Getting a good night's sleep is just as important to your overall health as eating well and exercising regularly.2 So if you're snoring or regularly waking up tired you're probably not getting the amount and quality of sleep you need.
The amount of sleep you need changes over your lifespan. A newborn baby needs around 16 hours of sleep in every 24 hours and about half of that is REM* (dream sleep).
By the time you reach adolescence, you can most likely meet your sleep needs with 8 1/2 hours of sleep a night, and only 2 of these will be REM sleep. At 50 years, you may get by on 6 hours with less than 1 hour of REM a night.
*REM is short for 'Rapid Eye Movements'. REM sleep is when you're most likely to dream.
How your sleep needs change as you age.6 Adapted from: The Development Course of Sleep. (2007). Sleep Syllabus.
It's not just the amount and type of sleep that changes with age.7 Other things happen to your sleep patterns. As you age, your sleep tends to be more shallow and you may find you're disturbed more easily during the night by outside noises or a restless bladder. Older people often like to have an afternoon nap which can interfere with their sleep at night. They're also more likely to go to bed early and wake up early. Pain can also disrupt sleep during the night.
Light sleep
Light sleep occurs as you're drifting off to sleep. This stage may last for several minutes, during which time your pulse and breathing slow down and your muscles begin to relax. At the same time, your brain waves begin to change to sleep mode.
Non REM sleep
Before you enter deeper sleep, you go through a stage of non-REM sleep. Your pulse, breathing and brain waves continue to slow, your body temperature drops and your muscles relax more.
Deep sleep
This is the kind of sleep you need to ensure that you wake up feeling like you slept well. You get most of your phase 3 sleep during the first half of the night. Your pulse, breathing and brain waves slow further and it’s quite difficult to wake up from this stage of sleep.
REM sleep
Your first period of REM sleep (when you’re most likely to dream) usually takes place about an hour and a half after falling asleep. If someone looked at you while you were in REM sleep, they’d notice that your eyes are moving rapidly from side to side behind your closed lids. Your brain waves change and resemble the brain waves seen when you’re awake. You breathe faster, and your pulse increases. If you are woken during REM sleep, you may remember your dream.
During the night your brain will cycle through these sleep phases, favouring REM sleep and lighter sleep as you approach morning.
Sleep is just as important to your health as diet and exercise, so make sure you've got enough time for sleep and plan the rest of your day around it.
Good sleep is easier when you follow a routine. Create a consistent bedtime ritual. By going to bed and waking up at the same time, you'll find it's easier to fall asleep each night.
Sleep is just as important to your health as diet and exercise, so make sure you've got enough time for sleep and plan the rest of your day around it.
Whether it's TV, reading, email or texting, give yourself a nice window of time to unplug and relax before bedtime. Your body should associate your bed with sleep so avoid activities that ramp up your brain activity instead of slowing it down. Screens and bright lights can also suppress melatonin production - making it difficult to fall asleep.
