Does Sleeping Make You Taller?

Sleep doesn't make you taller than your genes allow, but it is one of the things your body needs to grow normally while your growth plates are still open. Your body releases growth hormone in bursts, mostly at night, and a big one comes during your first stretch of deep sleep. Teens need 8 to 10 hours a night; sleeping longer than you need, or in a special position, won't add extra height.

How sleep and growth are connected

Growth hormone is made by the pituitary gland at the base of your brain. It doesn't flow out steadily; it comes in pulses, and Cleveland Clinic notes those peaks happen mostly at night. In childhood and puberty, the hormone helps drive the growth of cartilage and bone at your growth plates.

Sleep researchers have studied this timing closely. In young adults, a major burst of growth hormone arrives shortly after falling asleep, during the first period of deep, slow-wave sleep, and in men roughly 70% of the day's output comes during early sleep. Studies in pubertal children also find growth hormone pulses lining up with bouts of deep sleep.

Here's the honest part: the details are still being worked out. In a small 2022 study, researchers used sounds to cut 14 children's deep sleep by about 40% for one night, and their growth hormone release didn't drop. The authors concluded that more research is needed on how ongoing sleep loss affects growth. So sleep clearly matters for a healthy body, but no one can say exactly how many inches a bad sleep habit costs, if any.

One more limit: once your growth plates have fused, growth hormone can no longer increase height. Sleep keeps mattering for health, but not for height.

How much sleep do teens need?

These are the CDC's recommendations, based on guidance from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine:

Many teens fall well short. Nemours KidsHealth explains that during the teen years your body clock shifts later, so you naturally feel sleepy later at night. Add early school start times, homework and phones, and plenty of teens end up with 6 or 7 hours or less.

If I sleep 10 hours a day, will I grow taller?

Not beyond your genetic potential. If you've been getting 6 hours and move up to the 8 to 10 your body needs, you're removing a strain on your health and giving yourself the best conditions to grow normally. That's worth doing.

But extra sleep past what your body needs doesn't unlock extra inches. Your body controls growth hormone carefully, and how tall you can get is set mostly by your genes. Ten hours a night is within the healthy range for teens, so there's no harm in it. Just don't expect it to work like a growth switch.

Do you grow taller while sleeping?

Two separate things happen at night, and people often mix them up:

1. Hormone release. Growth hormone pulses during deep sleep support real bone growth, which adds up slowly over months.
2. Spine decompression. When you lie down, the cushioning discs between your vertebrae recover the fluid they lost while you were upright. In a 2011 study, young adults measured 24 times over 24 hours varied by about 0.7 inch (1.8 cm) between their tallest and shortest readings. The biggest drop came in the first hour after getting up.

So yes, you measure taller in the morning, but that part disappears by afternoon. To track real growth, measure at the same time each day. Stretching and hanging work the same temporary way, as we explain in does stretching make you taller?

Best sleeping position to grow taller?

There isn't one. No credible research shows that sleeping on your back, stretched out, without a pillow or in any other position changes how your bones grow. Pick whatever position lets you sleep deeply and wake up without a stiff neck or back. A supportive mattress and a pillow that keeps your neck in line help with comfort and posture, not height.

How to sleep better as a teen

These tips come from pediatric sleep guidance at Nemours KidsHealth:

• Keep bedtime and wake-up time within an hour or two of your usual schedule, even on weekends.
• Turn off phones, tablets, computers and TV at least an hour before bed.
• Skip caffeine, including energy drinks and soda, after dinner.
• Exercise regularly, but not right before bed.
• Keep your room dark, quiet and slightly cool.
• Keep naps under 30 minutes and not too close to bedtime.

Sleep is one piece of the plan. Food and activity matter just as much; see our guide on how to grow taller and the list of foods that help you grow taller.

When to see a doctor

Talk to a doctor if:

• You snore loudly most nights, or someone notices pauses in your breathing, gasping or choking while you sleep. Sleep apnea in kids has been linked to poor growth, and growth often picks up after treatment.
• You have trouble falling or staying asleep most nights, or you're very sleepy during the day even after a full night.
• You've grown less than about 2 inches (5 cm) in a year before your growth spurt, you're dropping across lines on your growth chart, or your growth stalls in your teens while friends shoot up.

A doctor can check your growth over time and, if needed, order a sleep study or refer you to a specialist. If you want to know whether you still have growing to do, try the Am I done growing? quiz.

The takeaway

Bottom line: Sleep won't make you taller than your genes allow, but steady 8 to 10 hour nights give your body the best shot at reaching its full height while you're still growing.