---
title: "How much sleep does a toddler need?"
description: "Toddlers, 1 to 2 years: 11 to 14 hours a day, counting naps. What the consensus statement actually says, and how to work a bedtime back from it."
url: https://atoneplace.net/sleep/how-much/toddlers/
site: "At One Place"
---

# How much sleep does a toddler need?

**Toddlers, 1 to 2 years need: 11 to 14 hours a day, including naps**

A range, from a consensus statement

Counting naps. Most children drop to a single daytime nap somewhere in this band.

## What the recommendation is and is not

The figure comes from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's pediatric consensus statement, which was arrived at by a panel reviewing the published evidence on sleep duration and health outcomes rather than by measuring what children actually sleep. It is a range within which outcomes are good, not a prescription, and a child consistently at either end of it is not doing anything wrong.

## 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

*Using the lower end of the range and allowing 15 minutes to fall asleep.*

| Wake at | Asleep by, for 11 hours | In bed by |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 6:00 am | 7:00 pm | 6:45 pm |
| 6:30 am | 7:30 pm | 7:15 pm |
| 7:00 am | 8:00 pm | 7:45 pm |
| 7:30 am | 8:30 pm | 8:15 pm |
| 8:00 am | 9:00 pm | 8:45 pm |

## Common questions

### How much sleep does a toddler need?

11 to 14 hours per day, counting naps. Counting naps. Most children drop to a single daytime nap somewhere in this band.

### Where does that figure come from?

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine pediatric consensus statement, published in 2016 after a panel review of the evidence linking sleep duration to health outcomes.

## Related pages

- [How much sleep does a baby need?](https://atoneplace.net/sleep/how-much/babies/)
- [How much sleep does a preschooler need?](https://atoneplace.net/sleep/how-much/preschoolers/)
- [How much sleep does a child of primary-school age need?](https://atoneplace.net/sleep/how-much/children/)
- [How much sleep does a teenager need?](https://atoneplace.net/sleep/how-much/teenagers/)
- [How much sleep does an adult need?](https://atoneplace.net/sleep/how-much/adults/)
- [What a sleep cycle actually is](https://atoneplace.net/sleep/cycles/)

## Sources

- Recommended Amount of Sleep for Pediatric Populations: A Consensus Statement — Paruthi et al., Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 12(6), 2016 (https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.5866)