Experts Explain How Many Times It's Normal To Wake Up During The Night Based On Your Age

Once people move past childhood, broken sleep becomes something many experience at least from time to time. Waking up during the night is often part of adult life rather than an exception.

According to sleep specialists, there are several triggers worth considering when trying to understand nighttime wake-ups. Things like light exposure or a trendy blackout mask alone are usually not enough to solve the problem.

Ongoing stress is one of the most common reasons people wake during the night, and undiagnosed sleep apnea can also play a major role in repeated disruptions.

Speaking to The Healthy, Dr Morgan Soffler of the New York Medical College and Westchester Medical Center explained that obstructive sleep apnea happens when the throat muscles relax too much during sleep. This can block oxygen flow, prompting the brain to briefly wake the body in order to restore normal breathing.

That brings up an important question for many people: how many times is it actually normal to wake up each night?

Dr Ruchir Patel suggests that for young adults, waking up once or twice a night can fall within a normal range. For middle-aged adults, that number may increase to two or three times, while older adults may wake anywhere from three to five times per night.

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"But it is also important to note that a person should be able to return to sleep within 30 minutes or less," said Dr Patel, founder of the Insomnia and Sleep Institute of Arizona.

Other factors can also contribute to broken sleep, including Restless Leg Syndrome, eczema, alcohol before bed, hormone changes, bedroom temperatures that are too warm, mattresses that are too firm, and side effects from certain medications.

Dr Patel also advised seeing a board-certified sleep specialist if you feel exhausted most days despite aiming for seven to eight hours of sleep. He added that regularly lying awake for more than 30 minutes during the night is another sign that professional help may be worth seeking.

"First and foremost, we would need to better determine the actual cause of the sleep disturbance and likely do a sleep study to determine the exact [cause]," he shared.

His comments followed a recent discussion by neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, who revealed a simple sleep technique while speaking with talk show host Bill Maher. According to Huberman, the method may help people fall back asleep in as little as five minutes.

"Now we are finally coming to terms with the fact that the mind and body are connected, duh. It's been known about for thousands of years," he explained. "I've published clinical trials on some of these things, like the respiration physiology, its role in stress and destress."

A number of factors can affect how well you sleep Getty Stock Images

"In fact, if you wake up in the middle of the night and you are having trouble going back to sleep, try just doing some long extended exhales. And get this, this sounds really weird but it has a basis in physiology."

Huberman acknowledged that not everyone will find the technique easy to do, but he encouraged people to give it an honest try before dismissing it.

He added: "Keep your eyes closed and just move your eyes from side to side behind your eyelids, back and fourth. Do some long exhales. I can't promise but I am willing to wager one pinky that within five minutes or so, you'll be back to sleep."