Knowledge Tree
daytime napping
Also known as: daytime naps, daytime sleep, midday napping, daily napping
Facts (19)
Sources
Sleep Across the Lifespan: A Neurobehavioral Perspective link.springer.com Feb 5, 2025 8 facts
claimOlder adults report increased diurnal napping compared to their younger and middle-aged counterparts across cultures.
claimExcessive daytime napping in older adults can exacerbate the inability to fall asleep and stay asleep at night, creating a cycle of disturbed sleep.
claimDaytime naps at 6.5 and 15 months of age have been shown to support novel language acquisition in infants.
claimIn older adults, daytime sleep has complex effects on health, which can be beneficial at times and potentially maladaptive at others.
claimReduced daytime function and increased daytime sleepiness in older adults can lead to excessive daytime napping as a compensatory mechanism for poor nighttime sleep.
referenceLi J, McPhillips MV, Deng Z, Fan F, and Spira A conducted a systematic review on the relationship between daytime napping and cognitive health in older adults, published in the Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences in 2022.
claimThe reduction in daytime activity in older adults may contribute to increased daytime napping due to increased nap opportunity resulting from more time during the day not occupied by other activities.
referenceAncoli-Israel Sonia and Martin JL published a paper in 2006 titled 'Insomnia and daytime napping in older adults' in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
How much sleep do you really need? - Sleep Health Foundation sleephealthfoundation.org.au 4 facts
claimIt is considered normal for children to take daytime naps until they are between 3 and 5 years old.
measurementBetween 2 and 12 months of age, the number of daytime naps for infants decreases from 3-4 naps to two naps.
claimConsistent daytime naps after 5 years of age are not considered normal and may indicate poor sleep routines, sleep problems, or sleep disorders that require follow-up with a sleep specialist.
claimIf a child continues to take frequent daytime naps past the age of 5, it may indicate that the child is not receiving sufficient sleep at night.
Impact of sleep duration on executive function and brain structure nature.com Mar 3, 2022 2 facts
claimThe study's subjective sleep duration data was reported in discrete one-hour blocks, which included daytime naps and resulted in a relatively insensitive measure.
referenceAuyeung, T. W. et al. found that cognitive deficit is associated with phase advance of sleep-wake rhythm, daily napping, and prolonged sleep duration in a 2013 cross-sectional study of 2,947 community-dwelling older adults published in the journal Age.
Associations Between Sleep Duration and Cognitive Function ... humanfactors.jmir.org 2 facts
referenceThe study titled 'Associations Between Total Sleep Duration and Cognitive Function Among Middle-Aged and Older Chinese Adults' investigated the relationship between total sleep duration, midday napping, and cognitive function using data from the 2015 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).
procedureThe CHARLS study assessed daytime napping patterns by asking participants, 'In the past month, how long have you napped on average after lunch?' and categorized responses into 4 groups: nonnappers (0 min), short nappers (<30 min), moderate nappers (30-90 min), and extended nappers (>90 min).
Extent and Health Consequences of Chronic Sleep Loss and ... - NCBI ncbi.nlm.nih.gov 1 fact
claimSleeping sickness is characterized by episodes of nocturnal insomnia and daytime sleep, but not hypersomnia.
How sleep affects mental health (and vice versa) - Stanford Medicine med.stanford.edu Aug 11, 2025 1 fact
claimThe sleep drive system functions similarly to natural hunger, requiring individuals to build up 'sleep hunger' throughout the day to fall asleep at night, which involves avoiding long daytime naps.
Sex differences in cardiorespiratory control under hypoxia - Frontiers frontiersin.org Jan 30, 2025 1 fact
referenceRiveros-Rivera et al. (2022) conducted a randomized, cross-over pilot study showing that hypoxia differentially affects healthy men and women during a daytime nap with a dose-response relationship.