How much sleep do I need?
Sleep need changes by an order of magnitude across a lifetime — from 16+ hours for a newborn to about 7 for an older adult. Pick an age and see the recommended range, plus a midpoint target you can use as a baseline.
Use this as your baseline. Individual needs vary by ±1 hour — track how you feel at different durations for 2 weeks to find your personal target.
Why the range, not a single number
Sleep need is partly genetic, partly developmental, partly lifestyle. The National Sleep Foundation publishes a range rather than a single hour count because the distribution within each age bracket is wide — and falling outside the range is more common than people think. About 5% of adults genuinely need only 6 hours; another 5% need 9 or more.
The midpoint is the right baseline to start with. Drift up or down by 30 minutes over two-week trials until you find what works. The “right” amount is the duration after which you wake without an alarm, feel rested, and don’t feel the urge to nap. The ranges shown are from the National Sleep Foundation 2015 consensus and the AASM pediatric consensus.
Child sleep changes faster than anything else
Newborns sleep 14–17 hours but in 2–3 hour chunks. By 6 months most have consolidated night sleep to 6–8 hour stretches. By 1 year, 10–12 hours at night plus 2–3 hours of naps. Each transition is real and worth knowing about, especially for parents wondering if their child’s pattern is normal.
The teen problem
Adolescent biology shifts the circadian rhythm later by 2–3 hours during puberty. A teen who can’t fall asleep before midnight and can’t wake before 8 AM isn’t being difficult — that’s their physiology. Standard high school start times (7–8 AM) force most teens into chronic short sleep, with measurable effects on grades, mood, and accident rates. School districts that have shifted start times to 8:30 AM or later see consistent improvements across all three (the American Academy of Pediatrics 2014 policy statement reviews the evidence).
The adult tail
“I only need 6 hours” is one of the most common self-reports in sleep research. It’s also one of the most often wrong. Studies that put self-described short sleepers in a controlled environment for 2 weeks find that most show cognitive impairment that they’ve normalized but not overcome. The genuine short sleepers exist, but they’re rare. If you suspect you’re one, the only way to know is a 2-week sleep extension trial.
Frequently asked questions
How much sleep does a 1-year-old need?
About 12–15 hours total per day, including naps. Most 1-year-olds sleep 10–12 hours at night and take 2–3 hours of daytime naps (often a morning nap of under 1 hour and an afternoon nap of 1.5–2 hours). By 18 months most consolidate to a single afternoon nap.
How much sleep does a teenager need?
8–10 hours. Adolescent biology pushes the circadian rhythm 2–3 hours later (the well-documented "teen phase delay"), so a 16-year-old falling asleep at midnight isn’t lazy — that’s their biology. School start times before 8:30 AM force most teens into chronic sleep debt; the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 8:30 AM minimum.
Do adults really need 8 hours?
7–9 hours, with most landing near 7.5–8. About 5% of adults are genuine "short sleepers" — they thrive on 6 hours, often due to a DEC2 gene variant. The other 95% who claim to function on 6 hours are showing measurable cognitive impairment they’ve adapted to but haven’t actually overcome.
Do older adults need less sleep?
Slightly — 7–8 hours instead of 7–9. The need decreases marginally, but ability to consolidate sleep into one block also decreases. Older adults often sleep less at night and supplement with afternoon naps. Total 24-hour sleep is roughly stable; it’s the architecture that changes.
How do I find my personal sleep need?
Track sleep on a vacation week with no alarms. Your natural sleep duration after 3–4 days of "catch up" reflects your real need. For most people this lands within the age-bracket range, but 10–20% of adults fall outside it in one direction or the other.
Where do these numbers come from?
The ranges follow the 2015 National Sleep Foundation consensus and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommendations. Both panels reviewed several hundred studies on sleep duration and outcomes; the ranges have been broadly stable for a decade.
Sleep need by specific age
Detailed guides for the most-asked ages: