What Happens If You Sleep After Midnight? Is It Really Bad?
What Happens If You Sleep After Midnight? Is It Really Bad? Going to bed after midnight has become normal. Work, scrolling, Netflix, or simply being a night owl pushes sleep later every day. But your body has a 24-hour internal clock — the circadian rhythm — that doesn't care about your schedule. Regularly sleeping after midnight disrupts that clock and changes how you sleep, think, and feel the next day. 1. You Miss Your Best Deep Sleep Deep sleep, also called slow-wave sleep, does not happen evenly through the night. It happens predominantly in the first 1-2 hours of sleep. For an average person who falls asleep around 10-11 PM, that window is 10 PM to 12 AM. > " Deep sleep happens predominantly in that first one to two hours. So, for the average sleeper, that's probably 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. Going to bed after midnight means missing out on the bulk of deep sleep/slow wave sleep." - Dr. Christopher Winter, neurologist and sleep specialist Deep sleep is when growt...