How many hours of sleep are enough for good health?
Answer From Eric J. Olson, M.D.
The amount of sleep you need depends on various factors — especially your age. While sleep needs vary significantly among individuals, consider these general guidelines for different age groups:
| Age group | Recommended amount of sleep |
| Infants 4 months to 12 months | 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours, including naps |
| 1 to 2 years | 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours, including naps |
| 3 to 5 years | 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours, including naps |
| 6 to 12 years | 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours |
| 13 to 18 years | 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours |
| Adults | 7 or more hours a night |
In addition to age, other factors can affect how many hours of sleep you need. For example:
- Sleep quality. If your sleep is frequently interrupted, you're not getting quality sleep. The quality of your sleep is just as important as the quantity.
- Previous sleep deprivation. If you're sleep deprived, the amount of sleep you need increases.
- Pregnancy. Changes in hormone levels and physical discomfort can result in poor sleep quality.
- Aging. Older adults need about the same amount of sleep as younger adults. As you get older, however, your sleeping patterns might change. Older adults tend to sleep more lightly, take longer to start sleeping and sleep for shorter time spans than do younger adults. Older adults also tend to wake up multiple times during the night.
For kids, getting the recommended amount of sleep on a regular basis is linked with better health, including improved attention, behavior, learning, memory, the ability to control emotions, quality of life, and mental and physical health.
For adults, getting less than seven hours of sleep a night on a regular basis has been linked with poor health, including weight gain, having a body mass index of 30 or higher, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and depression.
If you're concerned about the amount of sleep you or your child is getting, talk to your doctor or your child's doctor.
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- Sleep and psoriatic arthritis
Feb. 21, 2023
- Brain basics: Understanding sleep. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Understanding-Sleep. Accessed March 31, 2021.
- Paruthi S, et al. Recommended amount of sleep for pediatric populations: A consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2016; doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.5866.
- Landon MB, et al., eds. Maternal physiology. In: Gabbe's Obstetrics: Normal and Problem Pregnancies. 8th ed. Elsevier; 2021. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed March 31, 2021.
- Cirelli C. Insufficient sleep: Definition, epidemiology, and adverse outcomes. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed March 31, 2021.
- Kryger MH, et al., eds. Normal sleep. In: Atlas of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2nd ed. Saunders Elsevier; 2014. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed March 31, 2021.
- Watson NF, 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. 2015; doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.4758.
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FAQs
Most adults need 7 to 9 hours, although some people may need as few as 6 hours or as many as 10 hours of sleep each day. Older adults (ages 65 and older) need 7-8 hours of sleep each day.
Is 6 hour sleep enough? ›
While some people regularly function on short periods of sleep, research mostly agrees that six hours of sleep is not enough for most adults. Experts recommend that most adults need at least seven hours of sleep every night.
Do I need 7 or 8 hours of sleep? ›
Sleep needs vary by person and are affected by several factors. However, for most adults, 7–9 hours per night is the ideal amount. Pay attention to how you feel during the day to determine whether you're getting the right amount for you. If you're sleeping enough, you should feel awake and energized during the day.
Is it OK to get 5 hours of sleep? ›
Experts recommend adults get at least 7 hours of sleep per night for better health. Consistently getting less than 5 hours of sleep can have adverse effects on physical and mental health. Inadequate sleep can impact memory, mood, concentration, immunity, and overall quality of life.
How much sleep do you need by age? ›
How many hours of sleep are enough for good health?
| Age group | Recommended amount of sleep |
|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours, including naps |
| 6 to 12 years | 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours |
| 13 to 18 years | 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours |
| Adults | 7 or more hours a night |
2 more rowsMusk told The Wall Street Journal in 2023 that he usually goes to bed around 3 a.m. and sleeps for six hours. So, he's typically waking up around 9 a.m. each day.
Can you survive on 7 hours of sleep? ›
Yes, seven hours is enough sleep for the majority of adults. In a joint consensus published by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society, experts recommend seven hours as the "magic number" for most healthy adults.
How much sleep is too little? ›
Experts recommend that adults sleep between 7 and 9 hours a night. Adults who sleep less than 7 hours a night may have more health issues than those who sleep 7 or more hours a night.
Is 10 hours of sleep too much? ›
Sleep needs can vary from person to person, but in general, experts recommend that healthy adults get an average of 7 to 9 hours per night of shuteye. If you regularly need more than 8 or 9 hours of sleep per night to feel rested, it might be a sign of an sleep or medical problem, Gamaldo says.
Why am I not tired after 2 hours of sleep? ›
Sleeping for 1 to 2 hours can decrease sleep pressure and make you feel less tired in the morning than you otherwise would by staying up all night. If you don't get enough sleep, you'll likely experience: poor concentration. impaired short-term memory.
“This large study suggests that going to sleep between 10 and 11pm could be the sweet spot for most people to keep their heart healthy long-term.
Why do I feel better with less sleep? ›
You may feel more energized on less sleep due to a surge in cortisol and adrenaline, your brain's reward system firing up, or subjectively adapting to sleep loss. Even if you feel more energized, you're probably performing worse and your health is taking a hit, too.
Can I survive on 3 hours of sleep? ›
The bare minimum of sleep needed to live, not just thrive, is 4 hours per 24-hour period. Seven to 9 hours of sleep are needed for health, renewal, learning, and memory.
Why do females sleep more than males? ›
“Women are also multi-taskers, and they do a lot at once. Because they use more of their actual brain, they may need a little bit more sleep than men. It is still debatable, but some experts say that women need twenty more minutes on average than men usually need.”
What is the most healthy time to wake up? ›
What's considered early will depend on the individual and their sleep cycle — for some it may be 5 a.m. and others, 8 a.m. The idea is that the earlier a person wakes up, the more morning light they're exposed to, which makes it easier for the brain and body to wake up.
What time should I go to bed if I wake up at 6? ›
Sleep calculator
| Wake-up time | Bedtime: 7.5 hours of sleep (5 cycles) | Bedtime: 9 hours of sleep (6 cycles) |
|---|
| 6 a.m. | 10:15 p.m. | 8:45 p.m. |
| 6:15 a.m. | 10:30 p.m. | 9 p.m. |
| 6:30 a.m. | 10:45 p.m. | 9:15 p.m. |
| 6:45 a.m. | 11 p.m. | 9:30 p.m. |
17 more rowsMay 7, 2024
Try to cheat your body out of a full night's sleep and you'll suffer the consequences … unless you happen to carry a rare genetic mutation. According to a new study, some people who function normally on just 6 hours of sleep harbor an altered version of a particular gene, the second gene so far linked to short sleep.
Should I go back to sleep if I wake up after 6 hours? ›
Most experts recommend 7-9 hours of sleep for adults. If you haven't deposited enough time in your sleep bank for the night, Behar suggests heading back to bed—with one exception. If your alarm is set to wake you in 90 minutes or less, stay up, he advises.
Is 6 hours of sleep enough to build muscle? ›
Having a good night's sleep before and after every workout will ensure you reap the benefits of all your effort. Is six hours of sleep enough to build muscle? Not really. If you struggle to achieve a solid seven hours of rest every night regularly, then it's probably time to prioritize your sleep.
How little sleep can you survive on? ›
Researchers do not know exactly how long humans can survive without sleep, but the longest record was 264 hours—just over 10 days—which was achieved during a scientific sleep experiment. Still, you can start to feel the effects of sleep deprivation after not getting enough sleep for just one night.
