how do your sleep patterns change over the course of your life?

Why do our sleeping patterns change as we age?

These are natural, biological factors that change our sleeping patterns as we age. Aside from shifts in the 24-hour cycle, older adults experience changes within the function of the sleep cycle itself. The sleep cycle consists of 4 stages. The first two stages are lighter sleep in which your body begins to relax.

How do sleep stages vary from person to person?

While there is a typical pattern for sleep stages, there can be substantial individual variation based on a number of factors: Age: Time in each stage changes dramatically over a person’s life. Newborns spend far more time (around 50%) in REM sleep and may enter a REM stage as soon as they fall asleep.

What are sleep cycles and why do they vary?

Sleep cycles can vary from person to person and from night to night based on a wide range of factors such as age, recent sleep patterns, and alcohol consumption. What Are the Sleep Stages?

How much do you know about sleep patterns?

But from birth to older age, sleep patterns change throughout our life. They spend most of their time -- about 70% -- asleep. Experts think all that shut-eye is what helps them learn and grow. Newborns tend to snooze for 2 to 4 hours at a time, up to 16 to 18 hours a day. They also have more active sleep than adults.

Why do sleep patterns change as you get older?

As you age your body produces lower levels of growth hormone, so you'll likely experience a decrease in slow wave or deep sleep (an especially refreshing part of the sleep cycle). When this happens you produce less melatonin, meaning you'll often experience more fragmented sleep and wake up more often during the night.

What affects our sleep patterns?

External factors, such as what we eat and drink, the medications we take, and the environment in which we sleep can also greatly affect the quantity and quality of our sleep. In general, all of these factors tend to increase the number of awakenings and limit the depth of sleep.

What age does your sleep pattern change?

between ages 19 and 60Quality of sleep. The type of sleep people get changes most between ages 19 and 60. Children and teens experience a lot of deep sleep, which is believed to restore the body. This also fuels their growth.

Can sleep patterns be changed?

Change Your Bedtime Habits If possible, wake up at the same time each day. Go to bed around the same time every day, but not more than 8 hours before you expect to start your day. Avoid beverages with caffeine or alcohol in the evening. Avoid eating heavy meals at least 2 hours before going to sleep.

What is a normal sleep pattern?

An average sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes. Ideally, you need four to six cycles of sleep every 24 hours to feel fresh and rested. Each cycle contains four individual stages: three that form non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and one rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

What causes sleep problems?

Common causes of chronic insomnia include: Stress. Concerns about work, school, health, finances or family can keep your mind active at night, making it difficult to sleep. Stressful life events or trauma — such as the death or illness of a loved one, divorce, or a job loss — also may lead to insomnia.

What is the most common change in sleep patterns across adulthood quizlet?

There is a gradual decrease in REM sleep from birth to adolescence followed by a slight increase in late adulthood. There is a gradual increase in NREM sleep from birth to adolescence and then a drop in late adulthood.

Do you age slower if you sleep more?

Beneath the surface, your body is aging too, and sleep loss can speed up the process. A study done by UCLA researchers discovered that just a single night of insufficient sleep can make an older adults' cells age quicker.

Why do different ages need different amounts of sleep?

Sleep doctor Michael Breus, PhD, a sleep advisor at sleep-health technology company Oura, adds that before age 18, the reasons we need more sleep are "due to developmental milestones and growth patterns." After age 18, people tend to require different amounts of sleep because of “medical issues, environment, [and] ...

Why does sleep change?

Sleep changes may be the result of external factors such as late-night light exposure and screen time, social activities, or the use of caffeine. Many of the factors faced in adolescence may carry over into adulthood and affect our sleep as we age.

What is the cycle of sleep?

The cycle of sleeping is more complex than just closing your eyes and drifting off. A full sleep cycle has four stages made up of two types of sleep, rapid eye movement which is known as REM sleep, and non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep.

What is the last phase of sleep?

REM sleep is the last phase and is typically when dreams occur. We breathe faster in this stage, our heart rates go back up, and our eyes rapidly move (hence the name of the phase, rapid eye movement). As we age, we often spend less time in REM sleep .

When do babies start sleeping?

Newborns don’t yet have a “set” circadian rhythm or sleep-wake cycle. They sleep and wake freely throughout a 24-hour period. The circadian rhythm begins to form around 10-12 weeks of age, and most babies tend to do most of their sleeping at night between 4-12 months old. Most children still take naps during the day until age 4 and also still wake up during the night. 2

What is the circadian rhythm?

The circadian rhythm controls functions in our bodies, physically, mentally, and, behaviorally. Some of these functions include digestion, body temperature, hormone release, and sleep. It typically follows a 24-hour cycle and is highly influenced by light and dark.

How long does non-REM sleep last?

This first phase of non-REM sleep can last for several minutes. Stage one is when we transition from being awake to falling asleep. Our breathing, heart rate, brainwaves, and eye movements slow down during this phase.

Do sleep patterns change as we get older?

There’s no question that our sleep patterns change as we get older, but how exactly does it work? Starting from our newborn phase all the way to life as an older adult, here is a general timeline that explains the differences in sleep as we age.

How does sleep change throughout your life?

and trying to remember the last time you had a good night’s sleep. You remember sleeping well -- and a lot -- when you were young. Since then, you started working, had children, and perhaps moved into menopause.

What is the sleep environment?

Sleep environment: Noise, heat, bright lighting, or bothersome bedding in the bedroom; moving to a new home or a nursing home. An older person in excellent health will still probably have a harder time falling asleep and staying asleep than when they were younger. Otherwise, they can expect to sleep fairly well.

Why do seniors sleep so much?

Seniors have certain sleep changes due to aging, but sleep problems aren’t part of getting older. Vitiello says the key for better sleep when you’re older is staying healthy. Most seniors’ sleep problems are because of an illness or a medication. Seniors have poor sleep due to: 1 Illness, such as arthritis or another condition that causes pain, heart or lung disease, enlarged prostate, acid reflux, or depression. In people aged 65 to 84, 20% have four or more medical conditions. Eighty percent of them say they have problems sleeping. 2 Medications, especially those for high blood pressure and asthma. 3 Sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea, or restless legs syndrome. 4 Behavioral or social changes: retirement, lifestyle change, death of a loved one, napping, using social drugs. 5 Sleep environment: Noise, heat, bright lighting, or bothersome bedding in the bedroom; moving to a new home or a nursing home.

What happens if you don't sleep?

If you haven’t been sleeping well or have had insomnia, the lack of sleep affects how much sleep you need. If you’re over 65, the chance for poor sleep and insomnia is high. “The older people get, the more common insomnia becomes,” Arand says.

How old do you have to be to get deep sleep?

The type of sleep people get changes most between ages 19 and 60. Children and teens experience a lot of deep sleep, which is believed to restore the body. This also fuels their growth. Arand says that children spend about 50% of their night in deep sleep. By the time they’re 20 years old they get half that amount.

Why do older people have sleep problems?

Vitiello says the key for better sleep when you’re older is staying healthy. Most seniors’ sleep problems are because of an illness or a medication. Seniors have poor sleep due to:

Why do women have trouble sleeping?

Arand says that once women become mothers, they tend to have problems sleeping because their children wake them up or cause them to worry. Later in life, as women enter menopause, they face new sleep challenges. These come from drops in hormone levels, hot flashes, night sweats, and insomnia.

What Getting Older Means for Your Sleep

Like all of our activities, sleep is dictated by the brain. The hypothalamus is a small but crucial region of the brain which contains the suprachiasmatic (SCN). The SCN controls the circadian rhythm, also known as the body’s internal clock. The circadian rhythm is a 24-hour cycle that optimizes our body’s processes and functionality.

Common Issues Aging Has on Your Sleep

Another factor that affects sleep quality as we age is that older demographics tend to be more susceptible to physical and mental health conditions. Arthritis is a common issue for seniors, and can cause persistent discomfort that can ultimately affect your quality of rest.

Tips to Improve Sleep for Seniors

As we age, it is very common to see a change in sleep quality and quantity, but there are actions we can take to reduce these issues. Some tips to practice for good sleep hygiene include:

Sleep Patterns in Young People

Sleep patterns in adolescents and young adults are distinct from sleep patterns at any other time in life. While experts recommend 8-10 hours of sleep for young adults, just like they recommend it for adults, recent studies have shown that teens should be at the longer end of this range, recommending 9-10 hours of sleep a night or more.

Sleep Patterns in Adults

Adults require slightly less overall sleep than adolescents, and 7-9 hours is the recommended amount. However, adult sleep is typically not as deep or satisfying as the sleep of a young person, because adults spend less time in the deeper phases of sleep than young people do.

Sleep Patterns in Older Adults

Most people experience a life-long gradual trend in sleep changes. As adolescents, they require the most sleep overall, sleep the most deeply, and sleep later in the night. Over time, we require slightly less sleep, sleep less deeply, and our circadian rhythm shifts our melatonin production earlier in the evening.

Why do babies sleep like babies?

As many parents will attest, the phrase “sleeping like a baby” is somewhat of a misnomer. Newborns have very underdeveloped pineal glands that make only low levels of the essential sleep hormone melatonin, and this small amount only at irregular times. Breastfeeding infants get small amounts of melatonin in breastmilk, but formula fed babies may have a very hard time learning to sleep at night. The result is that small infants sleep for shorter time frames at irregular times and only begin to develop a healthy circadian rhythm around two months of age.

Why do elderly people not sleep?

As people age, they see a slow decline in sleep, both in amount and in quality. For some elderly people, this can mean living in a perpetually sleep-deprived state. A study in chronobiology published in the journal Brain may have identified the reason for this. When people grow older, a group of neurons associated with sleep begin to die. These neurons are located in the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus in the brain. Researchers believe that they may regulate circadian rhythm, which explains why elderly people often cannot sleep as much as they truly need to. Identifying the neurons behind sleep decline in the aged may help doctors to develop new treatments to help older people sleep.

How much sleep do adults need?

By the time we are adults, most people have developed a firm circadian rhythm. Most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep. Much of this time is spent in Stage III Non-REM sleep, also known as middle sleep. This sleep phase is not as restorative and refreshing as the deep slow-wave sleep that dominates the nighttime hours of children and adolescents.

How many hours of sleep do children need?

Children are usually good sleepers, sleeping nine to 14 hours a day and spending much of this time in restful deep wave sleep. Chronobiology researchers believe that large amounts of this deep wave sleep are necessary to sustain the fast growth and development of childhood.

How Sleep Quantity Changes

The quantity of sleep we need decreases steadily with age, with the quickest drop occurring in young children: Newborns need 14 to 17 hours of sleep; infants, 12 to 15 hours; toddlers, 11 to 14 hours; and preschoolers, 10 to 13 hours.

How Sleep Quality Changes

Sleep occurs in four stages: During the first several minutes, your brain waves slow and your muscles relax as you fall asleep. In the second stage, light sleep, your heartbeat, breathing, and brain activity continue to slow down.

Other Factors That Influence Sleep

Lifestyle changes and environmental stress can also impact your sleep —just ask anyone adjusting to the noise of a city apartment after growing up in the suburbs; the parents of a fussy infant; or an employee adjusting to a wake-up that accommodates a new two-hour commute.