You may already know that older people really do need to visit the loo more often in the middle of the night, but did you know the amount of sleep we need changes as we age?
People over the age of about 65 might get up more often in the wee hours too, partly because our sleep cycle changes to prioritise an earlier bedtime and wake-up over time.
So perhaps it shouldn’t be shocking to learn that experts like Dr Lynelle Schneeberg, a pediatric sleep psychologist, told Sleep.com that different age groups may require different bedtimes too.
Using sleep data from the National Sleep Foundation, experts shared the best time to get to bed ― “falling asleep” time included.
When should I fall asleep?
Everyone’s different ― these are just guidelines. If you’re happy with your current sleep routine, stick to it, and if your lifestyle demands different hours, then prioritise getting enough sleep rather than catching it at the “ideal” hour.
With that said, experts think that when we fall asleep matters. Eight hours of sleep from midday to late evening might not benefit us as much as an overnight kip, for instance.
So, Sleep.com advises we stick to:
- No specific bedtime recommendation
Preschoolers (3–5 years)
School-age Children (6–13 years)
Young Adults (18–25 years)
Why would when I fall asleep even matter?
The University of Queensland points out that while we all have different natural sleep preferences, our body clock means we’re meant to be “diurnal” (active in the day and asleep at night).
Working against those preset hours “can result in poorer health because it disconnects our physiology and behaviour from our internal circadian clock that is supposed to organise it,” they add.
That’s partly why sleep experts recommend against lying in for too long on the weekends as it can create something called “social jetlag.”
Additionally, a 2019 paper found that “Although it could be argued that sleep during the day is better than no sleep at all, the evidence from shift-workers [who are more likely to suffer from health conditions like depression, breast cancer, and diabetes] suggests that sleep timing is related to health.”
