😴 Sleep Needs by Age
How Much Sleep
Do I Need?
The evidence-based answer for every age, from newborns to older adults — plus simple ways to find the amount that works for your body and schedule.
How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?
For most healthy adults, the research consensus is at least 7 hours of sleep per night on a regular basis. Children and teenagers need considerably more.
If you have ever asked yourself how much sleep do I need, you are not alone — it is one of the most searched sleep questions in the world. The good news is that sleep scientists have studied it carefully. In 2015, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Research Society convened an expert panel that reviewed thousands of studies and concluded that adults aged 18 to 60 should sleep 7 or more hours per night on a regular basis to promote optimal health.[1]
Around the same time, the National Sleep Foundation published its own age-by-age recommendations after a multidisciplinary panel review, landing on 7–9 hours as the recommended range for adults aged 18–64 and 7–8 hours for adults 65 and older.[2] For children, a separate AASM consensus statement set clear ranges that start at 12–16 hours (including naps) for infants and taper to 8–10 hours for teenagers.[3]
These numbers are averages for healthy people, not rigid rules. Your personal need depends on genetics, age, health, activity level and how much sleep debt you are already carrying. The rest of this guide explains the ranges, the science behind them and a practical method to find your own number.
How Much Sleep Do You Need?
Recommended hours per 24 hours (naps included for young children)
Recommended Sleep by Age
These ranges combine the AASM pediatric and adult consensus statements with the National Sleep Foundation recommendations. Hours are per 24 hours and include naps for young children.
| Age group | Age | Recommended sleep (per 24 h) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newborn | 0–3 months | 14–17 hours | NSF[2] |
| Infant | 4–12 months | 12–16 hours (incl. naps) | AASM[3] |
| Toddler | 1–2 years | 11–14 hours (incl. naps) | AASM[3] |
| Preschool | 3–5 years | 10–13 hours (incl. naps) | AASM[3] |
| School age | 6–12 years | 9–12 hours | AASM[3] |
| Teen | 13–18 years | 8–10 hours | AASM[3] |
| Adult | 18–60 years | 7 or more hours | AASM/SRS[1] |
| Adult | 26–64 years | 7–9 hours | NSF[2] |
| Older adult | 65+ years | 7–8 hours | NSF[2] |
Two details are worth noticing. First, the AASM did not set an upper limit for adults; it noted that sleeping more than 9 hours may be appropriate for young adults, people recovering from sleep debt and people who are ill.[1] Second, sleep need does not drop sharply in older age. What changes is sleep structure: a large meta-analysis of healthy people from childhood to old age found that deep slow-wave sleep and sleep efficiency decline with age, while time awake after sleep onset rises.[6] Older adults often sleep more lightly, not because they need less, but because their sleep is more easily fragmented.
Parents planning a child’s day can turn these ranges into a concrete timetable with our Baby Sleep Schedule Generator.
Why 7 Hours? What the Research Shows
Recommendations are based on what happens to health and performance when people regularly sleep less — or much more — than this range.
The most striking evidence comes from controlled lab studies. In a well-known experiment, healthy adults were restricted to 4, 6 or 8 hours in bed for two weeks. Those limited to 6 hours a night developed attention lapses and memory deficits that grew steadily worse — by the end, their performance was comparable to people kept awake for one to two full nights. Crucially, they rated themselves as only slightly sleepy.[4] In other words, chronic short sleep impairs you more than you feel it does.
Population studies point in the same direction. A meta-analysis of prospective studies covering more than 1.3 million people found that habitually short sleepers had a higher risk of death over the follow-up period than people sleeping 7–8 hours. Interestingly, very long sleep was also associated with higher risk, although long sleep is more likely a marker of underlying illness than a cause.[5]
The expert panel behind the adult consensus statement linked regularly sleeping less than 7 hours with weight gain and obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, depression, impaired immune function, more pain, more errors and a greater risk of accidents.[1] These are associations rather than proof that short sleep alone causes each problem, but the pattern across hundreds of studies is consistent.
Attention & Memory
Restricting sleep to 6 hours a night for two weeks produced steadily growing lapses in attention and working memory.[4]
Heart & Metabolism
Regular short sleep is associated with high blood pressure, diabetes and weight gain in adult studies.[1]
Immune Defence
The consensus panel listed impaired immune function among the outcomes linked to under 7 hours of sleep.[1]
Mood
Short sleep is associated with depression and poorer emotional regulation in the evidence the panel reviewed.[1]
Safety
Drowsiness raises the risk of errors and accidents, both at work and on the road.[1]
Longevity
Both short and very long habitual sleep are associated with higher mortality in prospective studies.[5]
How to Find Out How Much Sleep You Need
Population ranges are a starting point. This two-week method helps you discover what your own body needs.
- 1
Pick a fixed wake-up time
Choose a wake time you can keep every day, including weekends. Fixed waking anchors your body clock and makes the experiment reliable. Our Wake-Up Time Calculator can help you pick one that lines up with full sleep cycles.
- 2
Count back to a bedtime
Start by allowing 8 hours in bed, plus about 15 minutes to fall asleep. The Bedtime Calculator does the arithmetic for you in 90-minute cycles.
- 3
Pay off existing sleep debt first
If you have been short-sleeping, your first week will feel like you need far more sleep than normal. Estimate how far behind you are with the Sleep Debt Calculator, and read our guide to recovering from sleep debt.
- 4
Notice when you wake naturally
After about a week, many people begin waking a few minutes before the alarm. That is a strong sign you are close to your true need. If you still struggle to get up, move bedtime 15 minutes earlier.
- 5
Check daytime alertness
You are getting enough sleep if you feel alert through the morning, do not rely on caffeine to function, and do not fall asleep within minutes when sitting quietly in the afternoon.
- 6
Measure your efficiency
If you spend a long time awake in bed, more time in bed will not help. Use the Sleep Efficiency Calculator — a score of around 85% or higher is generally considered healthy.
- 7
Respect your chronotype
Night owls who force an early bedtime often lie awake. Discover your natural timing with the Chronotype Quiz and plan your sleep window around it.
Signs You Are Not Getting Enough Sleep
Because sleep loss dulls self-awareness, these objective signs are often more reliable than how tired you feel.
Look out for these common red flags: needing an alarm and several snoozes every morning; sleeping two or more hours longer on weekends than on workdays; falling asleep within five minutes of lying down; nodding off while reading, watching TV or as a passenger; relying on caffeine to get through the afternoon; irritability, low mood or poor concentration; and more frequent colds.
If you are regularly giving yourself 7–9 hours in bed and still feel unrefreshed, the problem may be sleep quality rather than quantity. Loud snoring, gasping at night, restless legs or long periods awake are reasons to speak with a doctor, because conditions like sleep apnea and insomnia need proper assessment.
How to Get the Sleep You Need
Knowing your number is half the job. These habits make it far easier to actually sleep that long.
- 1
Protect a consistent schedule
Going to bed and waking at similar times every day keeps your circadian clock stable and makes falling asleep easier.
- 2
Cut off caffeine early
Caffeine lingers for many hours. Find a personal cutoff time with our Caffeine Half-Life Calculator.
- 3
Nap smartly, not long
A short nap can top up a short night, but long or late naps steal sleep pressure from bedtime. Plan one with the Nap Duration Calculator.
- 4
Get morning light, dim the evening
Bright light early in the day and dimmer light at night help your body release melatonin at the right time.
- 5
Keep the bedroom cool, dark and quiet
A cool room and a dark, quiet environment support deeper, less fragmented sleep.
- 6
Understand your cycles
Waking at the end of a cycle reduces grogginess. Learn how cycles work in Sleep Cycles Explained.
🌙 Plan Tonight’s Sleep in Seconds
Use our free tools to turn your sleep need into a bedtime and wake-up time that fit your life.
Frequently Asked Questions About Sleep Needs
Healthy adults aged 18 to 60 should get at least 7 hours of sleep per night on a regular basis, according to the joint consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7 to 9 hours for adults aged 18 to 64 and 7 to 8 hours for adults 65 and older.
For most adults, no. In a controlled study, people restricted to 6 hours a night for two weeks developed attention and memory deficits similar to one to two nights without sleep, while feeling only slightly sleepy. A very small number of people have a genetic short-sleep trait, but they are rare.
Regularly sleeping much more than 9 hours is associated with poorer health outcomes in population studies, but long sleep is often a sign of an underlying problem such as illness, depression or poor sleep quality rather than the cause. Young adults, people recovering from sleep debt and people who are ill may genuinely need more than 9 hours.
Teenagers aged 13 to 18 need 8 to 10 hours of sleep per 24 hours. Their body clocks naturally shift later during puberty, which is why early school start times often leave teens short of sleep.
Not much less. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7 to 8 hours for adults 65 and older. Sleep tends to become lighter and more broken with age, so older adults may need to protect their sleep window even more carefully.
Extra weekend sleep can partly reduce short-term sleepiness, but it does not fully reverse the effects of a week of short sleep and it can shift your body clock later. A steady schedule with enough sleep every night is more effective.
For infants, toddlers and preschoolers, the recommended hours include naps. For adults, a short nap can help with alertness, but it is best to meet most of your need with night-time sleep.
Related Sleep Resources
Put this guide into practice with our free calculators and in-depth guides.
References & Further Reading
- Watson NF, et al. (2015). Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult: A Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society. Sleep, 38(6), 843–844. PubMed 26039963 · doi:10.5665/sleep.4716
- Hirshkowitz M, et al. (2015). National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary. Sleep Health, 1(1), 40–43. PubMed 29073412 · doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2014.12.010
- Paruthi S, et al. (2016). Recommended Amount of Sleep for Pediatric Populations: A Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. J Clin Sleep Med, 12(6), 785–786. PubMed 27250809 · doi:10.5664/jcsm.5866
- Van Dongen HP, et al. (2003). The cumulative cost of additional wakefulness: dose-response effects on neurobehavioral functions and sleep physiology from chronic sleep restriction and total sleep deprivation. Sleep, 26(2), 117–126. PubMed 12683469 · doi:10.1093/sleep/26.2.117
- Cappuccio FP, et al. (2010). Sleep duration and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Sleep, 33(5), 585–592. PubMed 20469800 · doi:10.1093/sleep/33.5.585
- Ohayon MM, et al. (2004). Meta-analysis of quantitative sleep parameters from childhood to old age in healthy individuals. Sleep, 27(7), 1255–1273. PubMed 15586779 · doi:10.1093/sleep/27.7.1255