How much sleep do I need ?

With the arrival of the holidays, our sleep routine is often disrupted by various activities: staying out later in the evening, taking afternoon naps, jet lag… and not to mention the summer heat, which also disturbs our rest. The summer period is therefore a time when sleep is very irregular. To avoid missteps while still taking advantage of the holidays to improve the quality of our nights, here’s a reminder of the amount of sleep we really need to avoid fatigue.

At every age, there is a specific sleep requirement

If some people are full of energy after just 4 hours of sleep while others feel ineffective at work because the alarm went off 20 minutes too early, it’s simply because we’re not all equal when it comes to sleep. Researchers have realized that sleep needs vary throughout life. We can distinguish nine age groups, each corresponding to a recommended number of hours of sleep:

• Newborns (0 to 3 months): 14 to 17 hours
• Teenagers (14 to 17 years): 8 to 10 hours
• Adults (26 to 64 years): 7 to 9 hours
• Elderly individuals (65 years and older): 7 to 8 hours

Getting good sleep is taking care of your immune system

Recent research has provided concrete evidence of the fundamental role of sleep in maintaining individual balance. Indeed, sleep is a precious time, a necessary period of reconstruction to eliminate all the external factors that overload us during the day. Sleep is also believed to be involved in regulating immune defenses, cardiovascular regulation, and metabolic regulation.

Finding one’s sleep rhythm to feel energized

Researchers have established averages per age group by studying the optimal duration of sleep for thousands of individuals. Indeed, this ideal sleep time is unique to each person, and there are no concrete rules to be perfectly rested except going to bed at the time your body indicates. It is therefore crucial to listen to yourself to avoid sleep deprivation, also known as sleep debt.

A simple technique allows you to discover the duration of restorative sleep. For this, we recommend keeping a sleep diary for at least 15 days or a month, ideally during vacations. The principle is to note the time of falling asleep and waking up, including weekends. Based on this data, it is possible to calculate your daily sleep time and the moment when your body signals the start of falling asleep.