How much sleep do you need?

How many hours of sleep do you need at your age?

"How many hours of sleep do I need?" is one of the most searched sleep questions, and the honest answer depends on age. A newborn sleeps most of the day, a school child needs about ten hours, and most adults need seven to nine. This page shows the recommended range for each age group and explains how to tell whether you are getting enough in practice, not just on paper.

The figures come from consensus recommendations by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the Sleep Research Society and the National Sleep Foundation. They describe ranges that are appropriate for most healthy people, not exact prescriptions. Individual needs vary because of genetics, health, activity level and life stage, so use the range as a guide and pay attention to how you feel.

Recommended sleep hours by age

Newborns (0 to 3 months) sleep around 14 to 17 hours in 24 hours, infants (4 to 12 months) around 12 to 16 hours including naps, toddlers (1 to 2 years) 11 to 14 hours, preschoolers (3 to 5 years) 10 to 13 hours, school-age children (6 to 12 years) 9 to 12 hours, teenagers (13 to 18 years) 8 to 10 hours, adults (18 to 64 years) 7 to 9 hours, and older adults (65 and over) 7 to 8 hours. The chart on this page lets you choose an age and see the range at a glance.

How to tell if you are getting enough sleep

The number on the clock is only half the answer. You probably sleep enough if you wake up without feeling dragged, stay alert through the morning without caffeine, fall asleep in about 10 to 30 minutes, and sleep in by no more than an hour on days off. If you sleep three hours longer at weekends, need several alarms, or fall asleep within a minute or two of lying down, you are likely short. The sleep quality self-check offers ten quick questions to help judge this, and the sleep debt calculator measures the gap against your target.

Why teenagers need more sleep and get less

Puberty delays the body clock, which pushes the time a teenager feels sleepy later by one to two hours. Early school start times then cut the night short. The result is a large group of teens running on six or seven hours instead of the recommended eight to ten. The school-night bedtime tool works backwards from the school start time, and the exam week planner protects sleep while still leaving room for revision.

Sleep needs for babies and children

Young children need both long nights and naps, and the number of naps drops as they grow. Use the baby wake window and baby nap schedule tools for the first years, and the kids bedtime calculator for ages three and up. If you have a baby, follow safe sleep guidance from your health provider, including placing your baby on their back to sleep on a firm, flat surface.

Do older adults need less sleep?

Older adults need slightly less, usually seven to eight hours, but the need does not disappear. What changes is sleep structure: lighter sleep, more waking in the night and an earlier body clock. Poor sleep in later life is often caused by pain, medication, sleep apnea or a lack of daytime activity and light, not by age alone. If you notice a sudden change in your sleep, speak to a doctor.

Checking your sleep with a tracker or diary

A tracker or diary shows what you actually sleep, which is often less than you think. Most people overestimate their sleep by 30 minutes or more. A smartwatch, ring or phone app can record duration automatically, and a sleep diary does it for free. If you want to pick a device, read our guide to the best sleep tracker, or begin with the built-in sleep feature on your phone or the free sleep tracker apps we cover.

Short sleepers and long sleepers

A very small number of people carry gene variants that let them function on around six hours. They are the exception, and most people who think they are short sleepers are actually sleep-deprived and used to it. At the other end, some people need nine hours or more. Your own need is stable across your adult life, so if you feel best at eight and a half hours, plan for that, whatever a chart says.

How to find your own number

Take a holiday week with no alarm. For the first few nights you will probably sleep long as you repay debt. After that, your sleep will settle at the length your body wants. That is your need. If you cannot take a week off, log your sleep in the sleep diary and look at how you feel after nights of different lengths. Then use the bedtime calculator to turn the number into a bedtime.

Quality, timing and regularity matter too

Sleep health has several dimensions: duration, continuity, timing, regularity, alertness in the day and satisfaction. Someone who sleeps eight hours at irregular times may fare worse than someone who sleeps seven and a half at fixed ones. When you review your sleep, look at all of these, not only the total. The sleep quality self-check covers them in ten questions.

Frequently asked questions