Which age group is commonly described as experiencing daytime napping and night awakenings?

Prepare for the Certification in Clinical Sleep Health exam. Use flashcards and multiple-choice questions with hints and explanations. Ace your exam!

As people age, sleep tends to become more fragmented and lighter, so awakenings during the night become more common. To cope with the resulting daytime sleepiness, many older adults take naps during the day. This combination—daytime napping paired with night awakenings—is a pattern commonly described in older adults, reflecting both physiological changes in sleep regulation and the impact of common health conditions or medications on nocturnal sleep. Infants and toddlers have different sleep patterns focused on developing sleep-wake cycles and frequent daytime naps, while preschoolers' patterns differ as well, so the described pattern fits older adults best.