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How much sleep do I need?

Short answer

The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7–9 hours of sleep a night for adults aged 18–64 and 7–8 hours for adults 65 and over. Teenagers need 8–10 hours, school-age children 9–11 and newborns 14–17 hours a day. Needs vary from person to person, so the range matters more than any single number.

Last reviewed 28 October 20262 published sourcesNot medical advice

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How much sleep do I need?

The National Sleep Foundation's recommended range for your age, and how your usual night compares.

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Recommended sleep by age (National Sleep Foundation, 2015)
Age groupRecommended hours a day
Newborns (0–3 months)14–17 hours
Infants (4–11 months)12–15 hours
Toddlers (1–2 years)11–14 hours
Preschoolers (3–5 years)10–13 hours
School-age children (6–13 years)9–11 hours
Teenagers (14–17 years)8–10 hours
Young adults (18–25 years)7–9 hours
Adults (26–64 years)7–9 hours
Older adults (65+ years)7–8 hours
Hours per 24 hours, for healthy people without a sleep disorder.

Where the ranges come from

An 18-member National Sleep Foundation panel reviewed the evidence and agreed on these ranges using the RAND/UCLA appropriateness method. They note that sleep needs vary from person to person, and that durations a little outside the range may be fine, while sleeping far outside it is rare (Hirshkowitz et al., 2015 (NSF)).

For adults, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society also recommend 7 or more hours a night on a regular basis (Watson et al., 2015 (AASM/SRS)). Turn your target into a bedtime with the sleep calculator, or see how well you use your time in bed with the sleep efficiency calculator.

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Common questions

How many hours of sleep do adults need?

7–9 hours for adults aged 18–64 and 7–8 hours from 65, in the National Sleep Foundation's recommendations. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society also recommend 7 or more hours a night for adults.

Is 6 hours of sleep enough?

For most adults, regularly sleeping 6 hours is below the recommended 7–9. Some people sleep less without trouble, but sleeping well outside the range is uncommon.

How much sleep do teenagers need?

8–10 hours a night for ages 14–17, and 9–11 hours for children aged 6–13.

Sources

Figures on this page were checked against these publications on 28 October 2026.

  1. Hirshkowitz M, Whiton K, Albert SM, Alessi C, Bruni O, DonCarlos L, Hazen N, Herman J, Katz ES, Kheirandish-Gozal L, Neubauer DN, O'Donnell AE, Ohayon M, Peever J, Rawding R, Sachdeva RC, Setters B, Vitiello MV, Ware JC, Adams Hillard PJ. National Sleep Foundation's sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary. Sleep Health. 2015;1(1):40–43. doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2014.12.010
  2. Watson NF, Badr MS, Belenky G, Bliwise DL, Buxton OM, Buysse D, et al. Recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult: a joint consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society. Sleep. 2015;38(6):843–844. doi.org/10.5665/sleep.4716

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