A nap should be 10 to 20 minutes long for most adults, the length the Flinders University and NASA nap studies support, taken in the early afternoon. I'd keep it under 30 minutes, because past that point the grogginess on waking tends to grow. A nap of about 90 minutes is the other workable length, because it gives the brain time to pass through its first full round of sleep stages.
A nap is a short sleep taken during the day, apart from the main sleep at night. I'm not a doctor. Every health point here comes from HealthLink BC, Health Canada, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), the Canadian Paediatric Society or another named source.
I'm Michael at Merit Home Furniture in Duncan, and I sell the recliners, sofas and beds that Vancouver Island naps happen on. Merit's recliners, and how long each one lies when fully back, come near the end.
How long should a nap be for an adult?
The length of an adult nap decides what you wake up to. One careful test of short naps comes from Flinders University in Australia. Amber Brooks and Leon Lack published it in the journal Sleep in 2006. They limited 24 healthy young adults to about 5 hours of sleep at home overnight. Then they gave them naps of exactly 5, 10, 20 or 30 minutes of sleep at 3 p.m., or no nap at all.
| Nap length | What Brooks and Lack measured afterwards |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | Few benefits over skipping the nap |
| 10 minutes | Better sleepiness, fatigue, vigour and test scores right away, with some gains lasting up to 155 minutes |
| 20 minutes | Gains showed up 35 minutes after waking and lasted up to 125 minutes |
| 30 minutes | A spell of poorer alertness straight after waking, then gains lasting up to 155 minutes |
The authors concluded that the 10-minute nap was the most effective of the lengths they tried. Two cautions apply. The group was small and young, and none of them were regular nappers. Your own number may sit a little higher or lower.
How long should a power nap be?
A power nap is the short, planned kind, and the studies above put it between 10 and 20 minutes of actual sleep. NASA tested a planned rest in the cockpit on long-haul flights, published in 1994 as Technical Memorandum 108839. Pilots given a 40-minute rest window fell asleep in 5.6 minutes on average and slept for 25.8 minutes. The rested crews were more alert and performed better than those who flew without the rest, through descent and landing.
Sleep inertia: why a 30 to 60 minute nap can leave you groggy
Sleep inertia is the name for the grogginess felt on waking. Cassie Hilditch and Andrew McHill reviewed the research on it in Nature and Science of Sleep in 2019. They wrote that the worst effects come "within 30 mins of waking". Full recovery may take at least an hour. Their practical advice for anyone waking from a nap is to "limit sleep duration to less than 30 mins."
The US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) describes three stages of non-REM sleep. Stage 3 is the deep sleep, when it may be difficult to wake someone. A 45-minute nap can end in that deep stretch. Hilditch and McHill cite one study where people did worse on a decision task after waking from deep sleep than from REM.
The 90-minute nap is the workaround. NINDS says REM sleep, the dreaming stage, first shows up about 90 minutes after falling asleep. A nap of that length gives one full pass through the stages, so it is less likely to end in the deepest part.
Is a 2 hour nap too long?
A 2 hour nap is longer than the research on short naps supports, and it runs past one full sleep cycle into a second. HealthLink BC's advice on sleep problems is to limit naps during the day, especially close to bedtime. A long nap late in the day is the one most likely to cost sleep that night.
Long daytime naps also turn up in studies of heart health, though those studies can't say the nap is the cause. A 2015 meta-analysis in the journal Sleep, led by Tomohide Yamada at the University of Tokyo, pooled 11 cohort studies with 151,588 people. Naps of 60 minutes or more a day were linked to a higher rate of cardiovascular disease, with a rate ratio of 1.82, compared with not napping. Deaths from any cause were also higher, at 1.27. Naps under 60 minutes a day showed no such link.
These are observational studies. People who sleep two hours every afternoon may already be unwell, or sleeping badly at night, and the authors called for more research. A 2019 Swiss study in the journal Heart, which followed 3,462 adults, found something different again. People who napped once or twice a week had fewer cardiovascular events than those who never napped, and nap length showed no link at all. A daily 2 hour nap is a good reason to talk with a doctor about why the body is asking for it.
Is a 1 hour nap better than no sleep?
For a tired person, an hour of sleep may well beat none, with one catch: grogginess on waking. Even the 30-minute nap in the Brooks and Lack study brought a dip in alertness first. In 2008, Sara Mednick's team in San Diego reported in Behavioural Brain Research that 60 to 90 minute naps beat caffeine and placebo for recalling words. Before a drive or anything that needs a clear head, I'd leave time to wake up properly after an hour-long nap.
The time of day for a nap: early afternoon, well before bedtime
Early afternoon is when a nap fits the body clock. CCOHS notes that the internal clock has natural dips, when people feel tired or less alert even after a good night. It also cites Alberta's labour ministry, which reports that most workplace incidents happen between midnight and 6 a.m., and between 1 and 3 p.m. Louise Reyner and Jim Horne, at Loughborough University, saw the same afternoon peak of sleepiness in drivers in their simulator.
The later the nap, the more it eats into the night. The Canadian Paediatric Society says the same of toddlers, whose late naps can affect sleep at night.
Is it better to nap or drink coffee?
A nap and a cup of coffee did different jobs in the studies that compared them. In the Mednick study, 200 mg of caffeine did less for word recall than a nap. It also made learning a finger-tapping skill worse than placebo or a nap did. For staying awake behind the wheel, Reyner and Horne found the pair worked better than either one alone. In 1997 they gave 12 sleepy volunteers 200 mg of caffeine followed by a nap of under 15 minutes. Driving incidents dropped to 9% of the placebo level, against 34% for caffeine alone.
Health Canada sets 400 mg of caffeine a day as the limit for healthy adults, and 300 mg during pregnancy or breastfeeding. It lists 135 mg in an 8 oz cup of brewed coffee. HealthLink BC suggests no caffeine for at least 6 hours before bedtime, and CCOHS says caffeine can stay in the body for about 3 to 7 hours. For a 9 p.m. bedtime, that puts the last coffee around 3 p.m.
Naps for shift workers and long drives
Shift workers get the plainest napping advice of anyone. CCOHS's fact sheet on rotational shiftwork suggests keeping commitments light later in the day, to leave room for a nap. It also asks for a comfortable, dark and quiet place to sleep during the day, with good blinds on the windows.
CCOHS also explains why tiredness at work matters. It cites one study in which 17 hours awake equalled a blood alcohol content of 0.05. On the Island, hospitals, mills and the ferries all run shifts.
On the road, a break alone may not be enough. In Horne and Reyner's 1996 study of 10 sleepy drivers, a nap of under 15 minutes and a coffee both cut driving errors. Taking just a break did not. HealthLink BC is direct about it: do not drive or use machinery while drowsy.
How long should a child's nap be? Naps by age, from babies to teens
Children's naps are counted inside a 24-hour total. The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, from the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP), give the totals. The Canadian Paediatric Society describes how the naps change.
| Age | Sleep in 24 hours (CSEP) | Naps |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 3 months | 14 to 17 hours, including naps | Newborns sleep 3 to 4 hours at a time, day and night (CPS) |
| 4 to 11 months | 12 to 16 hours, including naps | Three naps a day by 4 months, then two longer ones between 6 and 12 months (CPS) |
| 1 to 2 years | 11 to 14 hours, including naps | No naps too late in the day (CPS) |
| 3 to 4 years | 10 to 13 hours, which may include a nap | One nap a day around age 3; some children drop it (CPS) |
| 5 to 13 years | 9 to 11 hours a night, uninterrupted | No daytime nap in the guideline |
| 14 to 17 years | 8 to 10 hours a night | After-school naps for a short-slept teen (HealthLink BC) |
Nap lengths vary widely in babies. The Canadian Paediatric Society says some nap for as little as 20 minutes at a time, while others sleep for 3 hours or more. A fussy, cranky child may be short on naptime or on early bedtimes. To help a baby settle, the society suggests a quiet cuddle and a short story in a darkened room, then down drowsy but awake. An overtired baby, it notes, has more trouble sleeping.
Safe sleep for a baby's nap
Health Canada's safe sleep rules apply to naps as much as to nights. Its page reads, "Place your baby on their back for every sleep, including naps." The safest place is a crib, cradle or bassinet that meets current Canadian safety regulations. Health Canada warns against leaving a baby alone on sofas and armchairs, or on an adult bed. Products that hold a baby seated or semi-reclined aren't safe places to sleep either, and Health Canada's list names rockers and recliners alongside car seats and swings. The recliners and sofas Merit sells are for grown-up naps only.
When toddlers stop napping
Some children give up the daily nap between 3 and 5, the Canadian Paediatric Society says, and it can come and go for a while. A preschooler may need a nap some days and not others. For a child who won't nap, it suggests turning that time, often after lunch, into quiet time for reading and resting.
A recliner, the sofa or the bed: where to take a short nap
For a 15-minute nap, the place matters less than the alarm. A recliner or the sofa is close at hand, and nobody has to make the bed again afterwards. For a 90-minute nap, I'd choose the bed: room to lie flat, a pillow at the right height and space to turn over. A sofa shorter than the napper means bent knees or a head propped on the armrest.
A recliner needs room in front when it's fully back, and the fully reclined length on its listing says how much. Six La-Z-Boy recliners Merit lists for our Duncan store print that number. Prices are as read on November 1, 2026, before applicable taxes. Three are rockers, and how a rocking recliner moves is covered elsewhere.
| Recliner | Width and fully reclined length | Price |
|---|---|---|
| La-Z-Boy Mercury rocker | 30 in wide, 65.5 in reclined | $949.00 |
| La-Z-Boy Casey rocker | 33 in wide, 65 in reclined | $1,099.00 |
| La-Z-Boy Parsens rocker | 35 in wide, 67 in reclined | $1,362.00 |
| La-Z-Boy Cade wall recliner | 33.5 in wide, 67.5 in reclined | $1,647.00 |
| La-Z-Boy Belmont wall recliner | 36 in wide, 66 in reclined | $1,679.00 |
| La-Z-Boy Ace wall recliner | 45.5 in wide, 77 in reclined | $2,585.00 |
The three wall recliners sit about 4 inches from the wall, because the seat slides forward as the back goes down. The rest of the recliners on Merit's site range from manual rockers to power chairs, and the wall gap on a wall hugger has its own guide.
The old Merit blog once had a post about napping on a Beautyrest. Those mattresses are now carried at our Campbell River store, call for our best price, and the Beautyrest lines at Campbell River are set out separately. In Duncan, the main mattress lines are Restonic and our Restwell mattress range. For a bed nap, the pillow height counts as much as the mattress, and pillow height by sleep position covers that.
If a recliner is going to be the nap chair, I'd lie all the way back in it before choosing one. Check where your head lands on the back cushion, and whether your heels hang past the footrest. A chair that fits sitting up can still be short for a 6-foot napper, and recliner sizing for taller people goes into that.
Who should skip naps, and when daytime sleepiness needs a doctor
Napping is the wrong fix for some people. HealthLink BC's advice for insomnia is plain: "Don't take naps during the day." For night owls trying to fall asleep earlier, it says the same. Older adults, it notes, sleep more lightly and wake more often at night, and HealthLink BC suggests raising trouble sleeping with a doctor.
Needing a nap every day can simply mean too little sleep at night. HealthLink BC says experts recommend at least 7 hours a day for adults. It names sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome as causes of daytime sleepiness, and lists medicines that can disturb sleep. Its advice is to talk to a doctor if sleepiness gets in the way of the normal things you do. Signs that point to a doctor sooner:
- Falling asleep at times you shouldn't, or while working or driving.
- Loud snoring, pauses in breathing, choking or gasping at night, or waking unrefreshed, which HealthLink BC lists among the symptoms of sleep apnea.
- Sleepiness causing problems at work, school or home, or feeling very tired and struggling to get through the day.
- Sleeping in a recliner every night. HealthLink BC's page on preventing pressure injuries says recliner chairs are likely to allow slipping and shouldn't be used in place of a bed.
For any of these, HealthLink BC's nurses answer at 8-1-1 any time of day, and 7-1-1 for the deaf and hard of hearing. HealthLink BC also names depression, anxiety and stress as common causes of sleep problems. Serious thoughts of suicide, especially with a plan or the means at hand, are the case HealthLink BC's sleep page sends straight to 9-1-1. Talk Suicide Canada also answers at 1-833-456-4566, any hour.
Where these nap facts come from
- HealthLink BC, Sleep Problems, Age 12 and Older, checked November 2026.
- HealthLink BC, Insomnia: Improving Your Sleep, checked November 2026.
- HealthLink BC, Sleep and Your Body Clock, checked November 2026.
- HealthLink BC, Coping With Changing Sleep Patterns as You Get Older, checked November 2026.
- HealthLink BC, Teenage Sleep Patterns, checked November 2026.
- HealthLink BC, Pressure Injuries: Prevention and Treatment, checked November 2026.
- Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, Fatigue (revised March 2024), checked November 2026.
- Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, Rotational Shiftwork (revised April 2023), checked November 2026.
- Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (0 to 4 years), checked November 2026.
- Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth (5 to 17 years), checked November 2026.
- Canadian Paediatric Society, Caring for Kids: Healthy sleep for your baby and child (updated November 2024), checked November 2026.
- Health Canada, Creating a safe sleep environment for your baby, checked November 2026.
- Health Canada, Caffeine in Foods, checked November 2026.
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep, checked November 2026.
- NASA Technical Reports Server, Rosekind and others, Crew Factors in Flight Operations IX: Effects of Planned Cockpit Rest (NASA TM-108839, September 1994), checked November 2026.
- PubMed, Brooks and Lack, A brief afternoon nap following nocturnal sleep restriction (Sleep, 2006), checked November 2026.
- PubMed Central, Hilditch and McHill, Sleep inertia: current insights (Nature and Science of Sleep, 2019), checked November 2026.
- PubMed, Mednick and others, Comparing the benefits of caffeine, naps and placebo on verbal, motor and perceptual memory (Behavioural Brain Research, 2008), checked November 2026.
- PubMed, Horne and Reyner, Counteracting driver sleepiness: effects of napping, caffeine, and placebo (Psychophysiology, 1996), checked November 2026.
- PubMed, Reyner and Horne, Suppression of sleepiness in drivers: combination of caffeine with a short nap (Psychophysiology, 1997), checked November 2026.
- PubMed, Yamada and others, Daytime napping and the risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality (Sleep, 2015), checked November 2026.
- PubMed, Häusler and others, Association of napping with incident cardiovascular events in a prospective cohort study (Heart, 2019), checked November 2026.
- Merit Home Furniture recliner listings, prices and measurements read November 1, 2026.
- Merit Home Furniture, Delivery and Setup, read November 1, 2026.
Trying a nap recliner at our Duncan store
The six La-Z-Boy recliners above are listed as on display at Merit's Duncan store on Ingram Street. What's set up changes, so a call first is worth it. Bring the height of whoever does the napping, and the length of the spot the chair will fill. Lie back in as many as you like, and nobody will rush you. Bringing a recliner home from Duncan costs $150 for Island delivery with setup, assembly included, or nothing if you pick it up. Ingram Street keeps hours of 9 to 5, Monday through Saturday.
Call the Duncan store, (250) 746-5527
Our other guides on sleep, beds and pillows are gathered on the mattress and sleep guide page.