of sleep
Ages 9 to 12: about 9 hours of sleep
Teenagers
About 9 hours of sleep per night. Teens have trouble getting enough sleep not only because of their busy schedules, but also because they are biologically programmed to want to stay up later and sleep later in the morning, which usually doesn’t mesh with school schedules.
Adults
For most adults, 7 to 8 hours a night appears to be the best amount of sleep.
Older adults
Older adults are also thought to need 7-8 hours of sleep. However, this sleep may be for shorter time spans, is lighter than a younger adult’s, and may include a nap during the day. See Sleep & Aging for more detailed information.
Pregnant women
During pregnancy, women may need a few more hours of sleep per night, or find that they need small catnaps during the day.
Paying off your sleep debt
Your body can’t just bounce back from not sleeping enough. Sleep deprivation adds up to what is called a sleep debt. A sleep debt can range from one night’s very poor sleep to the accumulation of many days of not enough sleep. Although you won’t be getting letters from creditors if you ignore this sleep debt, not paying it off leads to decreased mental and physical health.
Paying off your sleep debt and getting your body back to normal may seem difficult or impossible with work and family responsibilities. However, making up for lost sleep and improving future sleep habits will increase your productivity and health in the long run.
Short term sleep debt
For a short term sleep debt, like a night or two of little sleep, you may just need a day or two of increased sleep to make it up. However, try not to make it a habit. Making up sleep on the weekends so you can sleep less during the week, for example, can disrupt overall sleep quality. Your sleep will be better if you go to bed and wake up at roughly the same time each day.
Long term sleep debt
If you have been chronically sleep deprived, you might need a longer time to make up your sleep debt. You may even need to take a sleep vacation, where you devote a few days to sleeping as long as needed. Although it may seem excessive at first, soon your body will revert to your optimum sleep needs.
Getting the sleep you need
How can you make sure you get the sleep you need? A few extra hours here and there if you are sleep deprived might make you feel better for a short time. But it won’t get you the quality sleep you need for the best health. To consistently meet sleep requirements for both deep sleep and REM sleep, you need to set the stage for good sleep on a daily basis. This involves:
- improving your daytime habits
- creating a better sleep environment
- avoiding food and drink that might interfere with sleep
- developing a good bedtime routine
See Tips for Getting Better Sleep for how to design a routine and plan that works with your individual needs.
What if insomnia or another sleep problem is interfering with my sleep?
Do you spend hours staring at the wall at night, worrying more and more that you can’t sleep? You are not alone - over 40 million Americans a year will suffer from some sort of sleep disorder. Common sleep disorders include insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and narcolepsy. See the other articles in this series to learn more about causes and cures for common sleep problems
Insomnia Causes and Cures - Relaxation Techniques, CBT and Other Drug-Free Treatments
Sleep Disorders and Problems - Symptoms, Tests and Treatment
Snoring – Symptoms, Causes, Cures and Treatment
Sleep Apnea – Symptoms, Causes and Treatment
Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) – Finding Relief from Symptoms and Choosing a Treatment
Narcolepsy – Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment
Sleep & Aging – Healthy Habits to Reduce Sleeping Problems and Prevent Insomnia
Sleep Medications - Benefits and Risks of Sleeping Pills and Sleep Medications
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