What Is a Normal Sleeping Heart Rate?

Your heart does an amazing job of adjusting to your body’s needs all day long. Similar to how it might work harder when your blood is pumping during exercise, it also eases when you reach a certain stage of sleep. A normal resting heart rate for most adults while sleeping ranges from 40 to 60 beats per minute (bpm), which is slower than the average daily resting heart rate of 60 to 100 bpm.

Whether you're sleeping or awake, several factors can affect your heart rate, including your age, fitness level, cardiovascular health, stress level and overall wellness.

Let’s talk more about what a normal sleeping heart rate is, why your heart rate drops when you sleep, factors that can influence your sleeping heart rate variability and the best ways to track your target heart rate during sleep.

Why Your Heart Rate Drops During Sleep

When you fall asleep, your body enters a state of parasympathetic nervous system dominance, shifting into relaxation. This time is crucial for your overall well-being because it gives your nervous system and organs a chance to wind down, rest and heal from the day.

When your body is in a parasympathetic nervous system dominance state, most of that time is spent in deep, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep, which occurs during the first half of a full night's sleep.

Being in a parasympathetic nervous system dominance state allows your:

• Cardiovascular system to relax, lowering your blood pressure and heart rate
• Digestive system to increase the digestion process, helping to break down all foods to distribute much-needed nutrients throughout the body
• Metabolic system to stimulate cell and tissue repairs, and focus on rebuilding the body's energy stores
• Respiratory system to slow, deepening breathing rates as the body doesn't need as much oxygen during sleep

Besides being in a state of parasympathetic nervous system dominance, a lower body temperature during non-REM sleep can also cause your heart rate to slow. Generally, most adults experience a 20 to 30% reduction in their daily resting heart rate when asleep.

What Is Considered a Normal Sleeping Heart Rate by Age?

One of the main factors that influences a person's normal sleeping heart rate is age. Babies and younger children tend to have a faster heart rate during sleep than older kids and adults.

Older Adults

Older adults generally have a normal resting heart rate between 60 and 100 bpm during the day. When they're asleep, their heart rate usually drops somewhere between 50 and 85 bpm.

Adults

During the day, most adults' normal heart rate is between 60 and 100 bpm and between 40 and 60 bpm when asleep.

Children and Teens

Babies have a higher normal resting heart rate of about 80 to 160 bpm because their bodies are busy helping them grow and supporting their high metabolism. Because of the high demands on their bodies, a newborn’s heart rate can reach up to 190 bpm while they're sleeping.

As the heart grows bigger by their first birthday, children ages 1 to 4 have a normal resting daytime heart rate of 70 to 130 bpm, which stays roughly the same — about 70 to 120 bpm — at night.

School-aged children and adolescents also typically have daily and sleep heart rates that don't change dramatically — between 60 and 115 bpm during the day and 60 and 100 bpm at night. It's not until age 18 that a teenager will begin to experience a more distinctive difference between their daily resting and sleeping heart rates.

Factors that Affect Your Sleeping Heart Rate

In addition to age, several other factors can affect your normal heart rate during sleep. For instance, physical activity can have a profound impact on your average heart rate when asleep. The more physically fit you are, the lower your resting and sleeping heart rates are. Trained athletes typically have a heart rate between 40 and 50 bpm during sleep.

Certain health conditions, including your overall heart health, can impact your sleeping heart rate, causing it to slow down, speed up or become irregular, such as:

• Anemia
• Anorexia
• Anxiety disorders
• Chronic stress
• Dehydration
• Depression
• Fever
• Heart disease
• Hyperthyroidism
• Obesity
• Poor sleep caused by sleep apnea
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Several types of medications and substances can also affect your normal heart rate during sleep. These include:

• Alcohol use
• Antidepressants
• Beta-agonists for respiratory conditions, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Beta-blockers for high blood pressure
• Caffeine consumption
• Calcium channel blockers for arrhythmias or high blood pressure
• Opioids
• Over-the-counter cold medicines, like decongestants
• Stimulants such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications
• Thyroid medications

While many things can affect your normal sleeping heart rate, it’s important that you know when changes could signal an underlying problem.

When a Sleeping Heart Rate May Signal a Problem

Just like with your everyday resting heartbeat when you're awake, if your sleeping heartbeat becomes too fast or too slow, that may signal a health issue. An irregular heart rate can also negatively affect your sleep quality.

If you ever notice your heart rate becoming significantly higher or lower, whether you're awake or asleep, you should make an appointment with your AdventHealth primary care provider right away.

Heart Rate That’s Too Low (Bradycardia)

Bradycardia is a condition that occurs when your heartbeat slows down too much — for most adults, that's under 60 bpm when awake and under 40 bpm when asleep.

Symptoms of a lower heart rate to watch out for are:

• Chest pain
• Difficulty staying asleep
• Dizziness or feeling faint as soon as you wake up
• Fatigue in the morning and throughout the day
• Heart palpitations upon waking up
• Very loud snoring or gasping breaths when asleep

Some common causes of bradycardia include:

• Damage to the heart's tissues from cardiovascular disease, such as heart failure or a heart attack
• Electrolyte imbalance
• Medications like beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers and sedatives
• Sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea
• Underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism)

Heart Rate That’s Too High (Tachycardia)

On the other end of the spectrum, tachycardia is the medical term for your heart beating quicker than normal. For most adults, that's a heart rate above 100 bpm during the day or consistently above 90 bpm when asleep.

Some symptoms of tachycardia include:

• Anxiety or restlessness that disturbs your sleep
• Chest discomfort
• Dizziness or feeling faint when waking up
• Shortness of breath
• Waking up suddenly to a racing heart or heart palpitations

And some common causes for a high heart rate during sleep are:

• Anemia
• Electrolyte imbalance
• Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
• Overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism)
• Over-the-counter cold medications or other stimulants
• Severe stress and anxiety
• Sleep apnea
• Substance use, including alcohol, caffeine and nicotine

Regularly monitoring your resting heart rate, whether you’re awake or asleep, is a great way to stay on top of your health and catch anything abnormal early so you can get the treatment you deserve.

How to Track Your Sleeping Heart Rate

One of the easiest ways you can actively monitor your normal sleeping heart rate is to use wearable technology. Using wearables to track your heart health has become a normal part of many people's lives.

Some wearable devices that can help you keep track of your sleeping heart rate include:

• Fitness trackers
• Smart headbands
• Smart mattress covers
• Smart rings
• Smart sleep masks
• Smartwatches
  
  

If you prefer the traditional approach, you can always track your sleeping heart rate by checking your pulse immediately upon waking up. However, this reading may not be as accurate as what a smart device may provide.

As wearable technology has improved, so has the accuracy of its tracking capabilities. However, if you find that your wearable consistently shows an elevated or very low heart rate while sleeping, it's definitely time to see your AdventHealth physician. Your health care provider has access to stronger heart rate monitors and sleep tests that can provide a better reading of your sleeping heart rate.

Helping You Monitor and Protect Your Heart

At AdventHealth, our sleep specialists and cardiologists are here to provide you with expert medical advice on monitoring your normal sleeping heart rate, including suggested lifestyle changes and ways to improve your sleep hygiene.

Find a doctor today to make an appointment. We pour our hearts into caring for yours.