Sleep by Age Calculator

Personalized sleep recommendations from newborn to senior.

Sleep needs change dramatically across a lifetime. A newborn sleeps 14-17 hours per 24. A teenager still needs 8-10 hours but naturally wants to sleep much later. A young adult typically needs 7-9 hours. This calculator is based on the National Sleep Foundation’s evidence-based recommendations. Enter an age and get a recommended range plus context about what is normal at that stage. The calculator also adjusts for typical bedtime and wake time patterns by age group. For children, it provides age-specific bedtime suggestions that align with school start times. For seniors, it accounts for the earlier circadian shift that commonly comes with age.

The Science

The National Sleep Foundation’s 2015 recommendations were the result of expert panel review of hundreds of studies. For each age group, they distinguish recommended range, “may be appropriate” range, and “not recommended.” Individual variation is real - some adults genuinely function well on 6 hours (the short sleeper gene DEC2 affects perhaps 1%), while others need 10. But most people claiming to only need 5 hours are actually chronically sleep-deprived.

How It Works

1

Enter an age.

2

See the recommended sleep range and age-specific notes.

3

For school-age kids and teens, get bedtime suggestions.

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When to Use This Calculator

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, the NSF recommends 8-10 hours for teens (14-17 years). Most teens get 6-7 due to early school start times combined with later natural bedtimes.
10-13 hours total per 24, typically including a nap.
Slightly. Adults over 65 still need 7-8 hours, not 5-6.
For a very small minority with a specific genetic variant (DEC2), yes. For everyone else: no.
Partially, over 1-2 weeks of extended sleep. Single weekend catch-up does not fully recover chronic debt.
Pregnancy often increases sleep need, especially in the first and third trimesters. 8-9 hours is typical.
No, newborns routinely sleep 14-17 hours with individual variation up to 18-19.