Babies and children need different amounts of sleep as they grow. The most useful number is total sleep across a full 24 hours, not just nighttime sleep. From birth through 3 months, the World Health Organization recommends 14 to 17 hours. From 4 months through age 18, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine provides age-based ranges that gradually decrease to 8 to 10 hours for teenagers 1 2.
These are planning ranges for healthy children. They are not exact daily targets, and being inside or outside a range does not diagnose a sleep disorder, medical condition, or behavioral problem.
Recommended sleep by age
This table uses WHO guidance for birth through 3 months and AASM guidance from 4 months onward. The AAP supports the AASM ranges 3.
| Age | Recommended total sleep in 24 hours | Do naps count? |
|---|---|---|
| Birth to 3 months | 14 to 17 hours 1 | Yes |
| 4 to 11 months | 12 to 16 hours 2 | Yes |
| 1 to 2 years | 11 to 14 hours 2 | Yes |
| 3 to 5 years | 10 to 13 hours 2 | Yes |
| 6 to 12 years | 9 to 12 hours 2 | Include any sleep that occurs during the day |
| 13 to 18 years | 8 to 10 hours 2 | Include any sleep that occurs during the day |
The AASM writes its infant category as 4 to 12 months. The table lists 4 to 11 months so a child who has reached the first birthday appears in the 1-to-2-year row rather than in both rows. This formatting does not change the recommended hours.
At an age boundary, there is no need to change a schedule on the child's birthday. Look at the newer age range as the next planning window and make changes according to the child's sleep and daytime functioning.
Why guidance for birth through 3 months needs an explanation
The AASM did not issue a recommendation for infants younger than 4 months. Its consensus panel cited wide normal variation in sleep duration and patterns, along with insufficient evidence connecting particular amounts to health outcomes in this age group 2.
WHO does provide a birth-to-3-month range of 14 to 17 hours, including naps 1. This page uses that range, but does not present it as an AASM recommendation or a precise test of health at this age.
Sleep from birth through 3 months is often divided into many periods across day and night. A total near the edge of the WHO range can mean something different from the same total paired with poor feeding, difficulty waking, breathing trouble, or a sudden loss of alert periods. Do not use the sleep range to decide that a newborn can skip feeds or go longer between them. Follow the feeding and growth plan from the baby's pediatric or feeding team, especially after premature birth or when weight gain is a concern 4.
Count sleep, not just time in bed
The recommendations refer to time actually asleep. Time in a crib or bed is sleep opportunity, but it may also include settling, quiet wakefulness, or longer nighttime awakenings.
For example, a child who is in bed from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., takes 30 minutes to fall asleep, and is awake for another 30 minutes overnight has slept about 10 hours, not 11. This estimate is good enough for household planning. You do not need to measure every brief stirring or produce a minute-perfect total.
For a baby or young child, add all daytime naps to estimated nighttime sleep. For an older child or teen who unexpectedly falls asleep after school, that sleep also counts toward the 24-hour total, although repeated unintended sleep may be a reason to look more closely at nighttime sleep or seek medical advice.
How to apply the range to your child
A range helps you decide whether the schedule allows a realistic sleep opportunity. It does not tell you the exact number your child needs. Children of the same age can sleep different amounts, and one child's total can vary after illness, travel, a missed nap, an unusually active day, or a schedule change.
A short sleep record can make the pattern easier to see:
- Choose several ordinary days that include school or childcare days and, when relevant, a weekend.
- Record the estimated time sleep began, the morning wake time, longer awakenings you noticed, and each nap.
- Add the sleep periods for each 24-hour day.
- Note how easily the child wakes, whether they stay alert during expected activities, and whether there has been a meaningful change in mood, attention, behavior, or unintended sleep.
- Look for a pattern rather than judging one short or long day.
If the total is regularly below the age range and the schedule leaves little chance to sleep, start by allowing more sleep opportunity. Move bedtime earlier in a small, workable step or protect the morning wake time from avoidable late nights. If the child is regularly outside the range despite adequate opportunity, or symptoms concern you, discuss the record with their clinician.
A child who seems well and functions comfortably near one edge of a range does not need to be forced toward its midpoint. A child who is inside the range can still have poor-quality sleep, sleep apnea, insomnia, a circadian problem, medication effects, or another medical issue. Duration is only one part of sleep health.
How naps and schedules change
The recommendations include naps for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, but they do not prescribe a fixed number of naps. As children develop, sleep often shifts from several daytime periods toward more nighttime sleep. The timing and pace of that change vary.
When a nap disappears, recalculate the full 24-hour total before assuming sleep has been lost. Some children compensate with a longer night. Others need an earlier bedtime. During a transition, napping on some days and not others can produce day-to-day variation.
A nap is useful when it fits the child's sleep need and daily life. If a late or long nap repeatedly pushes sleep onset much later, test a modest change in timing or duration and watch the overall 24-hour total. Do not remove a needed nap solely to achieve an earlier-looking bedtime.
Teen schedules deserve the same full-day view. A large school-day versus free-day difference can be a clue that the weekday schedule does not provide enough opportunity.
A concise way to support the target
Start with the schedule rather than adding an elaborate sleep routine.
- Work backward from the required wake time to allow the age-appropriate range plus the child's usual settling time.
- Keep wake time and a short, predictable wind-down reasonably consistent. The AAP also recommends keeping screens out of children's bedrooms at night and turning them off during the final hour before bed 3.
- If a screen is delaying bedtime, keeping the child engaged, or waking them with alerts, move it earlier and charge it outside the sleep space.
- Caffeine can interfere with sleep in children and teenagers, and medical experts advise against energy drinks for them. Check drinks, foods, and medicines for caffeine rather than using it to compensate for sleepiness 5.
- Use daytime light, activity, school demands, and nap timing to build a schedule the family can repeat. There is no universal bedroom temperature, nap count, or countdown rule that guarantees enough sleep.
If these changes do not create adequate sleep opportunity, look for the actual constraint. A late practice, homework load, caregiving schedule, long commute, anxiety, pain, or medication effect needs a different solution from bedtime resistance.
Infant sleep duration does not replace safe-sleep guidance
Every infant sleep period should follow the same safety rules, whether it is a short nap or overnight sleep. The AAP recommends placing infants on their backs on a firm, flat, noninclined surface made for infant sleep, using a fitted sheet, and keeping pillows, blankets, bumper pads, toys, and other soft objects out of the sleep area 6.
The infant should have a separate sleep surface rather than a couch, armchair, adult bed, or inclined product. A longer sleep duration is not safer if the sleep setting is unsafe. If a medical team gives different positioning instructions for a specific condition, use only the setup they prescribe.
When to talk with a clinician
Ask the child's clinician about a persistent pattern outside the age range when it comes with distress, difficulty falling or staying asleep, repeated unintended sleep, or a meaningful change in daytime functioning. The range can flag a question, but it cannot explain why the pattern is happening.
Arrange an assessment for habitual loud snoring, pauses in breathing, gasping, labored breathing during sleep, or unusual daytime sleepiness. The AAP guideline identifies snoring with pauses, snorts, or gasps and daytime neurobehavioral concerns among symptoms that can accompany childhood obstructive sleep apnea 7.
For a newborn, seek prompt medical advice if the baby becomes increasingly sleepy, rarely seems alert, does not wake for feeds, or is too tired or uninterested to feed. A baby who is unresponsive, cannot be awakened, or has breathing difficulty needs emergency help 8. Bring up slower growth, feeding concerns, fewer wet diapers, or an abrupt sleep change with the baby's clinical team rather than adjusting a sleep target alone 4.
Changes in sleep can accompany stress or a mental health problem, but sleep duration cannot establish the cause. Contact a health professional when a lasting change in sleep occurs with marked withdrawal, extreme mood changes, declining daily function, or risky behavior. Talk of wanting to die, a suicide plan, or self-harm requires immediate help from local emergency or crisis services 9.
A sleepy teenager should not drive. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration advises teens to delay driving until they are well rested because drowsiness impairs safe driving and teens are particularly vulnerable 10. Arrange another ride rather than relying on caffeine, loud music, or an open window.
Bottom line
Use the age range to plan enough opportunity for sleep, then look at several ordinary 24-hour periods, including naps. Consider how the child wakes and functions, not just whether one day's total lands inside the table. Seek clinical help when the pattern is persistent, abrupt, or paired with breathing, feeding, growth, daytime sleepiness, mood, or safety concerns.
