How Much Sleep Do I Need?
A few questions, then one amount of sleep to aim for.
Question 1 of 3
A point inside a published range, not a measurement of your sleep, and not medical advice.
How this number is chosen
Age picks the range. Newborns are usually guided toward 14 to 17 hours, infants 12 to 15, toddlers 11 to 14, preschoolers 10 to 13, school-age children 9 to 11, teenagers 8 to 10, adults 7 to 9, and older adults 7 to 8. Those are the bands most sleep guidelines publish. Sources differ by an hour at some ages.
The first figure is the middle of that range, rounded to the nearest half hour. Feeling fine, with nothing extra going on, leaves it there. Daytime sleepiness moves it up. So does extra demand: heavy training, pregnancy, or recovering from illness. For children, that question is a growth spurt or a recent illness. Both together land on the top of the range. The number never leaves the range for that age.
What it does not do
It does not measure your sleep, and it does not know your health. Two people of the same age can need different amounts. Use the figure as a target to compare with the nights you are actually getting, not as a diagnosis.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much sleep do adults need?
Most sleep guidelines put adults at 7 to 9 hours. This calculator starts at 8, the middle of that range, and moves toward 9 if you are often sleepy or under extra demand such as heavy training, pregnancy, or illness.
How much sleep do teenagers need?
About 8 to 10 hours. The suggested figure starts at 9 and moves toward 10 if daytime sleepiness or extra demand is part of the answers.
Why is the number inside a range?
Published guidance is a range, not a single hour that fits every person of that age. The calculator picks one figure in that range from age, how alert you feel, and whether you are under extra demand right now.
Does this measure how much sleep I got?
No. It suggests how much to aim for. It does not record or measure your sleep, and it is not medical advice. If you want to compare that aim with the hours you have actually been getting, use the sleep debt calculator.
If you have been sleeping less than that, the sleep debt calculator turns the gap into hours behind.