How much sleep do children need? What you should know about your child's sleep requirements
Is your child tired, fussy or struggling to concentrate at school in the mornings? The cause could be too little sleep, or restless sleep. Getting enough restful sleep is one of the most important foundations for your child's healthy development, growth and wellbeing. But how much sleep do children actually need – or how long should or must they sleep? The answer depends on age and varies from child to child.
In this guide, you'll find out how much sleep children need at different ages, when your child or toddler should go to bed, and how you can improve their sleep quality long-term.
Key takeaways
- A child’s need for sleep changes with age and gradually decreases as they develop.
- The recommended sleep times are guideline values – the amount of sleep a child actually needs can vary from child to child.
- What matters is not just how long your child sleeps, but also whether they sleep well and feel fit and balanced during the day.
- Regular bedtimes and fixed evening routines can help support a healthy sleep rhythm.
- The table below shows you at a glance how much sleep is recommended for each age group.
Overview: Children’s sleep requirements by age
This children’s sleep table gives you a quick overview of the recommended amount of sleep for each age group:
Age | Recommended sleep duration per 24 hours |
|---|---|
4–12 months | 12–16 hours, including naps |
1–2 years | 11–14 hours, including naps |
3–5 years | 10–13 hours, including naps |
6–12 years | 9–12 hours |
13–18 years | 8–10 hours |
Why is enough sleep so important for children?
Sleep is far more than a period of rest. While your child sleeps, a number of important processes take place in the body that are essential for healthy development:
- Growth and physical development: during deep sleep, the body releases growth hormone (somatropin). Your child quite literally grows while asleep. Enough sleep is therefore especially important during growth phases.
- Brain development and learning: at night, the brain processes the day's impressions and what's been learned. It forms new neural connections and transfers information from short-term to long-term memory. Children who get enough sleep can concentrate better and learn more effectively.
- Immune system: sleep strengthens the body's defences. Children who sleep regularly and enough get ill less often and recover more quickly from infections.
- Emotional regulation: tired children are often more irritable, tearful or aggressive. Good sleep helps your child regulate their emotions and stay more balanced.
Sleep requirements in children: how many hours of sleep does a child need?
The amount of sleep children need changes with age. The following recommendations are based on the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) consensus statement on recommended sleep duration for healthy children and adolescents. However, it’s important to remember that these are general guidelines. Individual sleep needs can vary, and deviations of up to two hours are entirely normal and nothing to worry about.
For infants aged 4–12 months, 12–16 hours of sleep per 24 hours are recommended, including naps. Children aged 1–2 years should get 11–14 hours of sleep, while children aged 3–5 years need 10–13 hours, both including naps. For children aged 6–12 years, the recommended sleep duration is 9–12 hours. Teenagers aged 13–18 years should regularly get 8–10 hours of sleep per 24 hours.
These figures are averages and include any daytime naps. The details for each age group are set out below.
Different age groups
Newborns have the highest sleep requirement. They sleep for up to 17 hours a day, spread across several short sleep periods. A day–night rhythm hasn't developed yet at this age, so your baby sleeps more or less evenly across the day and night.
As babies grow older, their sleep needs gradually decrease. Between the ages of 4 and 12 months, babies typically sleep for 12–16 hours a day. During this stage, your baby slowly begins to develop a day-night rhythm. Nighttime sleep becomes longer, while daytime naps become less frequent. By around 5–6 months, many babies start sleeping for 5–6 hours at a time without waking up.
For children aged 1–2 years, around 11–14 hours of sleep per day are recommended, including naps. At this age, an afternoon nap is still common. When children no longer need daytime naps varies from child to child: some stop napping early, while others continue to nap regularly until preschool age.
For children aged 3–5 years, a total of 10–13 hours of sleep per 24 hours is recommended, including naps if needed. During this developmental stage, sleep patterns change significantly as more and more children stop taking regular daytime naps. However, the age at which children no longer need naps varies considerably from child to child.
Once your child starts school, a consistent sleep schedule becomes particularly important. School-age children between 6 and 12 years should get 9–12 hours of sleep per night. Regular daytime naps are no longer common.
Although teenagers’ busy schedules often leave little room for sleep, they still need 8–10 hours per night to support their development. During puberty, their internal body clock shifts: teenagers naturally feel sleepy later in the evening and tend to need more sleep in the morning. This is one reason behind the ongoing debate about the pros and cons of later school start times. If teenagers still need or start needing daytime naps again, it may be a sign that they are not getting enough sleep at night or that their sleep is not sufficiently restorative.
When should children and toddlers go to bed? The optimal bedtime
The ideal bedtime for children depends on what time they need to get up in the morning. Work backwards from the wake-up time and allow for the recommended amount of sleep – plus around 15 to 30 minutes to fall asleep.
Worked example: if your seven-year-old needs to be up at 7:00 and needs 10.5 hours of sleep, they should be asleep by 20:30 at the latest, meaning bedtime should be around 20:00.
Children's bedtimes: a guideline table
This bedtime table gives you a starting point for orientation (calculated for a 7:00 wake-up time):
Age | Recommended bedtime |
2 years | 18:00–19:00 |
3–4 years | 19:00–19:30 |
5–6 years | 19:30–20:00 |
7–9 years | 20:00–20:30 |
10–13 years | 20:30–21:30 |
14–17 years | 21:30–22:30 |
Please note: these times are guidelines only. If your child needs to wake up earlier or later, bedtimes should shift accordingly.
Individual differences: how to recognise your child's sleep needs
No two children are the same. Some children are naturally 'late sleepers', while others manage well on less sleep. Watch out for your child's individual signals.
Signs of tiredness:
- Yawning, a dreamy look, rubbing their eyes.
- Losing interest in play, or fighting to stay awake – frowning, widening their eyes, becoming restless, clenching their fists.
- Moving more slowly and less steadily than usual.
- Fussing and seeming unhappy, or seeking closeness and wanting cuddles.
Signs of enough sleep:
- Your child wakes up on their own in the morning (without an alarm).
- They're balanced and in good spirits during the day.
- They can concentrate well.
- They fall asleep within 15–30 minutes in the evening.
Signs of too little sleep:
- Your child is hard to wake in the morning.
- They're tired, fussy or irritable during the day.
- They have trouble concentrating.
- They fall asleep instantly in the evening (within a few minutes).
Your child's sleep isn't only shaped by their individual sleep needs, but also by their body clock, which governs when we feel more or less alert. This creates so-called sleep windows over the course of the day, when it's easier to fall asleep. It's important to notice when your child's optimal evening sleep window is, using the signs of tiredness above as a guide. If you miss this window – or your child becomes more active rather than less when tired – the window closes, and it can take up to an hour for tiredness to return.
How to help your child get enough sleep
Good sleep hygiene helps children just as much as adults get the sleep they need – and it's worth starting early.
- Set consistent bedtimes: children benefit from routine. Try to keep bedtimes similar even at weekends, as this helps stabilise the day–night rhythm.
- Introduce a calming evening routine: a regular evening routine and an additional bedtime ritual signal to the body that it's time to sleep. This can include brushing teeth, reading, cuddling or quiet music.
- Create the right sleep environment:
- Room temperature: ideally around 18°C.
- Darkness: the bedroom should be as dark as possible. A gentle night light can help ease any anxiety, if needed.
- Quiet: keep noise to a minimum.
- Fresh air: air the room thoroughly before bedtime.
- The right pillow for children: children's anatomical needs differ from those of adults. An ergonomic children's pillow such as the RECOVERY PILLOW KIDS is designed specifically for a child's smaller build and sensitive cervical spine. It supports a healthy sleeping position and can help your child sleep more restfully and wake up without stiffness.
- Reduce screen time before bed: blue light from phones, tablets and TVs suppresses production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Ideally, children shouldn't use screens for at least an hour before bedtime.
- Encourage movement during the day: children who get enough exercise during the day tend to fall asleep more quickly in the evening. Just make sure intense physical activity doesn't happen right before bedtime.
- Pay attention to a balanced diet: heavy, fatty meals shortly before bed can make it harder to fall asleep. Sugary drinks or snacks aren't helpful either.
If children don't get enough sleep, this can lead to sleep problems further down the line, even from a young age.
Conclusion: helping your child meet their sleep needs
Children's sleep requirements vary by age – from 14 to 14.5 hours for infants, down to eight to ten hours for teenagers. But sleep quality matters just as much as quantity. With the right sleep environment, calming evening rituals and consistent bedtimes, you can help your child get more restful nights. Pay attention to your child's individual signals, and create the conditions for them to fall asleep feeling relaxed and secure.
Good sleep doesn't happen by chance – there's plenty you can do to support it. From the right pillow and duvet to consistent routines and a pleasant sleep environment, small changes can make a big difference. Hopefully, your child will thank you for it with more energy, better concentration and a more balanced mood.
FAQ: children's sleep requirements
Sleep is far more than rest: during deep sleep, the body releases growth hormone, supporting growth and physical development. At night, the brain also processes experiences and things learned during the day, which is important for concentration and memory. Regular, sufficient sleep also strengthens the immune system and supports emotional balance in children.
Sleep requirements vary with age. Infants (4–12 months): around 14–14.5 hours; toddlers (1–2 years): around 13–13.5 hours; preschoolers (3–5 years): around 11.5–12.5 hours; primary school children (6–9 years): around 10–11 hours; school-age children (10–13 years): around 9–11 hours; teenagers (14–17 years): around 8–10 hours.
The ideal bedtime depends on wake-up time. Work backwards from the wake-up time, allowing for the recommended amount of sleep plus around 15–30 minutes to fall asleep. Example: for a child who needs to be up at 7:00 and needs 10.5 hours of sleep, they should be asleep by around 20:30 at the latest.
Signs that your child is getting enough sleep include waking up naturally in the morning, being happy and emotionally balanced throughout the day, concentrating well, and falling asleep within 15–30 minutes at night. Signs of insufficient sleep include difficulty waking up in the morning, daytime sleepiness, trouble concentrating, low mood, or increased irritability.
Key factors include a consistent bedtime, a calming bedtime ritual (such as reading or cuddling), a good sleep environment (quiet, dark, around 18°C, fresh air), reduced screen time before bed, enough exercise during the day, and a balanced diet. Habits like these help children sleep better and more restfully.
More articles on children’s sleep
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