How many hours of sleep should you get depending on your age

Sleep isn’t just a luxury- it’s a basic necessity of the human body. Yet many of us treat it like an optional pause between busy days. The truth is, how much sleep you should get changes through life. A child and a senior cannot rely on the same number of hours and feel equally rested.



Babies, toddlers, and young children

When you’re very small, sleep is your superpower. Infants aged 4 to 12 months typically need 12 to 16 hours of sleep per day (including naps) to support brain development, growth, and immune health. Many sleep guidelines, including those from the US CDC , endorse this range. Toddlers aged 1 to 2 years should aim for 11 to 14 hours, combining night sleep and naps. For children between 3 and 5 years, 10 to 13 hours is ideal.




These early years are when the brain and body lay down foundations- for learning, for immunity, for body repair. Less sleep in this stage can lead to behavior problems, poor attention, or slower growth.



School-age children to teenagers




As kids grow older and their daytime demands increase, their sleep needs slowly decrease. For children aged 6 to 12 years, recommended sleep is about 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours. Teenagers (13 to 18 years) should target 8 to 10 hours. Adolescence brings its own challenges: the body’s internal clock shifts later, technology and social pressures invade bedtime, and school start times demand early rising. Research (e.g. “Sleeping hours: what is the ideal number and how does age impact”) shows that average sleep declines through adolescence, making it harder for teens to hit the ideal hours. Getting too little sleep in these years can affect mood, memory, and academic performance. It may also raise risks for obesity, insulin resistance, and mood disorders.



Adults and seniorsOnce you cross into adulthood (roughly 18 years onward), the range tightens. Experts like those at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommend that adults sleep between 7 and 9 hours per night for optimal health.



The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society also endorse that 7 hours or more is the minimum ideal for healthy adults. For older adults (65+), many still benefit from 7 to 8 hours, though some may naturally require slightly less. Too much sleep (regularly exceeding 9 hours) isn’t always better- in many cases it can signal underlying health issues or poor sleep quality. Sleep in later life often becomes more fragmented: lighter sleep, frequent awakenings, and reduced deep sleep phases. Even if total hours look okay, quality matters.




Why the recommended hours change over time

Why do babies need so much sleep, while adults “only” need 7–9 hours? It’s about growth, development, and repair. In early years, sleep supports brain wiring, hormonal growth, immune maturation, and cellular repair. As growth slows in adulthood, the body needs less “background rebuilding” and more maintenance. Also, an adult’s risk of health problems- obesity, high blood pressure, insulin resistance- climbs when we chronically miss these ideal hours. Several studies show that regular short sleep (less than 7 hours) is linked to higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, and mood disorders.



Also, aging brains tend to have altered sleep architecture: less deep sleep, more interruptions, which sometimes makes older people feel like they need less sleep- but often, they are just not getting good quality rest.