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How much sleep does a school-age child need? (6-13 years)

Updated October 3, 2026 · Sources: National Sleep Foundation panel 2015 · AASM 2016/2015 · CDC

Short answer

9–11 h

per 24 hours is recommended for school-age childs aged 6-13 years. AASM: 9–12 hours.

May be appropriate for some7–8 · 12 hNSF panel's wider band
Not recommended< 7 · > 12hours per 24 h

General information from population studies (NIH, CDC, NSF, AASM). It is not medical advice and does not replace a clinician who knows you.

Recommended hours by age — school-age child highlighted
4h6h8h10h12h14h16h18h20hNewborn14–17 hInfant12–15 hToddler11–14 hPreschooler10–13 hSchool-age child9–11 hTeenager8–10 hYoung adult7–9 hAdult7–9 hOlder adult7–8 h

Dark bars: recommended · light bars: may be appropriate · NSF panel (Hirshkowitz 2015) · as of October 3, 2026

Where the numbers come from

The National Sleep Foundation convened an 18-member panel in 2015 that reviewed the published studies on sleep and health outcomes for each age group and voted on three bands: recommended, may be appropriate for some individuals, and not recommended. For school-age childs (6-13 years) the recommended band is 9–11 hours per 24 hours; 7–8 and 12 hours may be appropriate for some, and under 7 or over 12 is not recommended.

A second panel, convened by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in 2016 for children and teenagers, reached 9–12 hours for ages 6-12 years (including naps for the youngest). The two panels disagree by at most an hour at the edges, which is a good sign the ranges are not arbitrary.

The recommended band for school-age childs spans 2 hours, which is a narrow band, reflecting more consistent evidence. Compared with preschoolers (10–13 h), the school-age child range is 1 hour lower at the bottom and 2 at the top. The next group up, teenagers (14-17 years), moves to 8–10 hours.

Both panels side by side

Age groupAgeNSF recommendedNSF may be appropriateAASM
Newborn0-3 months14–17 h11–13, 18–19 h—
Infant4-11 months12–15 h10–11, 16–18 h12–16 h
Toddler1-2 years11–14 h9–10, 15–16 h11–14 h
Preschooler3-5 years10–13 h8–9, 14 h10–13 h
School-age child6-13 years9–11 h7–8, 12 h9–12 h
Teenager14-17 years8–10 h7, 11 h8–10 h
Young adult18-25 years7–9 h6, 10–11 h7+ h
Adult26-64 years7–9 h6, 10 h7+ h
Older adult65 years and over7–8 h5–6, 9 h7+ h

Sources: Hirshkowitz et al. 2015 (Sleep Health); Paruthi et al. 2016 (JCSM); Watson et al. 2015 (Sleep) · as of October 3, 2026

What too little looks like for school-age childs

For school-age childs, both panels note that too little sleep shows up first as behaviour — attention, mood and learning — before anything else. The ranges include daytime naps, which is why the numbers look large next to adult figures, and both panels stress that a child's needs change month to month.

A white pillow on a wooden bed frame
Photo by Deconovo on Unsplash

Related pages

Preschooler (3-5 years)10–13 hTeenager (14-17 years)8–10 h Turn 9–11 hours into a bedtimeby wake-up time How many cycles is 9–11 hours?6–7 cycles

Sources

  1. National Sleep Foundation's sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary — Sleep Health 1(1):40-43, 2015 (Hirshkowitz M. et al.)
  2. Recommended Amount of Sleep for Pediatric Populations: A Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine — J Clin Sleep Med 12(6):785-786, 2016 (Paruthi S. et al.)
  3. Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult (AASM and Sleep Research Society consensus) — Sleep 38(6):843-844, 2015 (Watson N.F. et al.)
  4. How Much Sleep Do I Need? — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

General information from population studies (NIH, CDC, NSF, AASM). It is not medical advice and does not replace a clinician who knows you.