How much sleep does an adult need?
Adults, 18 and over need
7 or more hours a night
A floor, not a target — the statement gives no upper figure
The consensus statement gives a floor, not a range: seven or more hours on a regular basis. It does not endorse eight as a target, and it declines to state an upper bound, because regularly sleeping more than nine hours is associated with poor health outcomes without the direction of causation being established.
What the recommendation is and is not
The adult consensus statement says seven or more hours on a regular basis. It deliberately does not name an upper bound and it does not endorse eight hours as a target, because the evidence for a specific optimum inside the healthy range is weak. Sleeping under seven regularly is where the association with poor outcomes becomes consistent.
Every age band
| Age | Per day | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Babies, 4 to 12 months | 12 to 16 hours | Including daytime naps |
| Toddlers, 1 to 2 years | 11 to 14 hours | Including daytime naps |
| Preschoolers, 3 to 5 years | 10 to 13 hours | Including daytime naps |
| Children, 6 to 12 years | 9 to 12 hours | Night sleep |
| Teenagers, 13 to 18 years | 8 to 10 hours | Night sleep |
| Adults, 18 and over | 7 or more hours | Night sleep |
Working out a bedtime from it
| Wake at | Asleep by, for 7 hours | In bed by |
|---|---|---|
| 6:00 am | 11:00 pm | 10:45 pm |
| 6:30 am | 11:30 pm | 11:15 pm |
| 7:00 am | 12:00 am | 11:45 pm |
| 7:30 am | 12:30 am | 12:15 am |
| 8:00 am | 1:00 am | 12:45 am |
Common questions
- How much sleep does an adult need?
- 7 or more hours per day. The consensus statement gives a floor, not a range: seven or more hours on a regular basis. It does not endorse eight as a target, and it declines to state an upper bound, because regularly sleeping more than nine hours is associated with poor health outcomes without the direction of causation being established.
- Where does that figure come from?
- The joint consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society, published in 2015.
Related pages
- How much sleep does a baby need? 12 to 16 hours
- How much sleep does a toddler need? 11 to 14 hours
- How much sleep does a preschooler need? 10 to 13 hours
- How much sleep does a child of primary-school age need? 9 to 12 hours
- How much sleep does a teenager need? 8 to 10 hours
- What a sleep cycle actually is Stages, lengths and the 90-minute average
Sources
- Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult: A Joint Consensus Statement — Watson et al., Sleep 38(6) / Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2015