Recommended sleep by age
Totals below include naps for young children. Newborn figures are per 24 hours, not per night — nobody sleeps through at that age.
| Age group | Recommended sleep | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Newborn (0–3 mo) | 14–17 hours | Short stretches around the clock; frequent feeds |
| Infant (4–11 mo) | 12–16 hours | 2–3 naps; night stretches lengthen |
| Toddler (1–2 yrs) | 11–14 hours | 1–2 naps; bedtime battles begin |
| Preschool (3–5 yrs) | 10–13 hours | Naps usually drop between ages 3–5 |
| School-age (6–12 yrs) | 9–12 hours | Consistent bedtime protects learning |
| Teen (13–17 yrs) | 8–10 hours | Body clock shifts later in puberty |
| Adult (18–64 yrs) | 7–9 hours | Most adults land near 7.5–8 |
| Older adult (65+ yrs) | 7–8 hours | Sleep gets lighter; naps help |
What affects how much sleep you need
The chart gives a starting point, but several factors move your personal target:
- Activity level: hard training days, physical labor, or illness raise sleep need.
- Growth spurts: babies and teens often sleep noticeably more during rapid growth.
- Sleep debt: after several short nights, your body will try to "catch up" with longer, deeper sleep.
- Quality vs. quantity: 8 fragmented hours can feel worse than 7 solid ones — apnea, noise, and light all steal quality.
- Genetics: a small number of people genuinely need less, but it's rare. If you need an alarm plus coffee, you're probably not one of them.
Signs of too little sleep
In adults, the signs are familiar: daytime drowsiness, poor focus, irritability, and reaching for caffeine by mid-morning. In children, overtiredness often looks like the opposite — hyperactivity, crankiness, meltdowns, and paradoxically fighting bedtime. A child who "isn't tired" at 9 p.m. but melts down at 9:30 is usually overtired, not under-tired.
Other red flags at any age: regularly needing 30+ minutes and multiple alarms to wake up, falling asleep the moment you sit still, and weekend "catch-up" sleep that stretches 2+ hours past weekday wake time.
How to hit your number
Work backward from wake time. If your toddler needs 11 hours and wakes at 7 a.m., bedtime lands around 8 p.m. — and the bedtime routine needs to start 30–45 minutes before that. For babies, our baby sleep calculator does this math from age and wake windows. For older kids, try the kids bedtime calculator, and teens can plan around school with the teen sleep calculator.
This article is for general information and is not medical advice. Sleep needs vary between individuals. If you or your child snore heavily, gasp at night, or have persistent daytime sleepiness, consider speaking with a healthcare professional.