Guide
Sleep needs by age.
There is no single magic number. Sleep recommendations shift across your lifetime — the ranges below reflect consensus guidance from organizations such as the National Sleep Foundation and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Newborns (0–3 months)
Sleep is distributed across the day in short bursts; no cycle alignment yet.
14–17 hours
Infants (4–11 months)
Including naps. Circadian rhythms emerge and night stretches lengthen.
12–15 hours
Toddlers (1–2 years)
Including naps. Most transition to one midday nap.
11–14 hours
Preschoolers (3–5 years)
Including naps. Bedtime resistance peaks; routine matters more than duration.
10–13 hours
School age (6–13 years)
Sleep supports memory consolidation for learning.
9–11 hours
Teens (14–17 years)
Circadian rhythm naturally shifts later — early school starts fight biology.
8–10 hours
Adults (18–64 years)
5–6 full 90-minute cycles. The calculator’s sweet spot.
7–9 hours
Older adults (65+ years)
Sleep gets lighter and more fragmented; naps can help fill the gap.
7–8 hours
How to use these numbers
Treat the range as a target zone, then adjust by how you feel. If you wake refreshed at the bottom of the range and stay alert all day, that is your number. Thesleep calculatorhelps you land at the end of a cycle within whatever range fits you.