You know sleep is important. But clocking a full eight hours every night seems like a luxury. How much do you really need? Show Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy “Two of the main factors that determine the amount of sleep you need are genetics and age,” says Michelle Drerup, PsyD, a psychologist and sleep disorder specialist. Here’s how to find out if you’re hitting your target — or whether your bedtime needs a makeover. How many hours of sleep do I need?Babies need a lot of sleep. As kids grow, their sleep needs decrease. “By adulthood, most healthy people need 7 to 8.5 hours,” Dr. Drerup says. Here’s how much kids and adults need, on average according to the CDC: Shortchanging your sleep long-term can lead to a host of problems, including:
Sleep myths, bustedThough sleep needs vary depending on your genes, most adults fall in the seven-to-nine-hour range. If you think you thrive on less, you may want to reconsider. “There are people who are short sleepers, but it’s pretty rare,” Dr. Drerup notes. “We’re not very good judges of how sleep loss affects us, and most people who think they do well on little sleep would probably function better with a little more.” One common misconception is that older adults don’t need as much sleep as they did in middle age. Older adults should still aim for at least seven hours, Drerup says. “Older adults have different sleep patterns. They tend to sleep more lightly and may wake earlier in the morning,” she says. “But you still need the same amount of sleep over 24 hours, so if you’re sleeping less at night, you might need a nap during the day.” Sleep sleuth: Find out how much you needWhat’s the magic number of hours you should be sleeping? Dr. Drerup offers two strategies for finding out how rested you really are.
How long is a sleep cycle?An average sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes. Ideally, you want to get five or six of those cycles each night to feel fresh and rested. You might not have a lot of choice about what time the alarm clock rings in the morning. But you may be able to tweak your bedtime. Figure out how many hours you want to be slumbering, then add on an extra 15 minutes to give yourself time to fall asleep. For example: What Time Should I Wake Up and Go to Bed?Here are some targets for getting seven or eight hours of sleep. Tips for bedtime successDr. Drerup offers these tips for sleep success:
When you’re feeling regularly well-rested and bright-eyed after a solid night’s sleep, you’ll wonder why you ever tried to get by with less. Is 6 hours Enough sleep?For many of us, six hours of sleep is not enough for one night. Scientific evidence indicates the average sleep need is around 8 hours and 10 minutes per night (plus or minus 44 minutes or so), with a not-insignificant percentage of the population (13.5%) requiring nine hours or more of sleep time.
Is it OK to get 5 hours of sleep once?But five hours of sleep out of a 24-hour day isn't enough, especially in the long term. According to a 2018 study of more than 10,000 people, the body's ability to function declines if sleep isn't in the seven- to eight-hour range.
Is 7 hours sleep better than 8?Having trouble getting that ideal 8 hours of sleep? So is everyone else. But there's some good news — you may only need 7 hours of it. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Research Society (SRS) have issued a new recommendation, saying seven is the magic sleep number for most healthy adults.
Is 7 hrs sleep enough?For adults, getting less than seven hours of sleep a night on a regular basis has been linked with poor health, including weight gain, having a body mass index of 30 or higher, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and depression.
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