Typical Sleep Needs
Infants: About 16 hours sleep per day
Babies And Toddlers: Between 10 and 14 hours per day
Children Between 3 to 6 years: Between 10 and 12 hours a day
Children Between 6 to 9 years: About 10 hours per day
Children Between 9 to 12 years: About 9 hours per day
Teenagers: About 9 hours of sleep per day
Adults: About 7 to 8 hours a day
Pregnant Women: About 10 hours a day
All over the world, people have been observed exhibiting some common, but unwanted, behavioral patterns during their sleep, which turn out to be an embarrassment on getting up. Such eight sleep secrets are:
1. Snoring
Snoring is caused by airway obstruction and vibrations in the nasal passage. It may also occur because of simple colds and allergies, but can be a sign of some more serious conditions, such as sleep apnea.
Snoring is harmless until it disrupts your sleep (and others’ too). It needs medical evaluation, depending on its severity.
2. Drooling
Drooling in sleep can be a normal phenomenon to some extent. It can also occur in certain medical conditions that increase salivation. Other reasons include posture, illnesses, and dental issues etc.
Most instances of drooling can be controlled with minor treatments or slight changes in sleeping or in lifestyle habits.
3. Sleepwalking
Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism, is a sleep disorder. Sleepwalkers are in a state of low consciousness and perform activities that are usually performed when they are awake.
These activities can be sitting up in bed, walking to the bathroom, cleaning, cooking, or even driving. In extreme cases, they might go into the kitchen and turn on the stove, which can turn very dangerous.
Sleepwalkers often have very little or no memory of the incident, as they are only partially conscious.
Apart from good sleep hygiene and avoiding sleep deprivation, certain antidepressants and muscle relaxants are also prescribed by doctors.
4. Talking In Your Sleep
Medical term for talking in your sleep is “somniloquy”. It is thought to be caused by anxiety, stress, lack of sleep, and illnesses. It can be either a proper conversation or just mumbling. At times, children often scream and yell.
Since it generally happens during very deep sleep, nobody remembers it on waking up unless they are told about it by their partners.
It is considered pretty harmless, lest you are not divulging some dark secrets.
5. Bedwetting
Bedwetting or nocturnal enuresis is the most embarrassing and distressing one. Once in a while incident is not of much concern, but repeated episodes do indicate an underlying problem.
Heavy alcohol consumption in the night can lead to bedwetting, which is not so alarming, but other causes such as liver, kidney, and bladder
breakdown need immediate medical attention.
6. Nocturnal Orgasms
Nocturnal orgasms or wet dreams can occur on a regular basis in both genders. This is a normal phenomenon and, in fact, is nothing to be embarrassed about. But since they are in deep sleep at that time and not sure how they behaved, people tend to feel little embarrassed about it later on.
7. Flatulence
Passing wind does occur during sleep as well due to the relaxed state of body muscles. There's nothing pathologic about it but can be embarrassing when your partner tells you about it later.
There is no treatment for this except watching your diet. Try to eat light and easily digestible food at least two to three hours prior to sleep.
8. Twitching
We all must have experienced sleep twitching or jerks. You are drifting into deep sleep and suddenly your whole body starts having these little jerks that wake you up.
Although twitching is quite irritating and embarrassing, it is generally benign and doesn’t require much attention or any medical help.
All the above acts during sleep are nothing to be embarrassed about, as at some point of time all of us do it unconsciously. So don’t lose your sleep over them.
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