Normal sleep time for a person. How much sleep should a person have and what to do to get enough sleep

It is believed that a healthy adult should sleep between seven and nine hours a night, and that lack of sleep is not only bad for how you feel the next day, but also for your overall health. However, recent medical research shows that not only a lack, but an excess of sleep can be detrimental and lead to the development of cardiovascular diseases.

“People who sleep no more than seven hours a day have, on average, less illness than those who sleep eight or more,” says Professor Sean Youngstadt (University of Arizona), who studies the effects of too much sleep.

Daniel F. Kripke, professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of California, conducted two studies that showed that too much sleep can be a negative factor. One of them tracked the process of fighting cancer in 1.1 million people for six years. The study found that those who slept between 6.5 and 7.5 hours recovered more often than those who slept less or more.

Another study looked at how older women sleep and also found that the optimal sleep time was slightly less than the classic eight hours: those who slept between five and 6.5 hours a night lived longer than their sleep-deprived and sleep-abusing peers.

However, other experts disagree: the fact is that the disease itself can cause a person to sleep longer or simply spend more time in bed. “Studies like this point to a link between how much sleep a person gets and their illness, but they don't tell us anything about the cause,” says Timothy Morgenthaler, MD, president of the American Academy of Sleep. He recommends patients get seven to eight hours of sleep and monitor their well-being. The doctor says sleep needs vary from person to person and vary based on cultural traditions and genetic differences.

Experts suggest determining for yourself how long you need to sleep to feel good. It is best to do this during vacation, since for three days you will need to wake up on your own, without an alarm clock.

1. Go to bed when you feel tired.
2. Avoid caffeine and alcohol.
3. Keep all electronic devices with clocks turned off.
4. Keep a diary or otherwise record your sleep times.

The main indicator will be your well-being during the day: if you woke up fresh and rested and spent the daytime active, it means you slept the optimal number of hours. This will likely be between seven and nine hours if you're an adult, but school-aged children and teenagers need more sleep, between nine and ten.

“Personally, I don’t think you can sleep too long. If you get enough sleep, your body will wake up on its own,” says Safwan Badr of the Detroit Institute of Medicine. Research confirms this too: five healthy adults were placed in “stone age” conditions for two months - without electricity, clocks or the sounds of civilization. During the experiment, study participants went to bed two hours earlier than they normally would and slept an hour and a half longer. Their sleep lasted an average of 7.2 hours.

Discussion

I need 8 hours of sleep to get enough sleep and feel alert, when I sleep less I notice how bad I feel and slowly begin to think and act... so I would say that in this case everything is individual

I absolutely agree that sleep is the basis of a healthy lifestyle. I myself notice that during the period of any reporting at work, when I have to sleep 4 hours a day, I gain weight and always look terrible. But how can I explain this to children?) Especially to adults, who are already on their own. Probably only when they reach my age will they understand!

Healthy sleep is good immunity. I read an interview with an oncologist. He says that 7-8 hours of sleep a day is enough for adults.

Comment on the article "How much sleep should a person sleep?"

Please tell me, the child is one year old, we continue breastfeeding, lately the child has not been eating the breast as much as he is playing, maybe even biting (Does it make sense to leave breastfeeding? He doesn’t suck the pacifier, perhaps this is how the child replaces the pacifier with me? Maybe he can offer the child milk in a bottle instead breasts? But it’s also a problem, we don’t drink milk, kefir, only if it’s yogurt with fruit. Night sleep is also not long, he can wake up 2-3 times for sure, it seemed to me that at that age a child should sleep...

Discussion

First of all, I want to say that it does not replace the pacifier with your breast. But rather, on the contrary, it is a nipple that replaces the breast. Secondly, while you are breastfeeding your baby, he will wake up at night. As soon as you wean it, you will sleep better.
I first weaned her off daytime feedings. Usually we ate the breast and I rocked him on the pillow. I started to let my breasts drop and just pumped it, it worked a couple of times. Then he started throwing tantrums. I made cereal in a bottle, he ate it and then I pumped it and he fell asleep.
The same goes before night feedings. She made liquid porridge in a bottle and he ate it. Yes, for the first week I woke up at night and cried for about 10 minutes at a time. I refused water, juice, and tea. In general, from everything that was offered. And then he fell asleep. So we ended the GW.
If the pediatrician says that you can’t have too much porridge, then remove it from your daily feeding. We always had liquid porridge before any sleep.
I also heard that pediatricians advise doing this: if you wean a child from breastfeeding at one year, then feed him with formula milk (not to be confused with cereals) for up to a year and a half.
But judging by what you wrote, it’s time to wind down the GW.

Good afternoon. Regarding breastfeeding, it is advisable to continue breastfeeding until two years of age, but you need to weigh all the factors - if this is already uncomfortable for you and the baby is not very attached to the breast, you can wean. Ideally, a child can feed from the breast before falling asleep in the evening and after waking up in the morning. At this age, a child may not wake up at night, but not all children sleep like that. If you finish breastfeeding when you wake up at night, simply carry the baby in your arms and offer water or tea from the nipple. There is no need to accustom him to night feeding - giving him milk or porridge. The baby should learn to eat enough during the day. Porridge can be given twice. The norm for 12 months is 200-300 grams per day.

For World Sleep Day, Philips conducted a global study on getting a good, healthy night's rest. About 8,000 people from 10 countries took part in it. Findings show that work stress and financial worries have a strong impact on sleep quality. Thus, the absolute majority of respondents (84%) do not sleep at night because they worry about their financial situation and career. Healthy sleep is a necessary condition for a full life, but more...

Sleep standards are of great importance in the full development of children. This article will introduce you to the recommended sleep standards for children at different ages. Every living being must sleep. This is the basis for early brain development. Circadian rhythms, or sleep-wake cycles, are regulated by light and dark, and these rhythms take time to develop, resulting in irregular sleep patterns for newborns. Rhythms begin to develop at about six weeks, and from three to six...

For the health and full development of an infant, the smallest details matter. Mothers study entire volumes on baby care, consult with doctors and consult with friends, but still cannot get answers to all questions. Daytime sleep can be an urgent problem: how much sleep should a child need to get enough sleep? Any mother raising her first child and not only thinks about this. Internet search engines and women's forums are simply filled with such requests...

person online. Tell me how much a child should sleep at 4.5 months. Maybe it’s in vain that I continue to put her down after every feeding?

Discussion

And what exactly does he suck on his tits?

We have this regime: getting up at 11 o’clock... hangs out for an hour and a half and passes out for about 50 minutes in a stroller on the street... then hangs out until 15-30-16 o’clock and sleeps for 2.5 hours... then hangs out again for half an hour shoulder will fall asleep around 8.30 (+-) half an hour... at night around 12 am sleep
i.e. three sleeps, first and third, 40 minutes each, with an average of 2.5 hours

person online. 01/26/2017, Thursday. In short, STRONG sleep! Thus, we regretfully skip swimming almost every other day! How long should a child sleep during the day at her age?

Discussion

yes, but we swim earlier - at 19:30. At the same time, we wake up at 18:00.
At approximately 20:00 we feed (immediately in our bed, because she sleeps with us) and fall asleep at most at 21:00.

Our daughter established the regimen herself around 8 weeks of age. I somehow became more predictable (wake up at about the same time, go to sleep).
I tried to bathe at the same time, and maintain the same intervals between bedtimes (she was awake for about 1.5 hours).

And in a month she generally behaved as she wanted. I also walked like a zombie. And in general, the first 2 months I had were still the same. Now we are almost 3 (tttttt) it has become much easier

How much sleep does a person need? It would seem that the answer to the question is obvious - everyone knows that we sleep a third of our lives, i.e. 8 hours a day. However, scientists cannot come to a consensus on this issue. Some of them convince that 8 hours of daily sleep is already a lot, others assure that you can sleep for 4-5 hours with benefits for the body, others are sure that there can be no generalizations in this matter - everything is individual for each person . So how much sleep do you need to get enough sleep and feel alert and rested during the day?

How much sleep do you need per day?

The average adult needs 6-8 hours of sleep per night to get enough sleep. Many people know the rule of three eights: 8 hours for work, 8 for rest and 8 for sleep. Indeed, most people’s bodies are set up for 8 hours of sleep.

However, there are exceptions. There are examples of famous people who slept significantly less or, conversely, more. Thus, Napoleon, who believed that spending a third of his life on sleep was an unaffordable luxury, slept 5 hours a day. And Einstein’s brilliant brain apparently needed a good “recharge” - and he slept for 12 hours. The experience of the outstanding Renaissance scientist Leonardo da Vinci is amazing - according to legend, he slept every 4 hours for 15 minutes, only an hour and a half a day!

Sleep experiments

What are the risks of experimenting with sleep in the form of frequent lack of sleep or, conversely, too much daily sleep?

In most cases, lack of sleep contributes to a decrease in the body's defenses and disruption of the nervous system (irritability, absent-mindedness, deterioration of reaction, memory and attention). Frequent lack of sleep can lead to hypertension, type 2 diabetes, insomnia, depression, and excess weight gain.

Too much sleep is also unfavorable for the human body. Recent research by scientists has cast doubt on the rule of three eights: it turns out that if you sleep more than 7 hours a day, you can fall into the category of people who are at risk of early death.

In addition, studies have proven that lack of sleep or oversleeping is fraught with suicidal tendencies - most suicides had problems with sleep.

Individual approach to sleep

And yet, many researchers agree that a person should definitely listen to the requirements of his body, to his individual biological clock. If you feel energetic, sleeping only 5 hours a day, or if you don’t get a headache from 12 hours of daily sleep, then your body requires exactly this duration.

In addition, sleep can be not only at night, but also during the day - the latter will not only restore strength in the middle of the day, but also in a relatively short period of time (20-30 minutes) will make up for the hours that you did not sleep at night. Regular daytime sleep helps reduce the risk of heart attack and improves performance. The people of Spain are right when they take a daily siesta!

It is also very important to determine for yourself at what hours you get the best sleep. It is known that “night owls” and “larks” need completely different hours for quality, replenishing sleep. If you sleep exactly at the hours that your body requires for rest, you will be able to get enough sleep in a fairly short period of time.

We should also not forget that the quality of sleep depends not only on its duration, but also on other important factors: the optimal level of temperature and humidity in the room, a comfortable bed, avoidance of heavy food, alcohol and nicotine in the evening, a positive attitude and complete relaxation before bed.

So, the main criteria in the question of how much sleep you need per day are the individual characteristics of a person’s body, his ability to recover over a certain period of time, the degree of fatigue of a person during the day, and factors associated with sleep. Once you determine what sleep duration is optimal for you, you should try to stick to it strictly to avoid health problems.

It happens that we sleep for 7-8 hours, but we wake up tired, irritated, as if we had not slept. The reason is what time you go to bed and what time you wake up.

Time for a good night's sleep

Human sleep consists of cycles. Each cycle is an alternation of 2 phases: slow and fast sleep. Most people require 5 sleep cycles to fully recover. This is due to genetic characteristics. For some people, 3-4 cycles are enough to feel full of energy.

After falling asleep, the slow-wave sleep phase begins, which lasts an hour and a half. Breathing evens out, the brain rests, the eyes do not move under the eyelids, the body is relaxed. In this phase, the body is restored, physical strength and energy are replenished.

Next comes the REM sleep phase, which lasts 10-20 minutes. The heart rate increases, body temperature and blood pressure rise, and the eyes move quickly under the eyelids. The brain becomes active and dreams occur.

During the night the phases alternate. By the morning, the REM sleep phase increases, and the slow sleep phase decreases. Therefore, we see pre-dawn dreams more clearly and can remember them. In 7.5-8 hours of sleep you have time to go through about 5 cycles and regain your strength.

For productive sleep, calculate the time of falling asleep and waking up for one and a half hours. Try to wake up after the end of REM sleep.

1. Don't drink alcohol before bed. It helps you fall asleep, but shortens the REM sleep phase, which helps you “process” the day’s experiences and transfer the information received during the day into long-term memory.
2. Do some light exercise before bed. A little exercise makes it easy to fall asleep. Exercise can be replaced by physical labor or a walk outside.
3. Eat foods with magnesium. These include spinach, seaweed, pumpkin seeds and cashews. A lack of magnesium causes sleep problems.
4. Create favorable conditions for sleep. The temperature in the bedroom should not be higher than 18-20°C. The room should be dark and quiet. Turn off gadgets. Red or blue light from charger or TV lights interferes with proper sleep.
5. Ensure continuity of REM sleep before waking up. Waking up in the middle of the cycle or after a long sleep phase contributes to poor brain function and a broken state in the morning.

What time should you go to bed?

The processes of cleansing, renewing and saturating the body with energy depend on the time of falling asleep. During sleep, from 20:00 to 02:00, melatonin is produced - the hormone of sleep and youth. Peak production is reached at 23:00 and lasts until 02:00. At this time you should be in a state of deep sleep. This will ensure you receive the maximum dose of melatonin.

You need to go to bed at 22:00. After just 2 weeks of regularly going to bed at this time, you will notice qualitative changes. The reaction speed will increase, thought processes will become precise, the amount of strength and energy will increase.

You need to get ready for bed from 20:00. Stop loud noisy games, dim the lighting, slow down children's activity. Children should go to bed at 21:00, then adults can take a walk, take a shower, finish their chores and go to bed at 22:00.

It is advisable to sleep 1.5 hours during the day. The efficiency of work after a nap increases by 50-70%. Doctor somnologist Yuri Pogoretsky reports in an interview that more than 30 heads of leading companies allow their employees to sleep in the afternoon. More than 15 managers have already created sleeping rooms so that employees can sleep.

If you were unable to complete 5 sleep cycles at night, you can sleep 1 cycle during the day. At first it will be difficult to go to bed early, but after a week you will notice changes and will not want to return to your usual sleep pattern.

What time do you need to get up

The laws of physiology dictate to us the time of awakening so that the body can invigorate itself. A person does not have direct contact with the earth, like animals or birds, for example, so his body does not work in resonance. This leads to an imbalance in the functioning of all organs.

If you wake up at 5 am, the body gets into resonance with the planet and builds normal functioning. After just 4 days of waking up early, you will begin to feel more energetic and alert. To train yourself to get up at the right time, learn to go to bed early.

The main reasons for waking up early

1. Efficiency. You will spend less time sleeping. Your active life will increase by several years. You will be able to calmly plan things, analyze events and tune in to the new day.
2. Time for yourself. Waking up in the morning when everyone is asleep, you will have time for yourself. You can read a book, take a walk, or do something you love.
3. Energy of nature. You will receive a powerful boost of energy. This is especially noticeable in the summer.
4. Health. By properly organizing your sleep patterns, your sleep will improve. There will be time for morning exercises. Your emotional mood will improve. You'll look better because you'll rest and recover overnight.
5. No stress. You will become more aware of problem solving. Stress resistance will increase.
6. A good relationship. In the evening, you will be able to spend more time communicating with your family, as you will have time to redo your homework.
7. Organization. Your productivity will increase, you will make fewer mistakes and get through your daily tasks faster.

Kalinov Yuri Dmitrievich

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Sleep is one of the fundamental needs for humans. During sleep, the body restores the strength spent during the day and renews vital systems, preparing to meet the morning fully armed. But are people always so cheerful after waking up? No, that’s why many people are interested in how much sleep a person should have in order to feel rested and healthy.

Modern scientists name only the average number of hours of rest per day, without specifically indicating how much sleep an adult needs. Some people need 10 hours a day, others need almost half as much. Using simple arithmetic calculations, we get the recommended 8 hours of sleep. This is how much time a person needs to sleep at night to feel good.

What's worse: not getting enough sleep or getting laid?

The lifestyle of a modern person cannot be called relaxed, and often there is not enough time for planned activities. Much-needed hours are often stolen from a night's rest. On average, every third adult complains of lack of sleep and dreams of recovering at least on weekends.

Frequent lack of sleep can lead to dangerous consequences for humans:

• Chronic diseases. Statistics show that people suffering from lack of sleep have problems with the cardiovascular system in 90% of cases. They experience migraines, struggle with high blood pressure and are more likely to have heart attacks than those who were able to properly regulate their sleep.

Skin aging. If a person does not have normal sleep duration, the body begins to produce cortisol, a hormone that destroys the protein responsible for the smoothness and elasticity of the skin.

However, excessive stay in the kingdom of Morpheus threatens no less troubles. If an adult sleeps more than 10 hours a day, this provokes the development of diabetes mellitus and also slows down thought processes, which often leads to dementia in old age.

Sound and restful sleep is the key to good health. Therefore, many are interested in the question of how much a person should sleep in order to feel alert and full of energy.

Night rest is a unique and very important physiological process that has not been fully studied to this day. However, one thing is certain: sleep is necessary to restore the functioning of all systems of the human body, and if for any reason night rest is disrupted, the consequences can be catastrophic.

What is healthy sleep? With the birth of a child, parents teach him to observe a daily routine and develop concepts such as day is intended for wakefulness, and night is for complete rest of the body.

Important: During sleep, many different processes occur in the human body that have a positive effect on all systems and organs. In addition, the body gets rid of daytime fatigue and improves tone.

Initially, the child adheres to the daily routine. However, as you get older, the habits developed in childhood change. Night rest takes less time, and the daytime load becomes greater.

And at this moment, the main task of a person is to rebuild his rest and work regime in such a way that the body recovers. And if the next morning you wake up feeling energized, then the chosen time for sleep is optimal.

How to form a good rest

Sound sleep is the key to human health and longevity. But how to develop the optimal regime? To do this, we suggest using the recommendations of experts:

1. We adhere to the optimal regime. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, regardless of whether it’s a weekend or vacation. This approach will help set up the correct functioning of the biological clock.
2. We plan time for sleep. An adult spends from 6 hours 30 minutes to 8 hours a day sleeping. But not only sleep time has an impact, the quality component of rest plays a big role. In other words, a person normally sleeps without awakening.
3. When you wake up in the morning, try to reduce the time you get up. You shouldn't lie in bed for a long time. Otherwise, you may fall asleep again, and this will negatively affect the coming day. Warming up in bed helps a lot; it will invigorate you and put you in a positive mood for the whole working day.
4. If you want to get a good night's sleep, spend two hours in a quiet environment before your planned rest. Avoid watching programs and films with negative plots. Avoid physical activity as well.
5. To get a good night's sleep, avoid napping during the day. Of course, a 30-minute nap at lunch will give you strength and put your thoughts in order. However, people prone to insomnia should avoid resting during the day.
6. It is recommended to fill your life with physical activity and a colossal flow of information during daylight hours. But when evening comes, it’s time for relaxation and rest.
7. Smoking, drinking too much coffee and alcohol guarantee sleep deprivation and health problems. If you don’t have the will to completely say goodbye to your habits, try to reduce them to a minimum.

To have a healthy rest, make it a habit to think positively before going to bed, ventilate the bedroom, isolate extraneous sounds so that there is silence in the room and create darkness. This will help you fall asleep quickly and make your sleep deep.

Approximate norms for healthy sleep

What is the optimal amount of sleep for a person per day? It’s worth highlighting right away that there are no exact data that must be strictly adhered to. Each woman and man has a purely individual rest norm. Moreover, if a person has certain pathologies, he needs long-term rest. Because sleep has a healing effect on the body.

Important: Each person must, first of all, focus on his own well-being, in such a matter as how long his rest should last.

The duration of a night's rest is influenced by both subjective reasons and the human factor. Therefore, scientists have come to a consensus that it is recommended to normally sleep for 8 hours.

How holidays change depending on age

Age has a huge impact on the duration of rest. Below is a table that clearly describes the age category of people and the average duration of their sleep.

In addition, scientists have found that fluctuations in the duration of night rest negatively affect not only its quality, but also the general condition of a person.

In other words, if you stick to a specific sleep time, you will feel alert and in good health, but if you sleep at different times, the negative consequences will follow almost immediately.

Important: There is an opinion that women need to rest more than the stronger sex. However, scientists believe that the same amount of time should be allocated.

It doesn’t matter your gender; your vacation should be based on your professional activity. People engaged in mental work require long rest. But workers involved in occupations that require more physical activity can sleep less.

What time is sleep considered the most beneficial?

Normal rest largely depends on the chosen time. Many people believe that if they go to bed well after midnight and wake up closer to eleven o'clock, they will fully meet their need for rest.

In fact, this opinion is completely wrong. The optimal time to restore the body's strength is from 22:00 -23:00 to 6:00 - 7:00 in the morning. It is at this time that the process of cell regeneration of all systems and organs starts. In addition, rest at this time helps to rejuvenate the skin and restore the central nervous system.

Is it harmful to sleep during the day?

Today, many European countries practice long day rest. This is due to the characteristics of the climate zone. Yes, and taking a nap during the lunch break has a number of positive aspects:

• a rested person has improved visual memory;
• mental concentration is restored;
• efficiency increases;
• a good influx of energy arrives.

The main thing is not to overdo it with daytime naps. An effective result can be obtained from a 30-minute rest, anything more will provoke night insomnia. In addition, the person will have symptoms such as:

• lethargy;
• headache;
• apathy.

This also applies to sleeping at sunset. It is believed that falling asleep between 17:00 and 18:00 hours will negatively affect your condition. Therefore, doctors advise not to go to bed at this time, even if you really want to. Endure your nap and go to bed later in the night.

Is it possible to eat before bed?

The quality of rest is greatly influenced by food consumption. The task of each person is to correctly schedule food intake throughout the day. It is important to leave healthy foods for dinner.

Today there is an opinion that the last meal should be no later than 18:00. This is actually not true. If you go to bed on an empty stomach, health problems will arise in the near future. Moreover, after waking up there can be no talk of energy, and the sleep itself will not be complete.

2 hours before the planned rest, doctors recommend taking light foods. They will not cause harm to the body; on the contrary, the benefits of such a snack will be invaluable.

To avoid feeling heavy in your stomach, consume the following food groups:

• fermented milk products;
• chicken and turkey meat;
• boiled eggs;
• vegetable or fruit salads;
• seafood.

Such food will even help normalize proper sleep. And what is important, the brain will receive good nutrition for the regeneration of systems and organs at night.

Consequences of lack of sleep and oversleeping

Why is not only lack of sleep dangerous, but also oversleeping? Let's start with the fact that there are 24 hours in a day, ideally people should spend 8 hours on:

• work processes;
• rest;

However, in reality, few people adhere to such a schedule. Moreover, as a rule, the time intended for recuperation is often reduced or increased. The fact is that some people prefer to solve a number of problems by reducing the duration of sleep.

But others, on the contrary, prefer to go to bed much earlier than the scheduled time. As a result, we have a lack of sleep or oversleeping, which equally negatively affect our well-being, manifesting itself with the following symptoms:

• isolation, lethargy and apathy;
• a sharp decrease in serotonin production as a result of which a person begins to suffer from depression;
• the appearance of nervousness and irritability;
• decreased performance;
• decreased mental abilities;
• premature aging;
• deterioration in physical fitness;
• failure of almost all important systems of the body.

These are the consequences of chronic lack of sleep. However, oversleeping also has a number of consequences, namely:

• drowsiness observed throughout the day;
• depression;
• swelling of the body due to the body being in one position for a long time;
• problems with excess weight.

As we see, the lack and abuse of night rest equally affects the human body negatively. Therefore, doctors recommend calculating the optimal norms for your body and sticking to them. To make your task easier, use an online calculator.

It is important to understand that the right time for rest guarantees a person complete rest. Moreover, you will wake up refreshed and well-rested in the morning. Moreover, this positive charge will remain throughout the day.

Learning to wake up early correctly

So, we found out how much sleep you need to feel rested. Now let's dwell on another important issue, how to teach the body to fall asleep and wake up correctly in the morning.

If a person wakes up early in the morning cheerful and rested, he can do a lot of useful things without getting tired. Because at this time efficiency is at its highest. But, to achieve this state, you first need to find out how much sleep an adult needs per day. In addition, much depends on the following factors:

• what time did the person go to rest in the evening;
• what phase of sleep is occurring at the moment of awakening.

In general, if you fall asleep at 22:00 and wake up at 6:30, you will feel a surge of energy. Because with such a schedule, during this period a short stage of sleep occurs, which is suitable for awakening.

In addition, there are rules that you can follow to wake up early and correctly in the morning:

• Optimal humidity and air levels will help you feel more alert after waking up. According to Dr. Komarovsky, regular ventilation, dust removal and humidification of the bedroom will make waking up early easier;
• Set an alarm clock and place it a few meters away. This cunning trick will make you wake up in the morning from the sound and overcome the distance to turn off;
• if using an alarm clock you cannot accustom your body to early awakenings, ask your family to call at a certain time;
• After waking up, take a shower and drink green tea with honey and lemon.

It will take about two weeks to form the habit of waking up early in the morning, then the body will turn on the biological alarm clock and wake up without difficulty.