Some people love to sleep while others hate it. There are people who wouldn’t get up early on a weekend even if the world were ending, while others seem to have thumbtacks in their beds because they can’t stand getting up after eight in the morning. Be that as it may and you belong to the group you belong to, you should know that sleep is a fundamental factor for health. Sleep is necessary to keep us strong and energetic during the day, however, most of the time quality matters much more than quantity.
If the quality of sleep is adequate, the time it takes to rest properly can vary from person to person. And in this last aspect the age of each individual greatly influences. Yes, as you read it, a 65-year-old person does not need to sleep the same number of hours as a newborn baby. The needs of each one’s body change as we turn years.
How much sleep should each person per day? The answer is not 8 hours. Here we reveal the mystery.
Number of hours that each person should sleep according to their age
The body is restored both physically and psychologically when we sleep. Restful sleep each night is necessary to live, however not everyone needs to rest the same amount of time. This is the number of hours each person should sleep according to their age Take note of her!
- Newborns (0-3 months): Newborns should sleep between 14 and 17 hours a day, although it is considered acceptable that this time be reduced to between 11 and 13 hours. Of course, you should never exceed 18.
- Babies (4-11 months): their necessary sleep time is between 12 and 15 hours. It should never be less than 11 hours or more than 16.
- Young children (1-2 years old): young children should not sleep less than 9 hours and should not exceed 15 or 16 hours. The recommended daily sleep time in this case is between 11 and 14 hours.
- Children of preschool age (3-5 years): the ideal sleep time for them is between 10 and 13 hours. It should never be less than 7 or more than 12.
- Children of school age (6-13 years): in this case the necessary sleep time decreases to 9-11 hours.
- Adolescents (14-17 years old): it is best that adolescents sleep 8.5 to 10 hours a day.
- Younger adults (18-25 years old): their adequate sleep time is between 7 and 9 hours a day.
- Adults (26-64 years old): the sleep needs of this group are exactly the same as those of the previous group, that is, 7-9 hours a day.
- Older people (over 65 years old): their optimal sleep time is 7-8 hours a day, although usually this amount tends to be reduced. At this age, in addition, the quality of sleep also tends to worsen.
These are the recommendations, but the truth is that in addition to age, there are many other factors that can also affect circadian rhythms (the wake-sleep cycle), altering both the time spent sleeping and its quality (sleep cycle). REM and non-REM sleep). These factors are: the time devoted to television, mobile phones or other electronic devices, drinking stimulant or energy drinks, studying at night, an uncomfortable bed, frequent interruptions to go to the bathroom in older people, etc.
Quantity is not the only thing that matters
The number of hours of sleep per day is essential for the health of our body, but it is not the only thing. In this sense, quality is what is truly important. It is not the same to sleep deeply for 8 hours in a row than to sleep those same hours, but lightly and discontinuously. We need a prolonged sleep so that our body is able to restore all its functions and activate itself to face the next day.
In today’s times we do not pay enough attention to rest. We want to cover millions of things throughout the day and we think that stealing hours of sleep is the most appropriate. Mistake! Not sleeping the necessary time can end up causing us stress, anxiety and, what is worse: depression.
For these reasons, it is very important that we become aware of the serious consequences of not sleeping well, which accumulate in the long term and can produce irreparable squeal.