How Sleep Changes With Age

By Kelsey Kloss, Dec 10, 2025

“As infants, we need almost 20 hours of sleep, with a lot of slow-wave sleep and rapid eye movement [REM] sleep,” says Alex Dimitriu, MD, double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California.  Slow-wave sleep is the deepest phase of non-rapid eye movement sleep and is considered important for consolidating memories. REM sleep is a light sleep when dreams occur and the eyes move quickly back and forth. You need a lot of these deep types of sleep when you’re younger because of the significant brain development and learning happening at these ages, says Dr. Dimitriu. 

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