Sleep Cycle Calculator How much sleep do you need?
Enter an age below for the recommended range, from newborns to older adults.
Full reference
Recommended sleep by age group
Sleep need drops sharply in the first few years of life, then levels off through adulthood. These ranges reflect the general guidance used by pediatric and sleep-medicine bodies.
Newborn · 0–3mo
14–17 hrs
Infant · 4–11mo
12–16 hrs
Toddler · 1–2yr
11–14 hrs
Preschool · 3–5yr
10–13 hrs
School age · 6–12yr
9–12 hrs
Teen · 13–17yr
8–10 hrs
Adult · 18–64yr
7–9 hrs
Older adult · 65+
7–8 hrs
Why it changes
Why sleep needs shrink as you age
Infants spend far more time in the deep and REM sleep that drives rapid brain and body growth, so they need more total hours spread across naps and nighttime sleep. As that growth curve flattens out through childhood and the teenage years, total need drops, settling at 7 to 9 hours for most of adult life. Older adults often sleep slightly less at night, though many make up part of the difference with daytime naps.
Questions
Frequently asked
How much sleep do kids need?
It depends heavily on exact age. School-age children (6 to 12) need about 9 to 12 hours, while preschoolers (3 to 5) need 10 to 13 hours including any nap. Use the calculator above with the exact age for a precise range.
How much sleep should a teenager get?
8 to 10 hours a night. Most teenagers get noticeably less than this because of early school start times combined with a natural shift toward a later sleep schedule during puberty.
How much sleep do adults need?
7 to 9 hours for the vast majority of adults aged 18 to 64. Consistently sleeping under 7 hours is linked with worse next-day attention and mood, even if it doesn’t feel that way in the moment.
Do men need more sleep than women?
No. The recommended range is based on age, not sex. Individual need can still vary a little from person to person, but there’s no established difference by gender.
How much sleep does a 12 year old need?
9 to 12 hours, the upper half of the school-age range. A 12 year old is right at the edge between the school-age and teen brackets, so needs can vary by a child’s stage of development.
What happens if you consistently sleep less than you need?
The shortfall accumulates as sleep debt, which builds up night after night and isn’t fully fixed by one long weekend sleep-in. See the sleep debt calculator for how to estimate and work back a deficit.