Sleep tips
How Much Sleep Do You Need by Age?
See recommended sleep-duration ranges by age and learn how to use them without treating a population guideline as a personal diagnosis.
Sleep needs change with age. Newborns need much more sleep than adults, while most adults should regularly allow at least seven hours. These are population guidelines, not a diagnosis of what one person must sleep every night.
Recommended sleep duration by age
The following ranges summarize the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s pediatric recommendations and CDC adult guidance.
| Age | Recommended sleep per 24 hours |
|---|---|
| 0–3 months | 14–17 hours |
| 4–12 months | 12–16 hours, including naps |
| 1–2 years | 11–14 hours, including naps |
| 3–5 years | 10–13 hours, including naps |
| 6–12 years | 9–12 hours |
| 13–18 years | 8–10 hours |
| 18–60 years | 7 or more hours |
| 61–64 years | 7–9 hours |
| 65 years and older | 7–8 hours |
The newborn range comes from broader public-health guidance because the AASM pediatric consensus begins at four months.
How to use the table
Treat the range as a planning baseline. A schedule should create enough time in bed to cover both the desired sleep duration and the time normally spent falling asleep or awake during the night. See time in bed versus time asleep.
For an adult who needs to wake at 7:00 AM, selecting a calculator row that represents only six hours does not become adequate merely because it aligns with a predicted cycle. Use the bedtime calculator to compare times, then prioritize the longer realistic option.
Why individual needs vary
Age is only one influence. Illness, pregnancy, sleep debt, activity, medications, and sleep disorders can affect sleep and daytime functioning. Feeling alert is useful context, but it does not replace professional assessment when symptoms persist.
Children’s sleep includes naps at younger ages, so parents should interpret the recommendation across the full day rather than nighttime alone.
Signs the schedule deserves attention
Consider discussing sleep with a clinician when a person regularly has enough opportunity to sleep but still has severe daytime sleepiness, persistent difficulty sleeping, loud snoring or breathing pauses, or major changes in sleep need. Urgent safety concerns—such as drowsy driving—should not wait for a calculator adjustment.
Bottom line
Start with the guideline for your age, allow extra time for sleep latency, and build a consistent schedule. Do not use cycle timing to justify routinely sleeping below the recommended range.