Researchers at the Adelaide Institute for Sleep at Flinders University shared signs that indicate we’re getting quality sleep.
Typically, people tell experts what they expect healthy sleep to be. Many believe that once their head hits the pillow, they should immediately fall into a deep, restorative sleep and wake up about eight hours later feeling refreshed.
Sleep specialists say healthy nighttime sleep is cyclical: we move through different stages and often wake several times throughout the night. Some of us remember those awakenings, while others do not. So, what constitutes healthy nighttime sleep?
Sleep Cycles Are Like Roller Coasters
An adult’s sleep goes through cycles and brief awakenings throughout the night. Each cycle lasts about 90 minutes.
We typically start the night in light sleep, then progress to deeper stages, and experience REM sleep—often associated with vivid dreaming.
If we’re sleeping well, most deep sleep happens in the first half of the night, while REM sleep usually dominates the latter half.
Adults generally experience five to six sleep cycles each night. Experts say it’s perfectly normal to wake up briefly at the end of each cycle. That means we might wake up five times a night on average. Sleep specialists note that, despite the number of awakenings—often increasing with age—people can still be healthy. If someone doesn’t remember their brief awakenings, that’s completely normal.
What Is Quality Sleep?
Adults typically need 7–9 hours of sleep per night. But good sleep is about more than just hours; it’s about quality.
For most people, quality sleep means falling asleep within about 30 minutes, having only a few or brief awakenings, and waking up feeling refreshed.
During the day, we shouldn’t feel excessively sleepy, especially if we regularly get at least seven hours of sleep each night. If you still feel physically tired during the day, consult a doctor; there could be underlying causes for daytime drowsiness and lethargy.
Common Issues
About 25 percent of adults suffer from insomnia—a sleep disorder characterized by difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, often waking up earlier than desired.
The prevalence of common sleep disorders, such as insomnia and sleep apnea (when breathing partially or completely stops multiple times during the night), also rises with age. These issues affect about 20 percent of young people and 40 percent of middle-aged individuals.
The good news is that treatment options are improving.
Sleep can also be disrupted by chronic illnesses that cause pain and by certain medications.
There are other reasons we might not sleep well. Sometimes children, pets, or noisy traffic wake us. Those forced awakenings can make mornings harder and leave us dissatisfied with our rest. In some cases, nighttime awakenings happen without any obvious reason, as reported by Science Alert.
To decide whether awakenings are a problem, look at how they affect you. If they cause frustration, anxiety, or interfere with daily functioning, it may be time to seek help. The same is true if you consistently struggle to get up for work or family obligations.
Can a Smart Gadget Help?
Sleep trackers vary in accuracy at monitoring different sleep stages. These gadgets are not perfect.
The gold standard for studying sleep stages is laboratory polysomnography, which measures breathing, blood oxygen levels, brain waves, and heart rate during sleep.
Rather than obsessing over detailed tracking from a device, it can be more useful to watch your sleep patterns, including bedtime and wake-up time. Understanding your own patterns can help you change behaviors that hurt your nighttime rest.
