What Is Normal Sleep For An Adult As You Age?
Normal sleep for an adult changes across the lifespan
What is normal sleep for an adult? Is my sleep pattern normal? Will my sleep change as I age?
Strangely, even as an insomnia treatment specialist, I rarely get asked the question 'what is normal sleep for an adult'?
Perhaps we just intuitively know what normal sleep is for an adult?
Or perhaps we simply assume our sleep is normal because we only occasionally wake in the woods, surrounded by mauled sheep, slight taste of blood in our mouths?
But seriously, taking the time to understand what normal sleep for an adult should be, or at least what typical sleep for a healthy adult looks like across the lifespan, is important for three reasons:
Confirmation. If you think your sleep is normal and it actually is normal, that’s good to know;
Awareness. If you think your sleep is normal, but actually you have a sleep problem, finding out might prompt you to get help; and
Peace of mind. If you worry that you have a sleep problem but actually are experiencing normal sleep, you can put yourself at ease.
So what can sleep science tell us about normal adult sleep as you age?
What should we reasonably expect to experience when we put our heads on our pillows (& don’t wake up in the woods)?
Let’s dive in.
What Does Normal Sleep For An Adult Look Like?
Well, when we think about ‘normal’ nightly sleep science gives us a few things to consider:
How long does it take to fall asleep (known as sleep onset latency or SOL);
How many times do you wake during the night (known as night awakenings or NWAK);
How long are you awake for when you awake during the night (known as wake after sleep onset or WASO);
Time spent asleep at night (known as total sleep time or TST); and
Time spent asleep as a percentage of time in bed (known as sleep efficiency or SE)
It’s probably good to note here that sleep differs across a number of different demographic characteristics, not just age, so I’ll cover off another big difference, gender, in a later post.
How Long Should It Take Me To Fall To Sleep?
Studies suggest that it generally takes an adult around 20 mins to fall asleep.
For example, an analysis of the sleep patterns of 593 normal sleepers by Lichstein et al, (2004) found:
“Among the 593 participants in this sample, we observed SOL to be 18.6 min (SD = 13.4)”
(Note that the standard deviation of 13.4 minutes means that normal SOL includes falling asleep in as little as 5 minutes, or taking as long as 31 minutes to fall asleep).
Does It Take Longer To Fall Asleep As You Age?
The short answer is yes.
But the effect is small, less than 10 minutes across age groups.
And it’s only a difference between very young adults and the elderly, with those over age 65 years showing slight increases in time to fall asleep.
Otherwise, there’s not much of a difference between young adults, middle aged, and the elderly.
“Overall, it appeared that sleep latency modestly but significantly increased with age. However, the change is very subtle...The significant difference appeared only when very young adults were compared to elderly individuals. The overall increase in sleep latency between 20 and 80 years was less than 10 minutes.”
Is It Normal To Wake Up During The Night?
The good news is: it’s normal to wake during the night.
Or is that bad news…..?
Anyhow, on average, adults will experience at least one awakening per night.
How Often Should You Wake Up During The Night?
Not only is it normal to wake during the night but studies also show that it’s normal to experience more night awakenings as you age.
On average, those in their 20s can expect to wake 1x per night, while those in their 80s can expect to wake around 2x per night.
Via Epidemiology of Sleep: Age, Gender, and Ethnicity
“Awakenings went from a low of 1.1 per night in decade 20 to nearly doubling with a high of 1.8 per night in decade 80…
…Except for the leveling off in decades 30 and 40, the increase in night awakening from one decade to the next was gradual and steady, never dramatic.”
Here’s what that looks like visually:
How Long Should You Be Awake For At Night?
Waking up at night is one thing.
Falling back to sleep once you wake up is a whole different issue.
Like the number of night awakenings, you can expect the length of time awake during the night to increase with age.
In fact, time awake during the night is one of the most pronounced differences in normal sleep between young and old adults.
“WASO obtained the largest effect size, showing the important increase with age of time awake after sleep onset.”
How long can you expect to be awake at night?
Studies suggest from around 15 minutes at age 20, to anywhere between 30 minutes and 50 minutes by age 60, with a levelling off after age 60 for healthy older adults.
The rule of thumb seems to be an increase of about 10 minutes per decade from age 30 years onward.
“the effect size was large for WASO…. WASO consistently increased about 10 minutes per decade of age from 30 years.”
Here’s a graphic showing time spent awake during the night across the lifespan.
How Much Sleep Should You Expect To Get As You Get Older?
Given what we’ve covered already, it shouldn’t be too surprising that older adults do not get as much sleep as younger adults (unless those younger adults have kids, then they don’t get any sleep!).
In terms of total sleep time, normal adult sleep appears to be around 7.5 hrs of sleep at age 20 declining to 6.5 hrs of sleep at age 60. After age 60 things seem to level off.
The association between TST and age was higher in studies that compared young adults with middle-aged and young adults with elderly subjects. The association was nonsignificant when the researchers included only participants 60 years or older. This indicates that TST did not continue to significantly decline among older subjects.
Here’s what that looks like visually:
The decline in total sleep may be related to the time spent awake at night as the 10 minute rule of thumb shows up again.
“TST (n = 2009) linearly decreased with age with a loss of about 10 minutes per decade of age.”
You’ll note that 8 hours of sleep wasn’t mentioned in these findings. I’ve written before about the myth of needing to get eight hours of sleep a night.
How Well Should You Expect To Sleep As You Get Older?
The last piece of the sleep puzzle sleep researchers like to look at is sleep efficiency - that is what percentage of the time you spend in bed is actually spent sleeping. Less time awake = a higher percentage sleep efficiency = generally better sleep.
As you might’ve guessed here as well, research indicates that sleep efficiency is highest for young adults, at around 90% to 95%, and steadily declines as we age, to around 80% by age 80 years.
“a larger effect size was found in studies that compared young with elderly adults and young with middle-aged subjects“
But unlike some of the other sleep measures above, sleep efficiency didn’t level off at age 60 but instead continued to decline into old age.
“ sleep efficiency continued to significantly decrease with age in the “elderly only” samples where a medium effect size was observed.”
The rule of thumb here seems to be from 40 years old sleep efficiency decreases 3% per decade of age.
The decrease in sleep efficiency (n = 1738) was more evident from 40 years of age: a 3% decrease per decade of age can be observed until very old age.
It’s important to add here that maintaining high sleep efficiency isn’t necessarily a good thing.
Sleep efficiencies over 95% indicate excessive sleepiness, could indicate obstructive sleep apnea or another sleep disorder, and is a risk factor for road & workplace accidents (think: falling asleep on the job).
Summary: What Is Normal Sleep For An Adult & How Does Adult Sleep Change Across The Lifespan?
So, in summary, what is normal sleep for an adult as you age?
20 minutes to fall asleep, increasing to around 30 minutes by old age;
1 (remembered) awakening at night, increasing to 2 awakenings by old age;
15 minutes awake at night as a young adult, increasing to 30 - 50 minutes by age 60;
7.5 hours asleep at night as a young adult, decreasing to 6.5 hours by 60 years of age;
90% sleep efficiency as a young adult, decreasing to 80% sleep efficiency by old age.
Rules of thumb for normal sleep for an adult as you age:
10 more minutes awake at night per decade from age 30 years onward;
10 less minutes asleep per night, per decade; and
3% decrease in sleep efficiency per decade of age from age 40 years onward.
The takeaway from all this?
Normal sleep for an adult will change with age. Don’t expect to sleep the same across your lifespan. Be prepared for things to change, it’s natural.
Don’t struggle with sleep changes. Go with them.
Being asleep and being awake are both blessings - you’ve just gotta make the most of where you find yourself.
Oh, and a personal preference: get a hobby. If you’re going to spend more time awake invest in yourself, not Netflix.
If you’re worried about your sleep or think you may have insomnia you can take our quick online insomnia severity assessment to get feedback or simply get in touch & talk with an expert.