What’s the Ideal Length for a Nap?

Sometimes, nothing helps you feel rested and energized like a good nap. But how long should naps be? And if you nap for too long, do you risk sacrificing sleep at night? We ask sleep medicine specialist Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer, DO, to share insight into the best nap length.

How long is the ideal nap?

For adults, naps are best kept to the 15- to 20-minute range. While this type of well-timed nap has some known benefits, anything longer could have consequences come nighttime.

Let’s take a look at the basics:

• Power nap (15-20 minutes): “For most people, it’s best to nap for less than an hour,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer says. “If you can power nap for 15 or 20 minutes, all the better.”
• Recovery nap (20-60 minutes): When you didn’t get enough sleep the night before (like if you were out late or have a new baby), a slightly longer nap can help you feel refreshed enough to make it through the day. But it shouldn’t become a habit.
• Extended nap (60+ minutes): In rare cases, like if you’ve been diagnosed with hypersomnia, naps might be necessary — and even part of your treatment. But for most people, napping for longer than 60 minutes can wreak havoc on nighttime sleep.

Oh, and one more thing: Just as important as the length of your naps is the timing of them.

“It’s best to nap earlier in the afternoon, like before 2 p.m. or 3 p.m.,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer shares. Any later in the day may make it harder for you to fall asleep at night.

How long is too long?

No matter how tired you are, your naps shouldn’t stretch for more than an hour. The longer you nap, the higher your chances of going into deep sleep. This is known as non-REM (NREM) stage 3, delta sleep or slow wave sleep.

Falling into the deep stages of sleep during the day can:

• Cause sleep inertia: Sleep inertia tends to happen when you wake abruptly from deep sleep. “The deep stages of sleep are harder to wake from, which makes you feel groggy, confused and unrefreshed when you wake up,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer explains.
• Disrupt your circadian rhythm: Naps that are too long or too late in the day can negatively affect your circadian rhythm, which is your body’s internal clock. This can make it harder for you to fall asleep at night.
• Mess up your sleep schedule: Long naps make it harder to fall asleep at bedtime. “When a nap compromises your nighttime sleep, it can create variability in wake times and bedtimes,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer says.

Are long naps bad for you?

It’s not that long naps are bad for you, exactly. But they bring more risks for your overall sleep health than short naps do.

“Long naps undermine nighttime sleep, which is when we get our most restorative sleep,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer cautions. “This can set you up for chronic insomnia.”

In other words, taking long naps can create a vicious cycle of napping, then not sleeping well at night, then needing to nap again during the day — and so on.

Plus, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer warns that the constant need to nap can indicate a sleep disorder, like narcolepsy. If you feel like you absolutely must nap just to get through the day, that’s worth bringing up with a healthcare provider.

“You shouldn’t struggle to stay awake during the day and have difficulty functioning because you’re so tired,” she says. “Many people don’t recognize that it could be a serious condition, so they don’t talk to their doctors about it. And that delays their ability to be diagnosed.”

Can naps make up for lost sleep?

Naps can’t make up for sleep deprivation. While a nap may help you refocus for a bit, it’s not a long-term solution. While you may feel better that day, it can create a cycle that compounds your “sleep debt” — the difference between the sleep you need and the sleep you get at night.

“As soon as you wake up in the morning, you start creating a sleep debt that you will, at some point, need to sleep off,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer notes. “But if you let yourself sleep it off too early in the day, you’ll have trouble sleeping at night.”

That’s when naps start to create a long-term issue.

Once you’ve derailed your sleep for a night or two, it becomes even harder to break out of the cycle. And when you start to experience chronic sleep problems, you’re at higher risk for other health issues, like:

• Depression
• Diabetes
• Heart problems
• High blood pressure
• Obesity
• Weakened immune system

The bottom line? If you must nap, do it earlier in the day. And always use an alarm to make sure it’s the right length of time … so you can sleep well at night, too!