With your head resting gently on your pillow and your body covered in warm sheets and blankets, you might not want to get out of bed. You didn’t sleep well the night before, or maybe it’s the weekend, and you just want to stay in the safety of your personal cocoon and sleep. The question is, can you get too much sleep?
Sadly, humans aren’t made to hibernate, even though we might want to from time to time. Our bodies function best when they get a certain amount of sleep each day, which depends on the person. Too much sleep can end up causing a lot of issues in the long run.
Is Too Much Sleep a Bad Thing?
Occasionally oversleeping isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, just like everything else, moderation is key. If you’re constantly sleeping for more than eight hours a night, you’re doing more harm to your body than you might realize.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, getting too much sleep can cause the same health problems as not getting enough sleep, mainly diabetes, heart disease, obesity, depression, headaches, and other medical conditions.
Getting too much sleep also throws off your circadian rhythms, the physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. Basically, your body has an internal clock that knows when to wake up and when to go to sleep. It varies from person to person, but you should strive to go to sleep at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. This helps keep your internal clock working properly. Going to sleep later or waking up later can mess with your circadian rhythms, meaning it might be harder to fall asleep the next night or more difficult to get out of bed the next day.
How Much is Too Much Sleep?
Each person is different when it comes to sleep, just like each person is unique when it comes to the right pillow or mattress for them. According to the Sleep Foundation, the recommended target for sleep changes the older you get. They recommend:
- Newborns (0-3 months): 14-17 hours (including naps and nighttime)
- Infants (4-11 months): 12-15 hours (including naps and nighttime)
- Toddlers (1-2 years): 11-14 hours (including naps and nighttime)
- Preschoolers (3-5): 10-13 hours (including naps and nighttime)
- School age children (6-12): 9-11 hours
- Teenagers (13-17): 8-10 hours
- Adults (18-64): 7-9 hours
- Older adults (65+): 7-8 hours
It’s also important to remember that if you are getting too much sleep day after day, you might need to talk with you doctor. There’s a chance you could have a medical condition, such as sleep apnea, that is causing you to oversleep.
Tips to Avoid Getting Too Much Sleep
Regardless of the cause of your oversleeping, you can implement healthy sleep tips to improve your sleep habits:
- Set a Regular Sleep Schedule: Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. This helps you avoid sleep loss and feeling like you need to “catch up” on your sleep, which you can’t.
- Create a Bedtime Routine: Your routine should help you relax and prepare for sleep. Avoid light from electronics in the hours before bedtime, as this light can delay you from falling asleep.
- Consider Your Sleep Environment: Your bedroom should be a cool temperature and free of excess light and noise.
- Keep Active: Daily exercise and sunlight exposure help you sleep well at night. Avoid excessive exercise close to bedtime.
- Nap Early: Naps later in the afternoon can make it difficult for you to fall asleep on time at night.
Another thing to consider is the condition of your mattress. If you have a mattress that is constantly keeping you awake at night, investing in a new one might be the healthy choice. Finding a new mattress that is the right fit for you doesn’t have to be an excruciatingly long ordeal, either.
At Mattress Warehouse, you can take the patented scientific approach to finding the right mattress – bedMATCH®. This diagnostic sleep system can measure your body, pressure points, and more all while you rest on the test mattress. In a few short minutes, you’ll have a short list of mattresses that are specifically – and scientifically – chosen for you.
Visit a Mattress Warehouse store near you to see how easy it can be not only to find a great mattress, but one that could help stop you from getting too much sleep!