Why you shouldn’t worry if you keep waking up at night — expert explains why no-one really ‘sleeps through’

A woman smiles and stretches in bed after a great night's sleep.

Staying asleep all night is often touted as the hallmark of a quality night’s rest. Yet for many of us, waking frequently throughout the night is perfectly normal. Sleep experts have even given it a name — Wakefulness After Sleep Onset (WASO.)

“Waking up at nighttime is a normal part of sleep physiology,” explains Dr. Sujay Kansagra, a double-board certified pediatric neurologist and doctor of sleep medicine at Duke University Medical Centre. “We should all expect to have some amount of wakefulness at nighttime.”