Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTypes of NapsBenefitsDisadvantagesNap ParadoxNapping TipsFrequently Asked Questions
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Types of Naps
Benefits
Disadvantages
Nap Paradox
Napping Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
A nap—a period of light or brief sleep during the day—can be a wonderful way to boost your energy and mental health, especially if you havesleep deprivation. A lot of people depend on naps to get through the day. In fact, on any given day, about a third of American adults take a nap.
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Sleep experts have defined several different kinds of naps, all of which can serve a specific function.
Mid-Afternoon DrowsinessThe strongest desire for daytime sleep in adults occurs in the mid-afternoon, typically between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Afternoon sleepiness may be due to the natural rise of a brain chemical calledadenosine, which makes you feel sleepy and is at its lowest in the morning,along with a natural dip in circadian alertness in the afternoon.
Mid-Afternoon Drowsiness
The strongest desire for daytime sleep in adults occurs in the mid-afternoon, typically between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Afternoon sleepiness may be due to the natural rise of a brain chemical calledadenosine, which makes you feel sleepy and is at its lowest in the morning,along with a natural dip in circadian alertness in the afternoon.
Benefits of Napping
Naps offer a lot of potential health and performance benefits beyond recovering from a poor night’s sleep. According to research, they may:
Disadvantages of Napping
Naps do have some potential disadvantages, though. The biggest ones have to do with sleep:
The 5 Phases of Sleep
Studies also suggest that naps are associated with numerous medical conditions and measures of poor health, including:
What’s more, these associations become stronger as you age.
How Much Sleep Do You Need?The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults get seven to nine hours of sleep each night, but surveys suggest that half of people get less than this amount.
How Much Sleep Do You Need?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults get seven to nine hours of sleep each night, but surveys suggest that half of people get less than this amount.
The Nap Paradox
Given the many positive and negative associations with naps, it’s hard to say whether they’re good or bad for you overall. Researchers are working on clarifying this paradox and have several theories about why research appears to be so divided.
Some experts consider the last explanation to be the most likely. Still, they say it’s too early to make that assumption and therefore premature to recommend that everyone take naps.
Biphasic Sleep Schedule: Recommended or Disruptive?
Tips for a Good Nap
If you’re going to nap, there are ways to get the most possible benefit:
Napping With Sleep DisordersYou may need more naps if you have untreated sleep disorders likesleep apneaandnarcolepsy.
Napping With Sleep Disorders
You may need more naps if you have untreated sleep disorders likesleep apneaandnarcolepsy.
When do kids stop napping?
Most young children stop napping between age 3 to 5, though it may come earlier or later for some kids. Infants and toddlers are developing rapidly so they need significantly more sleep than adults. Scheduling naptimes into your child’s day can help them meet that requirement.
What is a power nap?
A “power nap” is a quick nap, lasting just 15 to 30 minutes, that helps you get through the day. It’s not a medically defined nap type; the term sprang up in popular culture when the benefits of adult napping started being recognized. Most power naps are most likely just short recovery naps.
A Word From Verywell
It’s normal to need a nap now and then, even if you’re relatively young and healthy. However, if you find yourself needing naps more and more, you may need to examine yoursleep hygieneand schedule to see if you can spend more time in bed or improve your quality of sleep.
Being tired during the day when you’ve had plenty of sleep could also indicate a medical problem that needs to be treated. Be sure to talk to your healthcare provider about your daytime sleepiness, how it’s affecting your life, and what seems to make it better or worse.
Reasons for Being Tired All the Time
17 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychological Association.The science of naps.Mantua J, Spencer RMC.Exploring the nap paradox: Are mid-day sleep bouts a friend or foe?Sleep Med. 2017;37:88-97. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2017.01.019Sims RE, Wu HH, Dale N.Sleep-wake sensitive mechanisms of adenosine release in the basal forebrain of rodents: an in vitro study.PLoS One. 2013;8(1):e53814. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053814Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.NIOSH training for nurses on shift work and long work hours.Häusler N, Haba-Rubio J, Heinzer R, Marques-Vidal P.Association of napping with incident cardiovascular events in a prospective cohort study.Heart. 2019;105(23):1793-1798. doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2019-314999Li J, Cacchione PZ, Hodgson N, et al.Afternoon napping and cognition in chinese older adults: findings from the china health and retirement longitudinal study baseline assessment.J Am Geriatr Soc. 2017;65(2):373-380. doi:10.1111/jgs.14368Wang N, Zou J, Fang S, Zhou J.Association between daytime napping and obesity in Chinese middle-aged and older adults.J Glob Health. 2020;10(2):020804. doi:10.7189/jogh.10.020804Mazza M, Lapenta L, Losurdo A, et al.Polysomnographic and psychometric correlates of napping in primary insomnia patients.Nord J Psychiatry. 2020;74(4):244-250. doi:10.1080/08039488.2019.1695285Jakubowski KP, Boylan JM, Cundiff JM, Matthews KA.Poor sleep moderates the relationship between daytime napping and inflammation in Black and White men.Sleep Health. 2017;3(5):328-335. doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2017.06.005Lee S, Stone KL, Engeland CG, Lane NE, Buxton OM.Arthritis, sleep health, and systemic inflammation in older men.Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2020;72(7):965-973. doi:10.1002/acr.23923Zhou L, Yu K, Yang L, et al.Sleep duration, midday napping, and sleep quality and incident stroke: The Dongfeng-Tongji cohort.Neurology. 2020;94(4):e345-e356. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000008739Papandreou C, Díaz-López A, Babio N, et al.Long daytime napping is associated with increased adiposity and type 2 diabetes in an elderly population with metabolic syndrome.J Clin Med. 2019;8(7):1053. doi:10.3390/jcm8071053Basta M, Koutentaki E, Vgontzas A, et al.Objective daytime napping is associated with disease severity and inflammation in patients with mild to moderate dementia.J Alzheimers Dis. 2020;74(3):803-815. doi:10.3233/JAD-190483Guarnieri Ribeiro Bueno C, Andrechuk CRS, Guimarães Lima M, et al.Napping, functional capacity and satisfaction with life in older adults: A population-based study.J Clin Nurs. 2019;28(9-10):1568-1576. doi:10.1111/jocn.14768Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.How much sleep do I need?Harvard Medical School, Harvard Health Publishing.How much sleep do we really need?Slater G, Steier J.Excessive daytime sleepiness in sleep disorders.J Thorac Dis. 2012;4(6):608–616. doi:10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2012.10.07
17 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychological Association.The science of naps.Mantua J, Spencer RMC.Exploring the nap paradox: Are mid-day sleep bouts a friend or foe?Sleep Med. 2017;37:88-97. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2017.01.019Sims RE, Wu HH, Dale N.Sleep-wake sensitive mechanisms of adenosine release in the basal forebrain of rodents: an in vitro study.PLoS One. 2013;8(1):e53814. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053814Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.NIOSH training for nurses on shift work and long work hours.Häusler N, Haba-Rubio J, Heinzer R, Marques-Vidal P.Association of napping with incident cardiovascular events in a prospective cohort study.Heart. 2019;105(23):1793-1798. doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2019-314999Li J, Cacchione PZ, Hodgson N, et al.Afternoon napping and cognition in chinese older adults: findings from the china health and retirement longitudinal study baseline assessment.J Am Geriatr Soc. 2017;65(2):373-380. doi:10.1111/jgs.14368Wang N, Zou J, Fang S, Zhou J.Association between daytime napping and obesity in Chinese middle-aged and older adults.J Glob Health. 2020;10(2):020804. doi:10.7189/jogh.10.020804Mazza M, Lapenta L, Losurdo A, et al.Polysomnographic and psychometric correlates of napping in primary insomnia patients.Nord J Psychiatry. 2020;74(4):244-250. doi:10.1080/08039488.2019.1695285Jakubowski KP, Boylan JM, Cundiff JM, Matthews KA.Poor sleep moderates the relationship between daytime napping and inflammation in Black and White men.Sleep Health. 2017;3(5):328-335. doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2017.06.005Lee S, Stone KL, Engeland CG, Lane NE, Buxton OM.Arthritis, sleep health, and systemic inflammation in older men.Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2020;72(7):965-973. doi:10.1002/acr.23923Zhou L, Yu K, Yang L, et al.Sleep duration, midday napping, and sleep quality and incident stroke: The Dongfeng-Tongji cohort.Neurology. 2020;94(4):e345-e356. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000008739Papandreou C, Díaz-López A, Babio N, et al.Long daytime napping is associated with increased adiposity and type 2 diabetes in an elderly population with metabolic syndrome.J Clin Med. 2019;8(7):1053. doi:10.3390/jcm8071053Basta M, Koutentaki E, Vgontzas A, et al.Objective daytime napping is associated with disease severity and inflammation in patients with mild to moderate dementia.J Alzheimers Dis. 2020;74(3):803-815. doi:10.3233/JAD-190483Guarnieri Ribeiro Bueno C, Andrechuk CRS, Guimarães Lima M, et al.Napping, functional capacity and satisfaction with life in older adults: A population-based study.J Clin Nurs. 2019;28(9-10):1568-1576. doi:10.1111/jocn.14768Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.How much sleep do I need?Harvard Medical School, Harvard Health Publishing.How much sleep do we really need?Slater G, Steier J.Excessive daytime sleepiness in sleep disorders.J Thorac Dis. 2012;4(6):608–616. doi:10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2012.10.07
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Psychological Association.The science of naps.Mantua J, Spencer RMC.Exploring the nap paradox: Are mid-day sleep bouts a friend or foe?Sleep Med. 2017;37:88-97. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2017.01.019Sims RE, Wu HH, Dale N.Sleep-wake sensitive mechanisms of adenosine release in the basal forebrain of rodents: an in vitro study.PLoS One. 2013;8(1):e53814. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053814Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.NIOSH training for nurses on shift work and long work hours.Häusler N, Haba-Rubio J, Heinzer R, Marques-Vidal P.Association of napping with incident cardiovascular events in a prospective cohort study.Heart. 2019;105(23):1793-1798. doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2019-314999Li J, Cacchione PZ, Hodgson N, et al.Afternoon napping and cognition in chinese older adults: findings from the china health and retirement longitudinal study baseline assessment.J Am Geriatr Soc. 2017;65(2):373-380. doi:10.1111/jgs.14368Wang N, Zou J, Fang S, Zhou J.Association between daytime napping and obesity in Chinese middle-aged and older adults.J Glob Health. 2020;10(2):020804. doi:10.7189/jogh.10.020804Mazza M, Lapenta L, Losurdo A, et al.Polysomnographic and psychometric correlates of napping in primary insomnia patients.Nord J Psychiatry. 2020;74(4):244-250. doi:10.1080/08039488.2019.1695285Jakubowski KP, Boylan JM, Cundiff JM, Matthews KA.Poor sleep moderates the relationship between daytime napping and inflammation in Black and White men.Sleep Health. 2017;3(5):328-335. doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2017.06.005Lee S, Stone KL, Engeland CG, Lane NE, Buxton OM.Arthritis, sleep health, and systemic inflammation in older men.Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2020;72(7):965-973. doi:10.1002/acr.23923Zhou L, Yu K, Yang L, et al.Sleep duration, midday napping, and sleep quality and incident stroke: The Dongfeng-Tongji cohort.Neurology. 2020;94(4):e345-e356. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000008739Papandreou C, Díaz-López A, Babio N, et al.Long daytime napping is associated with increased adiposity and type 2 diabetes in an elderly population with metabolic syndrome.J Clin Med. 2019;8(7):1053. doi:10.3390/jcm8071053Basta M, Koutentaki E, Vgontzas A, et al.Objective daytime napping is associated with disease severity and inflammation in patients with mild to moderate dementia.J Alzheimers Dis. 2020;74(3):803-815. doi:10.3233/JAD-190483Guarnieri Ribeiro Bueno C, Andrechuk CRS, Guimarães Lima M, et al.Napping, functional capacity and satisfaction with life in older adults: A population-based study.J Clin Nurs. 2019;28(9-10):1568-1576. doi:10.1111/jocn.14768Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.How much sleep do I need?Harvard Medical School, Harvard Health Publishing.How much sleep do we really need?Slater G, Steier J.Excessive daytime sleepiness in sleep disorders.J Thorac Dis. 2012;4(6):608–616. doi:10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2012.10.07
American Psychological Association.The science of naps.
Mantua J, Spencer RMC.Exploring the nap paradox: Are mid-day sleep bouts a friend or foe?Sleep Med. 2017;37:88-97. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2017.01.019
Sims RE, Wu HH, Dale N.Sleep-wake sensitive mechanisms of adenosine release in the basal forebrain of rodents: an in vitro study.PLoS One. 2013;8(1):e53814. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053814
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.NIOSH training for nurses on shift work and long work hours.
Häusler N, Haba-Rubio J, Heinzer R, Marques-Vidal P.Association of napping with incident cardiovascular events in a prospective cohort study.Heart. 2019;105(23):1793-1798. doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2019-314999
Li J, Cacchione PZ, Hodgson N, et al.Afternoon napping and cognition in chinese older adults: findings from the china health and retirement longitudinal study baseline assessment.J Am Geriatr Soc. 2017;65(2):373-380. doi:10.1111/jgs.14368
Wang N, Zou J, Fang S, Zhou J.Association between daytime napping and obesity in Chinese middle-aged and older adults.J Glob Health. 2020;10(2):020804. doi:10.7189/jogh.10.020804
Mazza M, Lapenta L, Losurdo A, et al.Polysomnographic and psychometric correlates of napping in primary insomnia patients.Nord J Psychiatry. 2020;74(4):244-250. doi:10.1080/08039488.2019.1695285
Jakubowski KP, Boylan JM, Cundiff JM, Matthews KA.Poor sleep moderates the relationship between daytime napping and inflammation in Black and White men.Sleep Health. 2017;3(5):328-335. doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2017.06.005
Lee S, Stone KL, Engeland CG, Lane NE, Buxton OM.Arthritis, sleep health, and systemic inflammation in older men.Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2020;72(7):965-973. doi:10.1002/acr.23923
Zhou L, Yu K, Yang L, et al.Sleep duration, midday napping, and sleep quality and incident stroke: The Dongfeng-Tongji cohort.Neurology. 2020;94(4):e345-e356. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000008739
Papandreou C, Díaz-López A, Babio N, et al.Long daytime napping is associated with increased adiposity and type 2 diabetes in an elderly population with metabolic syndrome.J Clin Med. 2019;8(7):1053. doi:10.3390/jcm8071053
Basta M, Koutentaki E, Vgontzas A, et al.Objective daytime napping is associated with disease severity and inflammation in patients with mild to moderate dementia.J Alzheimers Dis. 2020;74(3):803-815. doi:10.3233/JAD-190483
Guarnieri Ribeiro Bueno C, Andrechuk CRS, Guimarães Lima M, et al.Napping, functional capacity and satisfaction with life in older adults: A population-based study.J Clin Nurs. 2019;28(9-10):1568-1576. doi:10.1111/jocn.14768
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.How much sleep do I need?
Harvard Medical School, Harvard Health Publishing.How much sleep do we really need?
Slater G, Steier J.Excessive daytime sleepiness in sleep disorders.J Thorac Dis. 2012;4(6):608–616. doi:10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2012.10.07
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