How much sleep you need
How much sleep you should be getting is one of the first questions people ask. It’s a range, and where you fall in it depends partly on you.
The ranges
Panels of sleep experts have reviewed the research and agreed on ranges for healthy people. These come from the National Sleep Foundation.
- Adults 18 to 64. 7 to 9 hours. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society put it as 7 or more for most adults.
- Adults 65 and older. 7 to 8 hours.
- Teenagers 14 to 17. 8 to 10 hours.
- Children 6 to 13. 9 to 11 hours.
- Younger children need more, and naps count toward it.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s ranges for children and teens are close to these.
These are ranges for groups. The panels themselves noted that some healthy people sleep a little outside them, and that need varies from person to person. They’re also meant for people without a sleep disorder, which is worth keeping in mind if you have insomnia.
Why people differ
Some of the difference seems to be built in. In lab studies where people were kept short of sleep under the same conditions, some held up well and others struggled a lot, and each person’s response stayed much the same when the study was repeated. Age, health, and how active you are play a part too. Someone getting over an illness may need more for a while, and so may many young adults.
Finding your own amount
Your own need shows up more clearly in how your days go than in a number.
- Do you wake without too much of a struggle, at least on most days?
- Can you get through a quiet afternoon without nodding off?
- On a long vacation, once the first few days of catching up have passed, how much do you settle into?
That last one is often the best guide. With no alarm and a steady schedule, sleep tends to settle toward its natural length.
Insomnia makes this harder to read, because the tiredness that comes with insomnia and the sleepiness that comes from too little sleep can feel alike. Feeling worn out, low, or foggy is common with insomnia. Falling asleep without meaning to, in a meeting or at the wheel or mid-conversation, is different. If that happens to you, “When to see a doctor” explains why it’s worth getting checked.
Quality counts too
Length is one measure. Sleep that comes within a reasonable time, holds together without long wakings, and leaves you feeling restored counts as much as the total. When the National Sleep Foundation brought experts together on sleep quality, they focused on how long sleep takes to come, how often you wake, and how much of the night you spend awake.
This is also why the sleep window begins with less time in bed. Many people find seven hours of solid sleep in seven and a half hours in bed feels better than the same seven hours scattered across nine.
What a normal night looks like
Good sleepers don’t fall asleep the moment they lie down. Taking 20 minutes or so to drift off is typical, and up to half an hour is still normal.
Waking in the night is normal too. Most people wake several times, often so briefly they don’t remember it, and a longer waking now and then is common, more so with age. “Sleep stages and cycles” has more on why. So is the odd bad night, after stress, travel, or illness, or for no clear reason at all.
Expecting every night to be perfect adds pressure, and pressure makes sleep harder to reach.
The eight-hour rule
Eight hours is a round number, not a rule. It sits near the middle of the adult range, and plenty of people do well on seven, or seven and a half. Holding yourself to eight can backfire. If anything less counts as failing, then most nights become a failure, and worry about falling short is one of the things that keeps insomnia going.
Time in bed and time asleep aren’t the same thing, either. Even good sleepers spend some time in bed awake, drifting off and waking up. Eight hours in bed doesn’t add up to eight hours of sleep.
If the eight-hour idea has a hold on you, “Thoughts about sleep” offers another way to look at it.
What this means in CBT-I
The sleep window doesn’t start from a target. It starts from what you’re sleeping now, according to your diary, and grows in small steps as sleep fills the time. It stops growing when you feel rested during the day, or when extra time in bed stops filling with sleep. Where it settles is a fair estimate of your own need, which may be more or less than eight hours.
“Why we sleep,” in Learn, covers what regularly short sleep is linked to over the long run, and why a run of bad nights isn’t the same thing.
References
- Hirshkowitz, M., Whiton, K., Albert, S. M., Alessi, C., Bruni, O., DonCarlos, L., Hazen, N., Herman, J., Katz, E. S., Kheirandish-Gozal, L., Neubauer, D. N., O’Donnell, A. E., Ohayon, M., Peever, J., Rawding, R., Sachdeva, R. C., Setters, B., Vitiello, M. V., Ware, J. C., & Adams Hillard, P. J. (2015). National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations: Methodology and results summary. Sleep Health, 1(1), 40–43. doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2014.12.010
- Watson, N. F., Badr, M. S., Belenky, G., Bliwise, D. L., Buxton, O. M., Buysse, D., Dinges, D. F., Gangwisch, J., Grandner, M. A., Kushida, C., Malhotra, R. K., Martin, J. L., Patel, S. R., Quan, S. F., & Tasali, E. (2015). Recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult: A joint consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society. Sleep, 38(6), 843–844. doi.org/10.5665/sleep.4716
- Paruthi, S., Brooks, L. J., D’Ambrosio, C., Hall, W. A., Kotagal, S., Lloyd, R. M., Malow, B. A., Maski, K., Nichols, C., Quan, S. F., Rosen, C. L., Troester, M. M., & Wise, M. S. (2016). Recommended amount of sleep for pediatric populations: A consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 12(6), 785–786. doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.5866
- Van Dongen, H. P. A., Baynard, M. D., Maislin, G., & Dinges, D. F. (2004). Systematic interindividual differences in neurobehavioral impairment from sleep loss: Evidence of trait-like differential vulnerability. Sleep, 27(3), 423–433. doi.org/10.1093/sleep/27.3.423
- Ohayon, M., Wickwire, E. M., Hirshkowitz, M., Albert, S. M., Avidan, A., Daly, F. J., Dauvilliers, Y., Ferri, R., Fung, C., Gozal, D., Hazen, N., Krystal, A., Lichstein, K., Mallampalli, M., Plazzi, G., Rawding, R., Scheer, F. A., Somers, V., & Vitiello, M. V. (2017). National Sleep Foundation’s sleep quality recommendations: First report. Sleep Health, 3(1), 6–19. doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2016.11.006
- Ohayon, M. M., Carskadon, M. A., Guilleminault, C., & Vitiello, M. V. (2004). Meta-analysis of quantitative sleep parameters from childhood to old age in healthy individuals: Developing normative sleep values across the human lifespan. Sleep, 27(7), 1255–1273. doi.org/10.1093/sleep/27.7.1255
Helpful links
Everyday Insight’s tools are for education and personal reflection. They are not therapy or medical care, and they are not for emergencies. In an emergency, call 911. If you are in crisis in the United States, call or text 988.