Rest and age

Sleep is essential in our lives by allowing us to restore the energy we have spent. But how many hours must we use for a good rest?.



Not everyone needs the same number of hours to rest. Besides the influence of physical and mental characteristics of each person, the age is a very important factor. That is, our rest is changing with our age needs

Childhood

We can not know exactly how many hours of rest a child needs. The rest for each child depends on their metabolic rate, their age and their activities or habits. 

Normally, a baby uses, on average, about 18 hours to rest. That means that only wakes up for food .
Gradually, your baby begins to adapt to their environment and the first month of life, requires about 16 hours rest. After two or three months he can distinguish between day and night and he may be able to sleep all night without waking up for food. 

At one year, under normal circumstances, your baby will sleep 12 hours, reduced to 9 or 10 when he begins his education at school.
This amount will decrease to an average of 8 hours as they approach adolescence. 

Is important to establish, throughout the day, a daily routine with schedules and activities so the child feels secure and confident. In this way, he learns to distinguish when he has to lie down to rest.
Likewise, it is essential a good rest ambient. Remember: a not too hot nor too cold room, a very comfortable bedding... all the things you need to make your baby clean and comfortable. 

To know if a child has an appropriate rest, it is a basic look at his day drowsiness, inattentiveness, irritability, ..., are factors that will indicate that the child does not rest properly.

Adolescence

Teenagers need between eight and a half and just over nine hours of rest each night. 

In adolescents the sleep biological clock works differently than in children or adults. Melatonin, a hormone that regulates the rhythm of sleep and wakefulness, appears later at night in teens than in children and adults. This makes them less inclined to sleep.
Some indicators that they are not sleeping well may be the difficulty in rising, lack of concentration, irritability, ...
To make the teenagers sleep longer and better, they must go to bed at the same time (daily), no drink irritants (coffee or cola), avoid activities that could alter the teenager before bed (movies or violent television programs), no longer napping or playing some exercise every day. 

Adults

From 20 to 40 years, our body needs an average of 8 hours of rest. Between 40 and 60, this average can be reduced to 7 hours of total sleepl. 

But in this age is when we have more responsibilities, we have a greater number of concerns, etc.
So our brain is restless and if we go to sleep somewhat altered for any reason may be the cause of a poor and brokenrest. 

Some recommendations to sleep properly at this age are:



- Maintain a regular rest schedule. You should establish a routine to go to sleep at the same time.
- Reduce naps and breaks during the day, as they may cause to feel less sleep at night.
- Do not drink stimulants, or alcohol or smoke. 

- Establish a daily exercise routine.
- Make your sleeping room safe and comfortable, always with minimal light and noise pollution as possible and always well ventilated. 

 

Pregnancy

Pregnant women will notice that at the begin of their state increases their sleep. Towards the end of pregnancy will cost them to sleep by the size and weight of their abdomen (to prevent them from moving and find the most comfortable position) or by the constant need to urinate or to begin to feel contractions.
It is advisable that pregnant women sleep on their left side because this position favors the maternal cardiac output. 

They must sleep with their head higher than body, urinate before sleep, exercise (but not before bed), eat lightly before bed and establish a routine of rest, ie getting in and out at the same time and to reduce the hours of daytime sleep.

Aging

After 60 years, hours of slow and deep sleep are greatly reduced, thereby increasing the time when we are awake in bed and also increase the number of nighttime awakenings. 

Therefore it's normal for people from that age sleep a total of 6 hours at night and 1 or 2 in the daytime. By reducing the hours of sleep during the night but remain almost the same time in the bed, makes us feel a poor quality or ineffective rest.
It is essential at this age to prepare us for rest. We need a room completely adapted to rest (light, noise, ventilation), also to have a rest system (mattress, mattress, pillow and bedding) completely adapted to our needs and exercise regularly.