By Doctor Seibel - HouseCall®
| Infants/Babies | 0-2 months | 10.5-18.5 hours |
| 2-12 months | 14-15 hours |
|
| Toddlers/Children | 12-18 months | 13-15 hours |
| 18 months – 3 years | 12-14 hours | |
| 3-5 years | 11-13 hours | |
| 5-12 years | 9-11 hours | |
| Adolescents | 8.5-9 hours | |
| Adults/Older persons | On average 7-9 hours |
Seven ways snoozing affects your cruising:
Too little sleep affects just about every part of your life. Here’s what happens if you don’t get enough sleep:
- Mood: more sleep makes you less irritable
- Concentration: Being too tired affects concentration about the equivalent of having one alcoholic beverage.
- Dangerous driver: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates vehicle crashes due to driver fatigue cost Americans $12.5 billion per year in reduced productivity and property loss. Nearly 5% of adults surveyed by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) nodded off or fell asleep while driving at least once in the past month. Nearly 40% said they had unintentionally fallen asleep during the day at least once. More than 1,500 people die every year in car crashes due to the driver dozing off or being too tired.
- Decision making: People who are tired make poor decisions and have difficulty deciding.
- Poor performance at work: It’s hard to do a great job when you can’t concentrate, make poor decisions and feel irritable. According to a NSF poll, sleep loss costs US employers an estimated $18 billion in lost productivity.
- Increased risk of diabetes: Poor sleep increases blood sugar levels and makes insulin (the hormone that gets sugar from the blood stream into the cells) less able to do its job.
- Increased risk of obesity: Poor sleep increases hormones the stimulate appetite and decreases hormones that tell us we have had enough to eat. Stated simply, people who don’t sleep enough eat more.
Seven tips for your slumber trips:
- Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day
- Use your bed only for sleep or intimacy. Work or read somewhere else.
- Avoid the television and computers within two hours of bedtime.
- Avoid caffeine (coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate), nicotine and alcohol close to bedtime. Alcohol disrupts sleep and wakes you for bathroom trips.
- Create a relaxing bedtime routine such as a nice, warm bath.
- Get plenty of exercise, but none within 3 hours of bedtime.
- Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, uncluttered, cool and comfortable
Seven tips that disease could be disturbing your zzz’s (according to NSF):
- You snore loudly
- You stop breathing or gasp for air while asleep
- You find yourself dozing off while driving or during an activity
- You have difficulty sleeping 3 or more nights per week
- Your legs tingle or feel restless or nervous when you try to sleep
- Your sleeping partner snores every night and wakes you up
- Your sleep is regularly disturbed by hot flashes, going to the bathroom, pain or heartburn
Make sure you talk with your doctor or healthcare provider if sleep is a problem for you. You will not only feel better, it will help you stay well. Remember, sleep is not time you lose. For a free download of the song Sleep is Not Time You Lose, please go to www.HealthRock.com/podcasts. Enjoy the song and sleep well.
Machelle Seibel, MD
It is a real pleasure to contribute a regular article to Families Online Magazine. Over the past 30 years I've had the privilege of providing care to over 10,000 women. I've helped them face their challenges, answered their questions, and heard the frustrations they deal with as they transition from their reproductive years to and through menopause.
As a result, my goal is to share the wisdom I've gained that applies directly to women’s health and menopause, or provide insights that can be of help with their families. Some articles will be on things that are ongoing health and wellness topics, and others will be comments or perspectives on important issues you notice in the news.
You will find my two most recent books helpful. They are Eat to Defeat Menopause and Save Your Life: What to do in a Medical Emergency. Click their titles now to learn more.
My websites are http://www.doctorseibel.com/ & http://www.healthrockwomen.com/. There are many FREE downloads, songs, videos, eBooks and other useful content that I hope will help you stay well. My comments here aren’t intended to take the place of your healthcare provider. If you have a medical problem, be sure to ask your doctor.
If you have a topic you want me to cover, drop me a note at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and I’ll do my best to cover it for you. Receive my content-rich FREE NEWSLETTER at www.DoctorSeibel.com.
Editor's Note: Do not consider medical editorial reviews, news items and other general information found in any Families Online Magazine medical or natural health columns as a prescription, medical advice or an endorsement for any treatment or procedure. Always seek any medical advice from your doctor. Medical editorial reviews and other news items that you read about may or may not be appropriate for your particular health problem or concern. Always refer these matters to your physician for clarification and determination. Any information provided in may be controversial, totally unrelated to your own situation, even harmful if taken merely at face value without appropriate evaluation of your specific condition, and therefore must be considered simply to be an editorial review, a news review or a general medical information review and not as relating to your specific condition or as information for diagnosis, evaluation or treatment of your specific condition.
