How Much Deep Sleep Do You Need? - Tips For Getting More

Digging into the finer details of sleep and hearing about the different stages? Curious about how much deep sleep you need?

Deep sleep is a vital part of our body’s daily revitalization project, and it takes time. How much deep sleep you need depends a little on age and also individual sleep needs.

However, for most people there’s one general blueprint for how much deep sleep they need, and how to get it. Keep on reading to know how much deep sleep you need for a good night's rest!

What Is Deep Sleep?

When your head hits the pillow and fall asleep you transition from one stage of sleep to another, each with characteristics that make them stand out. Understanding sleep cycles is crucial to know how much sleep you need. In total, there are four sleep stages. The first three fall under the “non-Rapid Eye Movement” (non-REM) umbrella, followed by the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep stage.

During the non-REM stage, also known as NREM sleep, our brains drift deeper and deeper into sleep. You can analyze the sleep stages by studying the brain waves; And you can tell that we’re falling asleep by looking at the changing brain waves on an EEG chart.

During stage one when you first fall asleep, your brain waves are a little shallower and we’re still only starting to drift off. During stage two, you can clearly see your brain waves get bigger as we begin to really conk out. Our brain even starts to suppress outside stimuli at this time. Some have called this stage “deeper sleep.”

The third and final stage of non-REM sleep is the true “deep sleep.” Deep sleep, also known as slow wave sleep, is when the body relaxes into restorative rest. When deep sleep occurs, these large spikes in brain activity widen out, turning into delta waves. And in order to confirm that you’ve entered this stage, those waves need to make up more than 20% of an EEG chart.

If you’re in the deep sleep stage, you likely won’t know it yourself since, as the name suggests, you’re deeply unconscious. Your muscles start to relax. You’re harder to wake up. And you may even start to dream.

The Purpose Of Deep Sleep

There are still plenty of unknowns when it comes to the brain and sleep, but researchers agree that the main purpose of the sleep stage of deep sleep is for repairing and restoring the body. Slow wave sleep helps restoring your muscles, bones, tissues, and even the immune system. It’s one of the reasons our bodies crave more sleep when we’re run down; insufficient deep sleep will directly result in lower sleep quality. Getting enough deep sleep is crucial for your sleep patterns, for if deep sleep decreases you are more prone to sleep deprivation.

Among the different stages of sleep - If you include the second stage of sleep in the “deep sleep” category, deep sleep plays the significant role of memory strengthening.

Finally, deep sleep also impacts overall sleep pressure, so if you constantly feel tired throughout the day, it may be because you’re not getting your fill of the second and third stages of sleep, resulting in sleep deprivation.

It’s one of the reasons why you should try to avoid napping for too long. If you enter deep sleep during your naps, your brain removes some of that sleep pressure, resulting in trouble falling asleep at night, making it harder to get quality sleep.

And if you wake up in the middle of deep sleep, you’ll run into sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, which causes you to repeatedly stop and re-start breathing in your sleep - which can result in sleep disturbances such as sleep inertia – that feeling of grogginess and crankiness you may have experienced after a nap.

Deep Sleep VS REM Sleep – The Differences

The final stage of the sleep cycle is REM, REM sleep stage and it’s very different from deep sleep.

In REM sleep stage, brain wave activity, for instance, starts to look very similar on an EEG to how it would in a waking brain. Your brain waves slow down, characterized by low-frequency, high-amplitude fluctuations called delta waves. You also lose muscle tone, possibly as a self-defense mechanism to avoid acting out dreams during sleep. Finally, as the name suggests, the eyes start to dart back and forth which doesn’t happen during the other stages.

In terms of function, REM sleep wears several hats. Here are the big ones:

• REM may be as important as stage 2 sleep for memory.
• It’s also crucial for emotional processing, acting as a sort of internal therapy session.
• REM helps the body transition into wakefulness, which leads into the next sleep cycle. 

All of that is incredibly important, but what REM sleep doesn’t do is rejuvenate the body as deep sleep does. Nonetheless, getting enough REM sleep and deep sleep are both necessary for healthy sleep.

The Average Person’s Sleep Needs

How much sleep does the average person need for a good night's sleep? To get the restorative and mind-boosting benefits of deep sleep and REM, the average person needs 7-9 hours of sleep each night with a consistent sleep schedule, to ensure you get enough sleep.

Within those hours of dozing, there are typically four or five sleep cycles, each taking 90-120 minutes. Those can be broken down even further based on the sleep cycle.

However, things start to get complicated as the night progresses. This is because you need less deep sleep as the night goes on, and REM cycles start to get longer, which leads us to the question: how many hours of deep sleep do we need?

How Many Hours Of Deep Sleep Do You Need?

In adults, 20% of total sleep time is spent in deep sleep (stage 3). Going with the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep each night, that means the average adult needs 84-108 minutes or 1.4-1.8 hours of time in deep sleep every night.

For those wondering if 20 minutes of deep sleep is good enough, the answer is unfortunately no. If you’re talking about a single sleep cycle, this might be enough. But over the course of an entire night, 20 minutes of time spent deep sleep simply isn’t sufficient to keep your body in good health.

How Many Hours Of Stage 2 Sleep Do You Need?

As mentioned, stage 2 sleep isn’t technically “deep sleep,” but it’s on the deeper side. It’s also vital for good health and makes up 50% of your total snoozing. You’ll need a total of 210-270 minutes or 3.5-4.5 hours of stage 2 sleep every night to keep that memory sharp.

How Many Hours Of REM Sleep Do You Need?

The last major type of sleep to consider is REM sleep, sometimes called light sleep. How much REM sleep do we need? This stage of the sleep cycle makes up 25% of total sleep, which means that you’ll need 105-135 minutes or 1.75-2.25 hours of REM sleep every night.

It’s also important to note that most deep sleep comes at the start of the night while REM sleep comes on the back end. So if you get too little sleep at night, you’re robbing yourself of REM sleep more than deep sleep.

Recommended Deep Sleep By Age

The above numbers are great as an overall figure, but the truth is that the average human’s sleep needs are pretty erratic over the course of a lifetime. That’s where phrases like “sleeping like a baby” come from.

Full breakdowns of stage two and three sleep by age is difficult to assess, but here’s what ideal sleep looks like based on age:

Children need about a 50/50 balance of deep and light sleep from birth, but as they get a little bit older, the ratio changes to the usual 75% non-REM to 25% REM sleep.

Our sleep needs don’t change for much of our adult life, but after the age of 65, deep sleep starts to drop along with REM sleep. At that point, stage two sleep starts to make up most of the time asleep.

How To Increase Deep Sleep

With the rise of health monitoring watches and other devices, many people are getting deep into the weeds of their own sleep stats and wondering how they can improve. And the good news is that you can improve. Maybe just not the way you were hoping.

Unfortunately, there’s no reliable way to target one stage of sleep for improvement. But you can increase your deep sleep hours by upping the quality and quantity of your overall sleep. That means sticking to a regular bedtime routine, exercising during the day, and setting your bedroom up right.

When it comes to increasing your deep sleep, a lot of it comes down to winding down properly at night. And if you’re having trouble in that area, weighted blankets can help out. They may even get you more of that precious deep sleep.

The extra weight from our knitted weighted blanket along with plain old gravity acts as a stress reliever, releasing serotonin and coaxing out melatonin as well. This combination relieves anxiety and might help you get the extra sleep you’re looking for.

What happens if you don’t get enough deep sleep?

If you don’t get enough deep sleep at night, your immune system will be stressed and your ability to repair your body’s tissues will be impaired. This could mean a higher chance of illness and injury. Long term, sleep deprivation may lead to outcomes such as heart disease and shortened lifespan.

The good news is that if you get your overall sleep under control, the deep sleep should follow. Even if sleep solutions like a weighted blanket aren’t quite right for you, there are lots of ways you can upgrade your sleep routine to promote deeper sleep, including simply making your bedroom more comfortable and pleasant to be in.

You might want to adjust the lighting in your room, change your sheets more often, or upgrade your bedding with a new sheet set or muslin blanket. If you tend to sleep hot, swapping out a heavy comforter for a more breathable blanket made of muslin can be a great way to encourage yourself to go to bed earlier and let yourself drift off worry free.

Conclusion

Deep sleep is crucial for our body’s ability to repair itself and makes up about one-quarter of total sleep for the average adult. Those trying to get more of it may want to try our Cotton Napper as it can help relax you, which in turn leads to deep sleep in a healthy individual.

If you’re already getting your 7-9 hours of sleep each night, congratulations. As long as you don’t feel fatigued there’s a very good chance you’re already full up on your deep sleep.