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Don’t you miss how much you got to sleep when you were a little kid?
Well, you probably don’t remember it, but your body does.
Babies sleep for most of the day, as most baby mammals do. Small children can sleep for around 12 hours every night.
But by the time you’re an adult, 7 hours isn’t just all you can fit in—it’s all you can get.
When you’re older, you don’t really sleep in one solid chunk.
That’s not to say you don’t lay down for a whole 7 hours per night. It’s just that your sleep cycle is a bit choppier, and you go through it multiple times.
Because of this, it’s often that adults end up taking more naps as they age.
Adult sleep is not just less solid, but not as deep. As we get older, our sleep is less effective.
A 25-year-old’s brain will go into deep sleep mode half a dozen times in one night. The brain of an elderly person will go in and out of moderate level sleep. Most of their sleep is either light or nonexistent.
What’s the best solution we have for not sleeping enough as we age?
Napping. While we’re still not going to reach deep sleep during a nap, we can at least not feel so darn tired and stressed.
However, it isnt’ always an age related problem. Lost sleep could be a side effect of anything from depression or anxiety to a sleep disorder like sleep apnea.
So if you feel like your lack of sleep isn’t caused by how old you are, talk to your doctor about investigating what it may actually be.
