What time should I sleep each night, how much do I need and my children need for their age?
You should be sleeping for five or six 90-minute cycles per night, and allowing 14 minutes to drift off - but how many hours do your kids need?
IF YOU wake up in the morning feeling groggy, you might want to think about setting yourself a new bed time.
Don't worry, we're not going to force you to get eight hours of shut eye every night, but you should be considering a few things when you think about your bedtime AND how many hours your children need...
What time should I be going to sleep each night?
The ideal time to go to bed depends on what time you need to be up in the morning.
7-8 hours is the 'general' recommended amount for adults, but some suggest the most important thing to consider is your 'sleep cycles' instead of hours in bed.
A sleep cycle lasts 90 minutes and during that time, you body moves through five 'stages' of sleep: stage 1, a light sleep where muscle activity slows down; stage 2, where breathing and heart-rate slows further; stage 3, deep sleep; stage 4, very deep sleep; and stage 5, which includes rapid eye movement and dreaming.
Many say that as long as these cycles are not interrupted, you can sleep for as many or as little as you like without it affecting your tiredness the next day.
How much sleep do I need for my age?
The :
- Newborns (0-3 months): Sleep range narrowed to 14-17 hours (previously 12-18)
- Infants (4-11 months): Sleep range widened two hours 12-15 hours (previously 14-15)
- Toddlers (1-2 years): Sleep range widened one hour 11-14 hours (previously 12-14)
- Preschoolers (3-5): Sleep ranged widened by one hour to 10-13 hours (previously 11-13)
- School age children (6-13): Sleep range widened by one hour to 9-11 hours (previously it was 10-11)
- Teenagers (14-17): Sleep range widened by one hour to 8-10 hours (previously it was 8.5-9.5)
- Younger adults (18-25): Sleep range is 7-9 hours (new age category)
- Adults (26-64): Sleep range did not change and remains 7-9 hours
- Older adults (65+): Sleep range is 7-8 hours (new age category)
What's a good way to track my sleep?
Hillarys has created which allows you to work out your ideal bed time with just one click.
The calculator even factors in the amount of time you should be allowing to drift off - 14 minutes, to be precise - and those 90 minute sleep cycles.
Want to wake up feeling fresh at 7am? Head to bed at 9:46pm, 11:16pm or 12:46am for you night owls.
more sleep tips and tricks...
The calculator works by monitoring your circadian rhythms, and on the basis that you should have five or six 90-minute cycles per night.
So heading to bed half an hour earlier may not actually have mmany benefits because interrupting those sleep cycles can leave you tired and grouchy.
Those behind the sleep calculator claim: "Getting a good night's sleep is about more than simply going to bed early - it's about waking up at the right time, too.
"Using a formula based on the body's natural rhythms, the Sleep Calculator will work out the best time for you to rise or go to sleep."