What are your nightly sleep needs? What does sleep do for your health? By understanding your body’s needs, you can improve your sleep schedule and the quality of your waking life. The quality of your sleep at night directly affects your mental and physical health and how well you feel during the day. Sleep impacts your productivity, emotional balance, brain and heart health, immune function, creativity, vitality, and even your weight. No other activity delivers so many benefits with so little effort!
When you’re scrambling to meet the demands of a busy schedule, though, or just finding it hard to sleep at night, getting by on less hours may seem like a good solution. But even minimal sleep loss can take a substantial toll on your mood, energy, mental sharpness, and ability to handle stress. And over the long-term, chronic sleep loss can wreak havoc on your mental and physical health.
Is 6 Hours of Sleep Enough. People struggle to get a good night’s sleep in the hopes that they will be able to meet the standard eight hours of sleep a night. An updated women’s study, derived from a University of California, San Diego 14 years earlier, seems to be suggesting otherwise. The updated paper published suggested that eight hours is probably too much sleep and five hours is not enough. The research found that a much better approach to living a longer life may depend on 6.5 to 7.5 hours of sleep, in women, at least. This is only one study, but it certainly raises an interesting debate.
We hate to burst your bubble, but six hours of sleep just isn’t enough for the average individual. While some people do well on only six hours of sleep, most of us would benefit from an extra hour or two of additional rest. Below we’ve included the nine primary sleep groups identified by the National Sleep Foundation, along with their corresponding sleep recommendations.
Newborns
Newborns should receive between 14 and 17 hours of sleep, though 11 to 13 hours is acceptable as well. Ultimately, newborns shouldn’t sleep less than 11 hours per day.
Infants
Infants should also sleep between 14 and 17 hours, with no less than 11 hours of sleep per day.
Toddlers
Toddlers should sleep between 11 and 14 hours each day, though 9 to 10 hours is also appropriate. Toddlers shouldn’t sleep less than 9 hours per day.
Preschoolers
Preschoolers should sleep between 10 and 13 hours per day, or 8 to 9 hours per day, but no less than 8 hours per day.
