How Much Sleep Is Enough For Your Kid
Without enough sleep, not only would our performance at work or school be hurt, we also look tired and feel depressed, irritable, and angry. How much sleep is enough?
It’s different from person to person by age. National Sleep Foundation provides a breakdown of the recommended number of hours of sleep people need by age (*including naps):
INFANTS
(0 to 2 months)…………..……10-1/2 to 18 hours*
(2-12 months)…………………..14 to 15 hours*
TODDLERS/CHILDREN
(12-18 months)…………………13 to 15 hours*
(18 months-3 years)…………12 to 14 hours*
(3-5 years) ……………………….11 to 13 hours*
(5-12 years) ……………………..9 to 11 hours
ADOLESCENTS…………………8-1/2 to 9-1/2 hours
ADULTS……………………………..7 to 9 hours
March 8th, 2006 at 5:59 pm
[…] March Time4momRachel03:59 pmAdd comment Codi is 18 months old. Every now and then, he does a “tumbler”, my definition of going to sleep at his regular time and rolling around “awake” for the whole sleep time. It gets me thinking should I move his sleep 30mins later to 1:30pm? I think I will test it. I also think about shortening the sleep from two hours to one and a half. I found this great guide to sleep. Currently, Codi is sleeping thirteen and a half hours at night and two during the day. So fifteen and a half hours in total. Parentingideas.org guide shows at 18 months, it changes to 14 hours a day. So we’ll see how it goes. […]
February 4th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
my kids only sleep 8 hrs a day, any suggestions for that.
February 16th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
My baby is generally more comfortable with his dad. I mean if he is around then baby will sleep fast and comfortably. I don’t the exact reason but anyway I’m happy.
March 23rd, 2008 at 5:42 pm
i am 40 years old . how much hours i should sleep.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
My son is 3 and a half i am so worried abt him,he sleeps only for 9 hours in 24 hours .he will go to bed at 12.00pm in the night and awake up by 6 in the morning,will not take sleep in the afternoon,is this is a normal behaviour?
May 31st, 2008 at 1:36 am
I see where the recommended amount of sleep for an adolescent is 7-9 hours. I have a 15 year old who gets about 5-6 of sleep each night. He does not take naps or get sleepy during the day. He stays alert for the most part. Should I be worried?
August 26th, 2008 at 3:19 am
i am 13 going on 14. my dad says that i need a whole 12 ours of sleep. i am going into 8th grade and i have had the same bed time since i was 3 years old. 8 o’clock. am i just crazzy or should i at least be able to go to bed at 9 o’clock? i dont get tired during the day when i go to bed and get up at 4 o’clock, soooo why do i have to go to bed at 8? how many hours should i get?
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I am 14, in 9th grade. It says that a teen needs 7-9 hours of sleep, but I can safely say that I know almost nobody who actually gets it. The way most public school systems work, for us to get 9 hours of sleep we would have to go to bed at 9:00. Now for some this may seem reasonable, but for anyone involved with ANY sport, choirs, theater, bands, clubs, etc. this is NOT possible. Sport events and games often start at 8, and rehearsals for shows run until late as well. Now, if the doctors are saying that the 6 hours of sleep most teens get is not enough, why aren’t the schools doing anything about it? It is rediculous! If schools and parents are encouraging us to do extra-curricular activities, as well as our homework, then they should not be nagging us to go to bed early because it is simply not possible. Also, it is proven that teens do BETTER going to bed late and sleeping late, vs. going to bed early and getting up early, based on the way our brains work. Also, my friends/fellow students seem to do just fine getting 6 hours of sleep, so why should we be nagged about not getting enough? It doesn’t make sense to me.
September 11th, 2008 at 7:23 am
That’s good information about the sleep, another good tip is nutrition and study habits before sleep. foods high in proteins and vitamin B feed the brain, because the brain just goobles up the nutirent very fast.
Also this article explains why my brother, who his wife says he has a brain of a 5 year old sleeps so much…
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:58 pm
I’m 13 and get 6-8 hours of sleep.
I wake up in the middle of the night a lot, and when my alarm goes off, I’m already getting dressed.
I am SLIGHTLY sleepy through the day, but thats good for me.
I’m REALLY active, no sports, just good old hyper-ness and tag. I am perfectly healthy I believe, and I believe that chart is wrong. 6-8 hours is fine.
May 1st, 2009 at 2:26 am
I am 10 years old and i can get no sleep! Im really tired in the morning and wont get up. I have baths 2 make me more tired but it dont work. i play on my nintendo at night but it dont work. I close my eyes and try not 2 open them but it dont work.
i got 2 bed at 9.30-8am but im reli tired..
September 4th, 2009 at 12:42 am
I go to sleep at 1 or 2 and get up at 7, that fine for me and im not tired during the school days and im 13
September 25th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
For those of you who mentioned not being able to fall asleep: Notice what you are drinking after school in the afternoon. If you drink Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper, Pepsi or any variety of these, you are getting about 39+ grams of caffeine per can. Tea has more than that. Don’t even mention Monsters or Red Bulls after breakfast time, if falling asleep is a issue for you. A 32 ounce cup of soda or tea at the drive-through, well you’re getting the same thing as coffee. Caffeine takes around 8 hours to fully metabolize, so do the math about your bedtime. Many people then drink two or more glasses of tea or cans of soda, so imagine how much has built up in your system by bedtime…try drinking clear drinks like water, Sprite, de-caf tea, etc… Chocolate has caffeine as well; Barq’s Root Beer, and Sunkist Orange drink do to. Read your labels!
November 30th, 2009 at 3:15 am
I’m 13 and think that the chart is definitely inaccurate. With my schedule, it would be literally impossible to get 7 - 9 hours sleep. I’ve been coping with 6 - 7 for the past 2 years and its worked fine for me. 6 - 7 hours is perfectly fine.
January 6th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
I’m 13 and for me to get the required amount of sleep, I would most likely have to go to bed at 8 o’clock, which is when I get home most nights. By then my homework usually isn’t finished yet because I don’t have the time. I don’t drink soda. I can’t have chocolate or anything with caffiene in it after 6 PM.