How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?
Posted by Shaune on April 11, 2012 · Leave a Comment
By Shaune
We talk to a lot of people in the salon. Everybody is so busy! Work, home, families, activities, taking care of loved ones, social events, work travel. Makes one tired just thinking about it. When do you sleep?
I find myself missing a couple hours of good ol’ sleep once in a while so I started wondering how much sleep do we really need in order to manage all the ‘stuff on our plates’. What I found out was pretty eye-opening!
Sleep is vital to our overall health and yet many of us aren’t getting near enough. Even one sleepless night can make you feel lousy the next day. Some days there isn’t enough concealer to address the dark circles under your eyes! Cumulative sleep loss causes poorer memory, lack of concentration, and slower reaction times. For our kiddos, not getting enough sleep results in low motivation and poor academic performance (let’s not even discuss what happens when a sleep-deprived person is texting while driving). Sleepy people make mistakes and cause accidents. Did you know for example that 100,000 traffic crashes are attributed to drowsiness or fatigue each year resulting in 1,500 deaths and 71,000 injuries . There is also evidence connecting lack of sleep to weight gain.
Check out this video from Harvard University regarding the importance of sleep.
What can you do to make sure you and your family are getting their zzzzz’s? According to the National Institutes of Health, the average sleep needs per day recommended for each age group are:
- Newborns (0-2 months): 12 - 18 hours
- Infants (3 months to 1 year): 14 - 15 hours
- Toddlers (1 to 3 years): 12 - 14 hours
- Preschoolers (3 to 5 years): 11 - 13 hours
- School-aged children (5 to 12 years): 10 - 11 hours
- Teens and preteens (12 to 18 years): 8.5 - 10 hours
- Adults (18+): 7.5 - 9 hours
This is a guide, a recommendation. Some may require a bit less, or a bit more. But let’s face it… Most of us need more than we’re getting! Here are a few tips:
- Establish a set bedtime based on the above recommendations and stick to it (particularly for the little tikes).
- Make sure the sleeping area is comfortable and very dark.
- Enjoy a warm cup of herbal tea before bed (nothing with caffeine, alcohol or added sugar)
- Turn off all sources of stimulation like televisions, video games, cell phones (no talking or texting), computers
- Opt for silence or soothing, relaxing soft music instead.
- Try bathtime, followed by reading a favorite book as a bedtime “winding down” activity.
- And “lights out” at the same time every night!
Here’s to catching a few extra zzzz’s each night! .s.
RESOURCES
National Institutes of Health, Recommendations for Adequate Sleep
Jann Gumbiner, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and clinical professor at the University of California, Irvine College of Medicine, and served on the faculty at Chapman University, specializing in adolescent and child development. She has published extensively on the subject of testing teens, focusing on the personality inventory for adolescents—the MMPI-A.
Baldwin, DC, Daugherty,SR. “Sleep deprivation and fatigue in residency training: results of a national survey of first- and second-year residents.” Sleep [2004, 27(2):217-23].
Carskdon, M.A.” Sleep’s effects on cognition and learning in adolescence. ” Prog BrainRes. 2011;190:137-43.
