The amount of sleep you need depends on your age. In general, children and teens need more sleep than adults. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that you get the following amount of sleep on a regular basis:
• Infants 4 months to 12 months should sleep 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours (including naps).
• Children 1 to 2 years of age should sleep 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours (including naps).
• Children 3 to 5 years of age should sleep 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours (including naps).
• Children 6 to 12 years of age should sleep 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours.
• Teenagers 13 to 18 years of age should sleep 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours.
• Adults should sleep 7 or more hours per night.
These are general recommendations. There is individual variability in sleep need.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that adults should sleep 7 or more hours per night on a regular basis to promote optimal health. Sleeping less than 7 hours per night on a regular basis is associated with adverse health outcomes. Sleeping more than 9 hours per night on a regular basis may be appropriate for young adults, individuals recovering from sleep debt, and individuals with illnesses. Individual variability in sleep need is influenced by genetic, behavioral, medical, and environmental factors.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that teenagers 13 to 18 years of age should sleep 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health. Individual variability in sleep need is influenced by genetic, behavioral, medical, and environmental factors.
To promote optimal health, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that children get the following amounts of sleep on a regular basis:
• Infants 4 months to 12 months should sleep 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours (including naps).
• Children 1 to 2 years of age should sleep 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours (including naps).
• Children 3 to 5 years of age should sleep 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours (including naps).
• Children 6 to 12 years of age should sleep 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours.
Recommendations for infants younger than 4 months are not included due to the wide range of normal variation in duration and patterns of sleep.
The primary cause of feeling tired or sleepy during the day is insufficient sleep. This problem occurs when you fail to get enough sleep each night. Most adults need 7 or more hours of sleep on a regular basis to feel alert during the day. Excessive daytime sleepiness is an essential feature of hypersomnias such as narcolepsy. Other sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea also can cause you to feel tired during the day. Sleepiness can be a symptom of mood problems such as depression. Some medications also can cause you to feel tired. You should talk to your medical provider to identify the reason why you feel so tired.
Snoring is a respiratory sound generated in the upper airway during sleep. Snoring typically occurs when you inhale but also may occur when you exhale. The flow of air makes the tissues in the back of your throat vibrate. The intensity of snoring may vary. Often it will disturb the bed partner’s sleep, and the sound may even awaken the person who is snoring. Occasional snoring is almost universal. Snoring is most common in adult men. Snoring also is a symptom of obstructive sleep apnea.
A dream is a mental experience that involves visual perceptions during sleep. These images tend to form some kind of story. Dreaming also involves complex thoughts and emotions. Dreams often present an alternate reality. They portray events, people and places from your life. Details may be pulled from your memory. Yet these stories also have new information. They involve elements that are different from your life’s experience. Memories of a dream can fade quickly once you are awake.
Many theories exist for how you should interpret your dreams. The basics of how and why you dream also remain a topic of debate among scientists. Some believe dreams have symbolic meaning or predict future events. Others see dreams as random, meaningless information. Newer theories suggest that dreaming helps your brain process both old memories and new information. The brain may use dreams to help you adapt to events in your life.
A nightmare is a bad dream that causes you to wake from your sleep. Like other dreams, nightmares tend to reflect your daytime concerns. They occur more often when life events cause you to feel anxious or stressed. Nightmares often occur as a result of a traumatic event. In the dream you may experience the traumatic event all over again. It is unclear why nightmares occur. Theories suggest that dreams and nightmares help your brain process both old memories and new information. The brain also may use dreams and nightmares to help you adapt to events in your life.
Acting out dreams during sleep is a warning sign for REM sleep behavior disorder. It causes you to act out vivid dreams as you sleep. The dreams tend to be action-packed. You may punch, kick, jump or get out of bed and run. All of this occurs while you are still asleep. Injuries during these events are common. Normally your brain paralyzes most muscles during the stage of rapid eye movement sleep. REM sleep is the stage of sleep when you have most dreams and nightmares. REM sleep behavior disorder occurs when the brain fails to tell the muscles to remain still.
Head banging during sleep is an example of sleep-related rhythmic movement disorder. It is common in healthy infants and children. A child may repeatedly bang his or her head into the pillow or mattress. Or a child may sit up, banging the back of the head against the wall or the headboard. Another common action is body rocking. A child may rock his or her entire body back and forth, either on hands and knees or while sitting up. Head rolling is also common. This sleep problem tends to be harmless. It occurs as a young child’s brain and body continue to grow and develop. It often begins when a child is about 6 months to 9 months of age. It usually goes away by the second or third year of life.