Getting up late for work, school or an appointment happens, however there are times when you are somehow just sleeping all day. This is normal, catching up on sleep especially on weekends after a tiresome week, but if it extends past the normal extent, how to tell?
Here’s a quick chart showing the best recommended period of sleep for each age group
- For infants 0 to 3 months, 14-17 hours of sleep per day are recommended.
- For 4-12 months, 12-16 hours of sleep per day are recommended.
- For 1-2 years, 11 to 16 hours of sleep per day is recommended.
- For 3-5 years, 10 to 13 hours of sleep per day is recommended.
- For 13-18 years, 8-10 hours of sleep per day is recommended.
- For 18-60 years, try to get a minimum of 7 hours or more of sleep a day.
- For above 60, the same number of hours of at least 7 is recommended per day.
Did you know that oversleeping can lead to increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, dehydration and more. Since your body has a pattern where it needs nourishment on a routine schedule, too much sleep can deprive your body of needed energy and supplements. You need exercise, brain and body activity, food and water replenishment and more.
So as you see, it is alright to oversleep once in a while, but never make it a habit. Lacking sleep on a regular basis is even more detrimental to your health since it can lead to hypertension, obesity, depression, anxiety and decreased brain function. It has more of an impact on your mental health since it just throws you completely off, everything seems to go slow and your reaction is off to everything.
Create a schedule for yourself, if you tend to overwork and not get enough sleep during weekdays, take a day during weekends to gain some lost hours but don’t let it continue to the next couple of days, take control of yourself and be healthier. Getting enough sleep is critical to your health mentally and physically.
