About Sleep
Good sleep is essential to how we think, feel and function, and it matters just as much for children as it does for adults. This page explains the basics of healthy sleep, outlines some of the most common sleep problems, and clears up a few popular myths. It is intended as general guidance only. Every patient is different, and the most appropriate advice comes from an individual assessment.
What Is Sleep, and Why Does It Matter?
Sleep is not simply "switching off". While we sleep, the brain stays busy: it files away the day's memories, clears waste products and resets the systems that control mood, appetite and blood pressure.
A night's sleep runs in cycles of roughly 90 minutes. Deep sleep is concentrated early in the night and helps the body recover. Dream (REM) sleep becomes longer towards morning and is important for memory and emotional balance. Brief awakenings between cycles are completely normal, and most are never remembered.
The timing of sleep is set by two systems working together: sleep pressure, which builds the longer we are awake, and the body clock, which is set mainly by daylight and makes us sleepy at night.
Adults
What good sleep supports
- Concentration, memory and reaction time, including safe driving
- Mood and resilience to stress
- Heart health and blood pressure
- Appetite, weight and blood sugar control
- Immune function
Children & Teenagers
Why it matters even more
- Growth and healthy development of body and brain
- Learning, attention and school performance
- Behaviour and emotional regulation
- A tired child often looks hyperactive or irritable rather than sleepy
- Long-term poor sleep is linked with anxiety and low mood in adolescents
How Much Sleep Do We Need?
Sleep needs fall steadily through childhood and settle in early adulthood. After that they stay much the same for life. Older adults often sleep more lightly, but they do not need much less sleep. The best guide is how you feel and function during the day.
| Age | Recommended per 24 hours |
|---|---|
| Infants (4–11 months) | 12–15 hours |
| Toddlers (1–2 years) | 11–14 hours |
| Preschool (3–5 years) | 10–13 hours |
| School age (6–13 years) | 9–11 hours |
| Teenagers (14–17 years) | 8–10 hours |
| Adults (18–64 years) | 7–9 hours |
| Older adults (65+) | 7–8 hours |
A guide only, based on the US National Sleep Foundation's published recommendations. Individual needs vary.
Children
Naps and body clocks
- Daytime naps are normal until about 3–5 years of age
- Regular napping beyond school age may mean night-time sleep is not enough
- Teenagers' body clocks naturally shift later. This is biology, not laziness, but they still need 8–10 hours
Adults
Signs you are not getting enough
- Needing an alarm and several snoozes to get up
- Dozing in meetings, in front of the TV or as a passenger
- Sleeping much longer on days off
- Irritability, poor focus or relying on caffeine to get through the day
Habits That Support Better Sleep
You cannot force sleep, but you can set up the right conditions for it. Small, consistent changes usually work better than big ones.
Adults
Day and night routine
- Keep a regular wake-up time, including on weekends. This is the strongest anchor for the body clock
- Get outdoor light in the morning and stay active during the day
- Keep caffeine to the morning, and remember tea, cola and energy drinks count too
- Alcohol may make you drowsy but breaks up sleep later in the night and worsens snoring
- Give yourself 30–60 minutes to wind down away from work and screens
- Keep the bedroom cool, dark and quiet, and use the bed for sleep only
- If you can't sleep after 20 minutes or so, get up and do something calm until you feel sleepy
Children & Teenagers
Routine and screens
- Use a consistent, predictable bedtime routine: bath, teeth, story, lights out
- Keep devices out of the bedroom overnight. A simple alarm clock helps
- Switch off screens at least an hour before bed. Light and stimulation both delay sleep
- Make sure there's plenty of daylight and physical activity after school
- Avoid caffeine, including energy drinks and cola
- Parents who model good habits get the best results. Make it a family effort
Good habits help, but they don't fix everything. If you are still tired despite enough time in bed, there may be an underlying sleep disorder that needs assessing.
Book AppointmentObstructive Sleep Apnoea
Obstructive sleep apnoea is one of the most common sleep disorders, and many people who have it are unaware. It is a condition in which the upper airway repeatedly narrows or closes during sleep, interrupting normal breathing.
What Happens
The physiology, simply explained
- When we fall asleep, the muscles holding the throat open naturally relax
- In some people the soft tissues, including the tongue, soft palate and tonsils, collapse and narrow the airway
- Partial narrowing causes snoring. Complete blockage causes a pause in breathing (an apnoea)
- Oxygen levels fall and the brain briefly wakes to reopen the airway, often with a gasp or snort
- This can happen dozens of times an hour, fragmenting sleep without the person remembering
Who Is at Risk
Common contributing factors
- Excess weight
- Airway anatomy, such as a narrow throat, large tonsils or tongue, or a set-back jaw
- Nasal obstruction from a deviated septum, allergies or polyps
- Sleeping on your back
- Alcohol and sedating medications before bed
- Increasing age, male sex, and menopause in women
Signs & Symptoms · Adults
What to look out for
- Loud, regular snoring
- Pauses in breathing, choking or gasping, often noticed by a partner
- Waking unrefreshed, or with a dry mouth or morning headache
- Daytime sleepiness, poor concentration or irritability
- Waking frequently at night, including to pass urine
- Teeth grinding, which can sometimes be linked to disturbed breathing at night
- Low mood or anxiety, as poor sleep and mood often affect each other
Signs & Symptoms · Children
What parents notice
- Snoring, most often due to enlarged tonsils and adenoids or a blocked nose from allergies
- Mouth breathing, during the day and at night
- Restless sleep, sweating, unusual sleeping positions, or pauses and gasps
- Bedwetting, or sleepwalking and night terrors that are worse with poor sleep
- During the day: poor concentration, hyperactivity, behavioural problems or tiredness
Why It Matters · Adults
Effects on health
- High blood pressure that can be difficult to control
- Increased risk of heart disease, irregular heart rhythm and stroke
- Links with type 2 diabetes and weight gain
- Higher risk of motor vehicle and workplace accidents
- Diagnosis is confirmed with a sleep study, which also measures severity
Why It Matters · Children
Effects on development
- Difficulties with learning, attention and school performance
- Behavioural and emotional problems, sometimes mistaken for ADHD
- Poor growth in some children
- Children do not always "grow out of" snoring, so persistent snoring is worth having checked
Treatment options
There is no single treatment that suits everyone. Most patients benefit from a combination of approaches, chosen after a careful assessment of the airway.
Weight loss
Even modest weight loss can reduce the severity of sleep apnoea, and it improves the effectiveness of other treatments.
Positional therapy
For people whose apnoea occurs mainly on their back, devices that encourage side-sleeping can help.
Mandibular advancement devices
Custom-made dental splints that hold the lower jaw forward, opening the airway. Well suited to mild to moderate OSA.
Positive airway pressure (PAP)
A mask delivers gentle air pressure to keep the airway open. Highly effective when used consistently.
Surgery
For selected patients, surgery to the nose, palate, tonsils, tongue base or jaw addresses specific areas of obstruction.
Treatment Overview
In adults
Treatment is tailored to disease severity and patient factors. Options include weight and lifestyle measures, treating nasal obstruction, positional therapy, PAP, mandibular advancement devices, and surgery to the nose, palate, tongue base or jaw in selected patients. The right choice depends on your anatomy and sleep study findings.
Treatment Overview
In children
Treating hay fever and nasal congestion is an important first step. When enlarged tonsils and adenoids are the cause, removing them is usually very effective. Children do not always "grow out of" snoring, and untreated sleep-disordered breathing can affect learning and behaviour.
Struggling with PAP, or want to explore your options? An ENT assessment of the nose and throat can identify where the airway is narrowing and help guide which treatments are most likely to work for you.
Book AppointmentInsomnia: What It Is and How It's Treated
Insomnia means difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or waking too early, despite having the chance to sleep, together with tiredness, poor concentration or low mood during the day. Short bursts are common during stress, illness or grief. When it happens at least three nights a week for three months or more, it is called chronic insomnia.
Chronic insomnia is often kept going by understandable habits: spending longer in bed to "catch up", napping, clock-watching, and worrying about sleep itself. Over time the bed becomes linked with being awake rather than asleep.
CBT-I: the recommended first-line treatment
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is a structured, drug-free program that tackles the causes of insomnia directly. International and Australian guidelines recommend it as the first treatment for chronic insomnia. Its benefits last well after treatment ends. It is usually delivered over 4–8 sessions with a trained psychologist or clinician, or through a guided online program.
Sleep scheduling
A consistent time in bed matched to your actual sleep, so sleep becomes deeper and more settled.
Re-linking bed with sleep
Using the bed only for sleep, and getting up when you can't sleep.
Changing unhelpful thoughts
Easing the worry and pressure that keep the mind alert at night.
Relaxation
Techniques to calm the body and mind before bed.
Sleep education
Understanding how sleep works, and setting realistic expectations.
What about sleeping tablets?
Medication can help in the short term, for example during a crisis, after surgery or with jet lag. It treats the symptoms rather than the cause, and most sleeping tablets are not recommended for long-term use.
| Type | What to know |
|---|---|
| Benzodiazepines & "Z-drugs" | Effective in the short term, but tolerance and dependence can develop within weeks. Stopping suddenly can cause "rebound" insomnia, which feels like the problem returning. Risks include next-day drowsiness, falls in older people and impaired driving. |
| Sedating antihistamines (over the counter) | Not recommended for insomnia. They can cause a "hangover" effect the next day, confusion in older adults and tolerance within days. |
| Melatonin | Most useful for body clock problems such as jet lag and delayed sleep timing. In children it should only be used under medical supervision, after behavioural strategies, and as a prescription product. Online and imported gummies can contain unreliable doses. |
Never stop a prescribed sleeping tablet suddenly. Your GP can help you reduce it gradually.
Accessing CBT-I
Ask your GP about CBT-I. You may be eligible for a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan, which provides Medicare-subsidised sessions with a psychologist or other eligible clinician trained in treating insomnia. Online CBT-I programs are another option available.
Insomnia and sleep apnoea often occur together. If you have insomnia along with snoring, gasping or unrefreshing sleep, it's worth checking for an underlying breathing problem, because treating only one may not be enough.
Book AppointmentCommon Sleep Myths
Sleep advice is everywhere, especially on social media. Select a myth to see what the evidence says.
Trending"Mouth taping will fix my snoring and improve my sleep."
Nasal breathing at night is healthy, which is why mouth taping has become popular online. But the evidence is limited. A 2025 systematic review found little proof of benefit, and several studies raised a risk of breathing difficulty in people whose noses are blocked.
Mouth breathing at night is usually a sign of a problem, such as a deviated septum, allergies, nasal polyps, enlarged tonsils or sleep apnoea. Taping the mouth does not fix the cause, and if the nose cannot carry enough air it may make breathing worse. If you breathe through your mouth at night, have your nose and airway checked before trying tape.
Myth"Snoring is harmless."
Occasional light snoring is common. Loud snoring most nights, especially with pauses in breathing or daytime tiredness, can be a sign of obstructive sleep apnoea, which has real health effects and is worth assessing.
Myth"My child will grow out of snoring."
Some children improve, but many do not, and in the meantime snoring with disturbed breathing can affect behaviour, concentration, growth and bedwetting. Persistent snoring in a child should be checked by a GP.
Myth"A nightcap helps me sleep."
Alcohol may help you fall asleep, but it breaks up sleep in the second half of the night, reduces dream sleep, and relaxes the throat muscles, which makes snoring and sleep apnoea worse.
Myth"I can catch up on sleep at the weekend."
Sleeping in can partly repay a short-term debt, but it cannot fully undo a week of short nights. Big swings in sleep timing also unsettle the body clock, making Sunday night and Monday morning harder. Consistency matters more than catch-up.
Myth"Older people need less sleep."
Sleep becomes lighter and more broken with age, but the amount we need stays fairly similar through adult life. New daytime sleepiness in older age is not "just ageing" and may have a treatable cause.
Myth"If I can't sleep, I should stay in bed longer."
It's a natural instinct, but spending long periods awake in bed tends to make insomnia worse. Keeping a regular schedule and getting up when you can't sleep are core parts of effective insomnia treatment.
Myth"Sleeping tablets cure insomnia."
Sleeping tablets can ease symptoms for a short time but don't address what keeps insomnia going, and some carry a risk of dependence. CBT-I is the recommended first-line treatment for chronic insomnia.
Myth"Melatonin gummies are a harmless sleep aid for kids."
Melatonin is a hormone, not a lolly. In Australia it requires a prescription for children. Products bought online or overseas can contain very different amounts to the label. Most childhood sleep problems respond to routine and behavioural changes first.
Myth"My sleep tracker tells me exactly how I slept."
Wearables are good at tracking patterns over time but can't reliably measure sleep stages or diagnose sleep apnoea. Focusing too closely on a nightly "sleep score" can itself cause anxiety about sleep. How you feel during the day is a better guide.
Myth"If I can't tolerate CPAP, there are no other options."
CPAP is very effective when it's used, but it isn't the only treatment for sleep apnoea. Depending on the cause, alternatives include oral splints, positional therapy, treating nasal obstruction and surgical options. An assessment of your airway helps work out what suits you.
Every airway is different. General information can point you in the right direction, but personalised advice needs a proper ENT assessment.
Book AppointmentGeneral information only. This page is intended for general education and is not a substitute for individual medical advice. If you have concerns about your sleep or your child's sleep, please speak with your ENT surgeon.
For further reading, the Sleep Health Foundation provides independent, evidence-based fact sheets on a wide range of sleep topics.