Sleep needs throughout life stages

Everyone needs sleep. How much you need at certain stages of your life may change, however.


Sleep and younger children
An infant typically needs about 13 to 18 hours of sleep, which includes naps. Most toddlers sleep from about 12 to 13 hours a day, which typically includes one or even two naps during the day. Past the infant and toddler years, children need about 10 hours of sleep a night. Sleep deprivation can lead to symptoms such as irritability, frustration, difficulty controlling impulses or attention problems.
Young children often think of sleep as a form of separation. If they're anxious about the separation, they may try to delay bedtime as much as possible. To minimize the anxiety, help your child establish a consistent bedtime and a regular bedtime routine.

Nightmares are common for children and may interfere with sleep. Nightmares can be especially frightening for younger children as the ability to imagine develops more rapidly than the ability to reason and test reality. Conditions such as sleepwalking or sleep terrors are less common than nightmares. When they appear, they're most common between ages 4 and 12.

Children usually outgrow common sleep problems. Talk with your child's doctor if these problems are persistent or interfere with your child's normal daily functioning.


Sleep and adolescents
Adolescents need about nine hours of sleep a night. In late puberty, the body secretes the sleep-related hormone melatonin at a different time than it does for younger children and adults. This changes the circadian rhythms that guide a teenager's sleep-wake cycle. Consequently, many teenagers are wide awake at 7 or 8 p.m. or much later into the night, just as adults are beginning to wind down. Some teens don't fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning. Normal growth and development during adolescence may increase a teen's need for sleep at times, which can make it tough to get up early in the morning. These factors may combine to fight the perception that teens are simply lazy and sleepy.
Here are some tips to help teens develop healthful sleep patterns:

Avoid caffeine after noon. Nicotine and alcohol should be avoided as well.
Avoid heavy studying, computer games, heated conversations, arguments or other potentially wakeful activities shortly before bedtime.
Avoid sleeping with television or computer noise in the background.
Avoid bright light in the evening, and do just the opposite in the morning. Open blinds or turn on the lights when it's time to wake up.
Allow your teen to sleep in up to two to three hours past their usual wake time on the weekends, but no longer.


Sleep and adults
Sleep needs remain consistent throughout adulthood. For women, hormonal changes at different times during the menstrual cycle may affect sleep. During pregnancy, physical symptoms such as body aches, nausea, leg cramps, fetal movements and heartburn can interfere with sleep. Emotional changes such as depression, anxiety, worry and excitement can have the same effect. As a pregnancy progresses, disturbed sleep patterns may continue due to middle-of-the-night trips to the bathroom, restless legs, snoring caused by swelling of the nasal passages, and physical discomfort due to the growing fetus.
As you grow older, certain medical conditions, the physical changes associated with aging, and the use of certain medications may adversely affect your amount and quality of sleep. Some women report sleep problems during menopause, such as snoring or awakening due to hot flashes. Although total sleep time may not suffer, these symptoms may affect sleep quality. Mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety may also lead to sleep difficulties. Older adults tend to nap more than younger adults, which may impact nighttime sleep patterns. Older adults also tend to spend less time in deep sleep because of less overall sleep time.