From the moment you fall asleep to the moment you wake up, your body goes through several sleep stages. The deep sleep stage does the heavy lifting when it comes to waking up feeling refreshed and rested. But how long does it take to fall into deep sleep once your head hits the pillow? For some, it happens within an hour. For others, it can take much longer.
Are you struggling to get into deep sleep and stay there? Try our Sleep Tabs. We made these tongue tabs with calming ingredients like L-theanine, California poppy, kanna, saffron, and melatonin to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
Understanding the Stages of Deep Sleep
You spend about one-third of your life sleeping, but do you know what happens while you’re dreaming about hanging out with Jennifer Aniston or becoming the next CEO of a tech startup? You go through four main sleep stages in a full sleep cycle. Let’s take a closer look.
What Are the Stages of Sleep?
In a typical night, adults go through four to six sleep cycles. Each of these cycles includes four key stages.
- Stage 1 (NREM): The lightest stage of sleep you enter right after you fall asleep.
- Stage 2 (NREM): Still light sleep, but deeper than stage 1 when your brain waves slow down.
- Stage 3 (NREM): This is the most restorative deep sleep stage, where your body repairs and recovers.
- Stage 4 (REM): Most dreams happen during this stage when your eyes move quickly behind your eyelids.
On average, one sleep cycle lasts about 90 -120 minutes. After your first REM cycle, you go back into stage 1 or 2, starting the process all over again.
Why Deep Sleep Matters for Health and Recovery
Your body takes advantage of the deep sleep stage to repair injuries, reinforce your immune system, and replenish energy. Sleep experts also associate this stage with cognitive function, memory consolidation, and hormone regulation.
You need deep sleep to wake up feeling rested. You’ll feel tired and groggy without enough deep sleep, even if you slept for a long time.
How Long Does it Take to Fall Into Deep Sleep?
We all know sleep is important, but how long does it take to fall into deep sleep? A lot of people don’t think about it until they wake up feeling exhausted, even after a full night’s sleep.
Average Time to Reach Deep Sleep
So, how long does it take to fall into deep sleep? On average, it takes about 45 to 90 minutes to enter the deep sleep phase after you first fall asleep. For some people, it can be longer, around 90 minutes to 2 hours.
If you’re the kind of person who usually lies awake for hours before falling asleep, you’re risking the chances of getting in the deep sleep you need before the dreaded alarm goes off.
Signs You’re Not Reaching Deep Sleep Efficiently
Feel like you can’t make it through the day without chugging energy drinks or doing shots of espresso? Unfortunately, a lot of us are not getting enough deep sleep.
There are a few telltale signs to watch out for, like waking up feeling tired, foggy, or unrefreshed. Other signs include low energy levels throughout the day, difficulty concentrating, mood changes, memory problems, and getting sick more often. Waking up frequently or tossing and turning during the night can also be a sign of not enough deep sleep.
How Long Should You Be in Deep Sleep Each Night?
You might spend 7 or 8 hours in bed, but how long should you be in deep sleep for your body to fully recharge? For most adults, the deep sleep phase should make up around 13-23% of total sleep time. That means around 1-2 hours of deep sleep per night for a standard 7-9 hour sleep duration.
Tips to Get into Deep Sleep Faster (and Stay There!)
Anyone who doesn’t feel like they’re getting enough sleep has probably looked up dozens of home remedies or tried everything from chamomile tea to white noise apps. The best way to get more deep sleep is to get more total hours of sleep. Use these tips to fall asleep faster, get more deep sleep, and stay there longer.
Our blog has other resources on topics like valerian root vs melatonin, L-theanine vs melatonin, and CBD vs melatonin for sleep, if you want to learn more about healthy sleeping habits. We also have posts about the best time to take L-theanine and does L-theanine make you sleepy.
How Sleep Tabs Can Help You Get Your Best Rest Yet
We made Dream Tabs to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Our formula includes a low, effective dose of melatonin (0.3mg) and calming, evidence-backed ingredients that help you sleep. You’ll feel the effect in 5-10 minutes because it goes through the bloodstream in your mouth.
We skipped the fillers, sugar, and questionable ingredients for L-theanine to help calm your mind, valerian root and California poppy for physical relaxation, kanna for mood balance, and saffron for deeper sleep.
How long does it take to fall into deep sleep with the help of Dream Tabs? It still depends on your body, habits, and sleep environment, but we designed these tabs to support better sleep. Use them to help set the stage for your deepest, most restorative sleep.
Create a Supportive Bedtime Ritual
If you want to get more deep sleep, set and keep to a helpful bedtime routine. Nighttime rituals can look different for everyone. If you’re not into taking a bubble bath while manifesting your next vacation, that’s ok. There are plenty of less-effort ways to ease into a great night routine.
Start dimming the lights and turning off bright screens one hour before bed. Around 30 minutes before bed, do a calming activity like reading a book or listening to relaxing music. Take your Dream Tab 15 minutes before going to bed to let your body know it’s time to rest. Brush your teeth, wash your face, and go to bed at the same time each night.
Tracking Your Sleep Patterns and Making Changes
How long does it take to fall into deep sleep every night? You track your sleep to help figure it out. There are a few ways to track your sleep patterns. A sleep tracking app, like SleepScore or Pillow, can use your phone’s sensors to monitor movement and sound during sleep. Wearable smartwatches and fitness bands like a Fitbit or Apple Watch can also track your sleep stages.
For a less techy tracking method, you can keep a journal of when you went to bed, when you wake up, and how many times you wake up during the night. Pay attention to how you feel. Are you groggy in the morning? Do you feel alert mid-day or constantly drained?
Once you know what’s helping (or hurting) your sleep, you can start making changes.
Final Words on How Long Deep Sleep Should Last
So, how long does it take to fall into deep sleep, and how long should you be in deep sleep? It takes most people 45 to 90 minutes to enter deep sleep, and you want to stay there for about 1 to 2 hours.
Make changes to your nighttime routine and get support from the sleepy ingredients in Dream Tabs for a better night’s rest. Tabs give you full-spectrum support in one tiny tab. Just let it melt and let the ingredients go to work.
Shop now and say hello to more deep sleep.