How many hours a day should you sleep?

Did you know that you need to sleep a certain number of hours a day depending on your age? It is very important. After all, a lack of sleep can lead to big problems. At the same time, too much sleep is also not recommended. Sleep is a fundamental process for the proper functioning of the entire body, and especially the brain.

It has been observed that the duration of sleep varies throughout life. This is why you need to sleep a certain number of hours depending on your age. The fact is that over time, a person's needs and lifestyle change.

How long you sleep depends on many factors. Of course, there are official guidelines for the number of hours of night rest. It can vary depending on the circumstances and condition of each individual.

Recommended sleep duration based on age.

As we noted, the amount of sleep you need will vary depending on your age. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) has provided a table showing the minimum and maximum hours of sleep based on age. It is based on the latest scientific research in the field.

So, according to this data, here is the recommended duration of sleep depending on age:

Newborns (0-3 months): 14 to 17 hours a day
Young infants (4-11 months): 12 to 15 hours a day
Infants (1-2 years old): 11 to 14 hours a day
Preschoolers (3-5 years old): 10 to 13 hours a day
School age (6-13 years old): 9 to 11 hours a day
Teenagers (14-17 years old): 8 to 10 hours a day
Young people (18-25 years old): 7 to 9 hours a day
Average age (26-64): 7 to 9 hours a day
Seniors (65 and older): 7 to 8 hours a day

Sleep patterns change throughout a person's life, which is why scientists have developed a guideline that lists the number of recommended hours of sleep based on age. This is a reliable parameter that guarantees a good rest.

Why is it so important to sleep a certain number of hours?

First of all, we want to say that here we are not talking about any specific figure. There are young people who sleep five hours a day and feel great. At the same time, others need to sleep at least nine hours.

How do you know if you are sleeping properly? Here you can focus primarily on the presence (or absence) of signs that you are not getting enough rest. For example, when a person is feeling lethargic and irritable during the day, they probably just don't get enough sleep. Likewise, if you wake up in the morning and want to go back to bed after a few minutes, this suggests that you need to sleep more.

There is one very reliable test - sleep for 15 days without any restrictions. Just forget about the alarm, get up and go to bed whenever you want. For example, you can do this while on vacation. If at the end you have no sleep disorders, and the schedule becomes constant, then you have a good rest in this mode.

Why does age affect sleep time?

Babies need more sleep than adults because it is important for their proper physical and psychological development. During sleep, the production of growth hormone increases in the body of children. This substance is especially important for the regulation of the development of internal organs and the maturation of the nervous system.

In addition, young children are constantly learning. Only in a dream do they manage to organize and assimilate the information received during the day. As the child grows and matures, the number of hours of sleep required decreases.

In turn, in adolescence, there is a temporary disorder of the circadian rhythm. This is a kind of internal biological clock. As a result, teens tend to fall asleep late at night and, therefore, getting up in the morning becomes a big problem. As we get older, we need less sleep.

"The hypothesis about the grandfather who sleeps badly"

A study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society indicates that one reason sleep patterns change with age may be a manifestation of evolutionary adaptation. This phenomenon is known as the "grandfather who sleeps poorly" hypothesis. What is this hypothesis about?

According to this hypothesis, one of the factors that helped our ancestors survive was that at least one person from the tribe did not sleep at night. Since the elderly worked less during the day, and being a sentinel did not require much effort, it makes sense that they were the ones who guarded the sleep of their fellow tribesmen at night.

In a study of modern primitive communities, it was found that older people go to bed much earlier and wake up at dawn. This may be behavior inherited from our ancestors. This hypothesis helps explain why sleep duration changes with age.