Sleep Myth: Older People Need Less Sleep 

Do older people need less sleep? It is a popular perception that as one ages, they need less sleep at night. Remember your grandmother, no matter what time you got up when you stayed at her house or when she lived with you, she was up already. Not only that, but she had baked a cake, done the wash, sewed the button on your shirt and even polished your shoes. She just needed less sleep than you or the rest of the family.

Ask yourself this question. Do you remember what time your grandmother went to bed at night? It was likely closer to 9PM than to 10PM, say 9:30PM. Assuming grandmother sleep through the night and got up at 4:30AM, that works out to seven hours sleep. It is not likely that she slept all of that time, however. The Harvard Medical School Guide to a Good Nights Sleep, indicates that for a variety of reason older persons awaken more frequently during the night. Reality is your grandmother probably got closer to six hours sleep.

If you watched a little TV or a video after dinner, did your grandmother hang in there to the end of the show? Maybe she made it through the first half but nodded off for the last hour of the movie. Add another hour to her sleep log right there.

If by chance you were around during your grandmother's day, did she take either a mid-morning or afternoon nap? Perhaps she managed to do both. Again, according to Harvard, naps are very restorative as they lessen fatigue and refresh ones ability for cognitive tasks. The Guide also indicates that older persons do tend to nap more frequently than when they were younger. A solid hour of nap time during the day might figure into grandmothers sleep log.

Let's do the math at this point. Six hours of bed rest, an hour of nap time and one hour for dozing off in the evening before going to bed. Your grandmother is or was, getting eight hours of sleep. Again, our Harvard resource tells us that people of all ages, need between seven and nine hours of sleep per night. If she managed this type of sleep pattern, your grandmother was getting up at the crack of dawn but still getting her eight hours of sleep per night.

This illustration does not mean that all older persons maintain this type of sleeping pattern or get this much sleep. Do to pain of inflammation, other illness or insomnia, older people may get much less than eight hours of sleep. That does not means that they do not need it or can do without it, just because they are older. Adults of all ages need that seven to nine hours for sleep to be healthy and function at their best during each day.

So, do not buy into the myth that you, your mother or your grandmother needs or can function well, getting less sleep than that on a regular basis. For all of you, it well not be good for your overall health and well-being.