Wellbeing

Sleep Calculator: What is The Best Time to Go To Bed?

Looking at statistics on Australian’s sleep habits in the past decade, one realises that improvement is needed. But, the question remains: when is the best time to go to bed?

You’re likely struggling with sleep because you go to bed late. Or, you might try to sleep early but then you struggle with waking up early. You’ve got to find the right time to fall asleep to get adequate rest.

This quick guide will help you learn how to create the perfect sleep calculator for your needs.

Here’s what you should do:

Understanding Sleep Cycles

The first step is to understand how your sleep cycles work. On average, it takes 90 minutes for a sleep cycle.

With each sleep stage, you’ll fall into a deeper sleep. The early sleep stages are when you experience light sleep. This means that you can easily be awoken and you won’t fly into a deep sleep.

The next stage is deep sleep and afterwards, you’ll experience REM. The REM stage is when you’ll experience dreams.

But how much do you need to ensure a deep sleep that’ll make you feel refreshed in the morning? You can look at this helpful sleep guide to get an idea.

Improving Your Sleep

Now let’s look at some of the strategies for improving your sleep. You want to consult a doctor to help you decide which are the best options for your particular scenario.

You should consider cutting down on caffeine, especially two hours before you decide to fall asleep. Around this time, you should also try to cut down your screen usage.

You want to avoid looking at your computer, smartphone, and television around this time. Too much exposure to screens and images can make it harder for you to fall asleep.

Throughout your day you should also eat a healthy diet. This includes fruits and vegetables and drinking lots of water. Having a healthy body and immune system makes it easier to fall asleep.

Sleep Calculator For Different Ages

Let’s end by looking at the ideal sleep hours for different ages. If you fall under this, you might need to consider increasing your sleep.

  • For babies that are under 3 months, they need 14-17 hours
  • Babies 4 months to 1 year need 12-16 hours
  • Babies 1-2 years need 11-14 hours
  • Children 3-5 years need 10-13 hours
  • Children 6-12 years need 9-12 hours
  • Teenagers, until the age of 18 need 8-10 hours
  • Adults, 19-64 years need 7-9 hours
  • Seniors 65+ need 7-8 hours

If you get this amount of sleep but still feel tired, you might either need more sleep or you’ll need to make lifestyle changes.

Let’s Sleep On It

Now that you’ve looked at our sleep calculator you can find ways to improve your sleep and live a healthier life.

Make sure you understand the sleep cycles to find a way to ensure a deep sleep after the light sleep period. You’ll also have to make changes to your lifestyle and diet to improve your sleep.

Save our sleep calculator so that you have a reference on how many hours of sleep you should get each night.

You can find more health tips on our blog.