The amount of sleep a person needs depends on a few factors; age, activity level and individual differences.
Age:
Newborns need about 18 hours of sleep per day, but by the time they are 12 months old, that number can decrease by up to 4 hours. Five-year olds need between 11 and 14 hours of sleep, while adolescents still require 9 to 10 hours, despite what they might tell you.
Adults, including older adults, need between 7 and 8 hours, while pregnant women need at least 8 hours of sleep.
Here’s an easy guide:
- Newborns need up to 18 hours
- 1month to 12 months old need 14-18 hours
- 1 to 3 year olds need 12 to 15 hours
- 3 to 5 year olds need 11 to 13 hours
- 5 to 12 year olds need 9 to 11 hours
- Teenagers need 9 to 10 hours
- Adults, including older adults need 7 to 9 hours
- Pregnant women need at least 8 hours
Activity Level:
The second factor that determines how much sleep a person needs is their activity level. People who are learning new tasks, going through a stressful time or doing heavy physical tasks need more sleep.
Individual Differences:
Finally, there are individual differences in how much sleep a person requires. Some people need less than 8 hours a night and others need up to 10 hours. If you are getting less than 6 hours, or more than 10 hours, you may not be getting the sleep you need.
Most people need more sleep than they get. Sleep researchers have found that if young healthy adults are given the opportunity to lie down in a darkened room, 20% of them could fall asleep almost instantaneously. That’s about the same pattern as people with serious sleep disorders like narcolepsy.
These researchers then followed up with the people from the first experiment who seemed alert and didn’t fall asleep in a darkened room, asking them to spend a week getting between 60 and 90 minutes more sleep. They found that with more sleep, those people did better on psychological and intellectual tests. The researchers believe this demonstrates that even people who seem to be getting a reasonable amount of sleep are actually sleep-deprived. 3.
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