According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is no exact number of minutes or hours of sleep that ensures a person will wake up feeling totally refreshed. This is due to the fact that sleep quality plays an equally important role alongside quantity.
While there is an optimum range of hours required for various sleep stages to complete, requirements vary significantly by age. Children and adolescents generally need more sleep than adults because their bodies and brains are still in development.
Age-based sleep requirements
The CDC suggests that recommended sleep amounts fall within specific ranges based on an individual's age and lifestyle. Current guidelines for various age groups include:
Guidelines for infants and toddlers
Newborns between 0 and 3 months require between 14 and 17 hours of sleep, including daytime naps.
Older infants aged 4 to 12 months need between 12 and 16 hours, which includes naps.
Toddlers between 1 and 2 years old should receive between 11 and 14 hours, including naps.
Sleep needs for children and teens
Preschoolers aged 3 to 5 years require 10 to 13 hours, including naps.
School-age children between 6 and 12 years old need 9 to 12 hours each night.
Teenagers aged 13 to 17 years should get 8 to 10 hours nightly. In Utah, approximately 75% of teenagers are regularly getting less than 8 hours of sleep per night, a trend partly attributed to hormonal delays in circadian rhythms that push sleep needs later by about two hours.
Recommended sleep for adults
Adults between the ages of 18 and 61 require a minimum of 7 hours up to 9 hours nightly. The CDC notes that a need to nap for adults could be an indicator of inadequate sleep quantity or quality, or a medical condition that requires investigation.
Guidelines for older adults
Older adults aged 65 and older should aim for 7 to 8 hours nightly.
This information was originally published by the Southwest Utah Public Health Department.
