---
title: "How much sleep do I need: hours by age, and what changes in the Gulf"
description: "How much sleep do I need? Adults need 7 or more hours, teens 8 to 10, children 9 to 12. See every age, and how heat, late nights and Ramadan change it."
canonical: https://www.sisly.ai/en/blog/how-much-sleep-do-you-need/
published: 2026-09-30
updated: 2026-09-30
language: en
---

# How much sleep do I need: hours by age, and what changes in the Gulf

How much sleep do I need? For most adults, 7 or more hours, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine; the NHS gives 7 to 9 hours. Teenagers need 8 to 10 hours, school-age children 9 to 12, and babies 12 to 16 including naps. Heat, late evenings and Ramadan can shorten Gulf nights without you noticing.

- Adults aged 18 to 60 need 7 or more hours of sleep a night on a regular basis, according to the AASM and the Sleep Research Society (2015).
- Children need more: 9 to 12 hours at 6 to 12 years and 8 to 10 hours as teenagers, according to the AASM (2016).
- Six-hour nights for two weeks produced deficits equal to up to 2 nights without sleep in a 2003 study, and people were largely unaware of them.
- Sleep fell from 7.2 to 6.4 hours a night during Ramadan in a 2020 meta-analysis.
- Hours are only part of it: heat, broken sleep and irregular times change how restful those hours are.
## How much sleep do I need as an adult?

Most adults need 7 or more hours of sleep a night, on a regular basis. That is the joint recommendation of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Research Society, published in 2015 after a panel of 15 experts reviewed 5,314 studies. It covers adults aged 18 to 60.

Other health bodies give a range rather than a floor. The NHS says adults need 7 to 9 hours on average. The US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) says experts recommend 7 to 9 hours a night.

The number is a starting point, not a target. The AASM panel noted that how much sleep a person needs varies with genes, behaviour, health and surroundings. Two people in the same office in Dubai can need different amounts and both be well rested.

## How much sleep do you need at every age?

Sleep need is highest at birth and falls through childhood. The table below brings together the recommendations published by the AASM, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which draws on both the AASM and the US National Sleep Foundation.

| Age | Hours per 24 hours | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Newborns, 0 to 3 months | 14 to 17, including naps | WHO 2019, CDC |
| Babies, 4 to 12 months | 12 to 16, including naps | AASM 2016, WHO 2019 |
| Toddlers, 1 to 2 years | 11 to 14, including naps | AASM 2016, WHO 2019 |
| Preschool, 3 to 5 years | 10 to 13, including naps | AASM 2016, WHO 2019 (to age 4) |
| School age, 6 to 12 years | 9 to 12 | AASM 2016 |
| Teenagers, 13 to 18 years | 8 to 10 | AASM 2016 |
| Adults, 18 to 60 years | 7 or more | AASM and SRS 2015 |
| Adults, 61 to 64 years | 7 to 9 | CDC |
| Adults, 65 and over | 7 to 8 | CDC |

### Babies and young children

The AASM does not give a figure for babies under 4 months, because sleep in the first weeks varies so widely. The WHO's 2019 guidelines for children under five suggest 14 to 17 hours at 0 to 3 months, then 12 to 16 hours at 4 to 11 months, counting naps. From one year, the WHO adds regular sleep and wake-up times to the hours.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health notes that naps help children get enough rest, which makes them calmer at night. The NHLBI says sleep experts consider naps appropriate for children under 7.

### School-age children and teenagers

Children aged 6 to 12 need 9 to 12 hours, and teenagers 8 to 10, according to the AASM's 2016 consensus. The same statement links regularly sleeping less than this with problems with behaviour and learning, and with more accidents and injuries.

Teenagers are pulled in two directions. The NHLBI notes that teens may naturally have a later bedtime than adults, while school starts early. In the Gulf, where family evenings run late and the school run starts early, that gap can be wide.

### Older adults

The CDC gives 7 to 9 hours for adults aged 61 to 64 and 7 to 8 hours from 65. Sleep also changes shape with age. The NHLBI says slow-wave sleep, the deepest stage, falls through adulthood, and older adults usually go to sleep and wake up earlier.

## Is 6 hours of sleep enough?

For most adults, regularly sleeping 6 hours is less than the recommended amount. The AASM and Sleep Research Society statement says that sleeping less than 7 hours a night on a regular basis is associated with weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke, depression and earlier death. It is also associated with weaker immune function, more pain, slower performance, more errors and more accidents.

Short nights also add up in ways people do not feel. In a 2003 study in the journal Sleep, Van Dongen and colleagues limited adults to 4 or 6 hours in bed for 14 nights in a row. Those on 6 hours or less built up thinking and reaction-time deficits equivalent to up to 2 nights without any sleep. Their own sleepiness ratings suggested they were largely unaware of how far their performance had fallen.

That is why a week of 6-hour nights can feel normal. It is also why a pattern over weeks says more about your sleep than how you feel on a single morning.

## Can you sleep too much?

Sometimes more sleep is simply what the body needs. The AASM and Sleep Research Society say that sleeping more than 9 hours a night on a regular basis may be appropriate for young adults, for people recovering from sleep debt and for people who are ill. For everyone else, the panel said it is uncertain whether sleeping more than 9 hours is linked with health problems.

For children, the AASM's 2016 statement says regularly sleeping more than the recommended hours may be associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and mental health problems.

Long sleep that keeps growing, or a need for 10 or more hours that leaves you tired anyway, is worth raising with a doctor. Both the adult and child statements say people concerned they are sleeping too little or too much should speak to a healthcare provider.

## Does sleep quality matter as much as hours?

Yes. The AASM statements describe healthy sleep as more than duration: the right amount, at the right time, of adequate quality, at regular times, and without sleep disorders. Seven broken hours are not the same as seven unbroken ones.

A night moves through repeating cycles. The NHLBI describes each cycle as lasting 80 to 100 minutes, with four to six cycles a night. Each cycle passes through:

- **Stage 1**, the light transition between being awake and asleep;
- **Stage 2**, when you are asleep and the body settles;
- **Stage 3**, deep or slow-wave sleep, when the body carries out much of its repair;
- **REM sleep**, rapid eye movement sleep, when the brain is active and most dreaming happens.

The NHLBI notes that you usually spend more time in deep sleep early in the night and have more REM sleep later in the night. A night cut short by an early alarm loses mostly the later part.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health notes that during deep sleep the body increases blood flow to the muscles, repairs muscles and tissues, supports growth and releases important hormones.

## Can you catch up on sleep at the weekend?

Partly, but not fully. A 2019 study in Current Biology by Depner and colleagues followed 36 healthy young adults for 9 nights. One group had short nights across a five-day working week, then slept as long as they liked over a two-day weekend, then went back to short nights. Their bodies became less responsive to insulin during the short nights, and the weekend did not prevent it. The authors concluded that weekend recovery sleep is not an effective strategy to prevent the metabolic changes linked with repeated short sleep.

Weekend lie-ins also shift the body clock. Sleeping until noon on Saturday makes it harder to fall asleep on Sunday night, the start of the working week in Saudi Arabia, or on Monday in the UAE. The NHS suggests getting up at the same time each morning, even after a short night.

The more useful question is how many nights in a typical week fall short, and why.

## How do heat and late evenings in the Gulf change your sleep?

### Heat

The body needs to shed a little heat to fall asleep and stay asleep. A 2012 review by Okamoto-Mizuno and Mizuno in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology found that, with bedding and clothing as people really sleep, heat exposure increases wakefulness and reduces both slow-wave and REM sleep. Humid heat adds further load. The NHS lists a room that is too hot or cold among the common causes of insomnia.

That matters in a Gulf summer, when nights in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Riyadh may never cool down outdoors. The hours you spend in bed can stay the same while the sleep inside them gets lighter. Our guides on [how to fall asleep faster in a hot city](https://www.sisly.ai/en/blog/fall-asleep-faster-hot-city/) and [sleeping through a Gulf summer](https://www.sisly.ai/en/blog/sleeping-through-a-gulf-summer/) cover the bedroom, the air conditioning and the evening in detail. For what the heat does to the body during the day, read [what 46°C does to you](https://www.sisly.ai/en/blog/what-46-degrees-does-to-you/).

### Late evenings

Life in the Gulf moves late for much of the year. Evenings are the coolest part of the day, dinners start late, malls and cafés stay open, and families gather after dark. The alarm, the school run and the working day usually do not move to match.

That gap is where most short nights come from. If bedtime is midnight and the alarm is at 6, the night is 6 hours before any waking. Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health suggests keeping the same sleep and wake times, avoiding caffeine in the afternoon and evening, and skipping heavy meals before bed. The CDC suggests turning screens off 30 minutes before bed.

## How does Ramadan change how much you sleep?

Ramadan reshapes the night more than any other time of year. A 2020 meta-analysis by Faris and colleagues in Sleep and Breathing found that total sleep fell from 7.2 hours a night before Ramadan to 6.4 hours during the month, a drop of about an hour, and daytime sleepiness rose.

The night often splits in two: one block after taraweeh and before suhoor, and another after fajr. The Dubai Health Authority's Ramadan Health Guide 2026 suggests keeping sleep and wake times as consistent as possible, a main sleep period of 4 to 5 hours after suhoor to make up some of the lost night, and a nap of 20 to 45 minutes after dhuhr or before asr. It also suggests a dark, quiet room at a moderate temperature and putting screens away 30 to 60 minutes before sleep.

The total across the 24 hours matters more than one unbroken block during the month. Our guide to [how Ramadan changes your sleep](https://www.sisly.ai/en/blog/how-ramadan-changes-your-sleep/) walks through a sample schedule, and employers can read about [running a wellbeing programme through Ramadan](https://www.sisly.ai/en/blog/wellbeing-programme-through-ramadan/).

## How much sleep do shift workers need?

The same amount as everyone else. The recommendation of 7 or more hours for adults does not change with the hour you sleep. What changes is how hard it is to get.

The body clock, or circadian rhythm, is the roughly 24-hour cycle that makes you alert by day and sleepy at night. Working nights runs against it. The NHLBI says people who work during the night are more likely to develop shift work disorder, a circadian rhythm disorder. The NHS lists shift work among the common causes of insomnia.

Nurses, airline crews, security staff, drivers and many hospitality workers across the UAE and Saudi Arabia work these hours. The NHLBI suggests steps that may help:

1. Take a short nap before a night shift to help prevent sleepiness at work.
2. Keep a sleep schedule on days off that overlaps with your sleep time on workdays.
3. Avoid switching between day and night shifts several times, where you have a choice.

A dark, quiet, cool bedroom matters even more when you sleep through the brightest and hottest part of the day. Employers can help too; [looking after your team through a Gulf summer](https://www.sisly.ai/en/blog/wellbeing-at-work-gulf-summer/) covers working hours and rest.

## How can you tell if you are getting enough sleep?

The simplest sign is how the day feels. The NHS says you probably do not get enough sleep if you are constantly tired during the day. Other patterns worth noticing in your own week:

- You fall asleep within minutes of lying down, every night.
- You rely on caffeine to get through the afternoon.
- You sleep far longer on days off than on work days.
- You feel drowsy when driving or in meetings.

A week of notes helps more than a single night. Write down when you went to bed, when you woke, and how you felt at mid-morning. The pattern across the week shows whether a short night is the exception or the routine.

Your body's own signals are worth reading against your own normal, not someone else's. Heart rate variability, or HRV, the small change in time between one heartbeat and the next, tends to move with sleep, stress and illness. Our guide to [why your HRV trend says more than one night](https://www.sisly.ai/en/blog/listen-to-your-resting-heart/) explains how to read it, and [finding the quiet hours](https://www.sisly.ai/en/blog/find-the-quiet-hours/) looks at stress through the week.

## What helps you get the sleep you need?

These steps come from the CDC, the NHS, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health and the Dubai Health Authority. They are options to consider, not rules.

1. Keep the same wake-up time every day, weekends included.
2. Count back from the alarm to find a bedtime that allows 7 or more hours.
3. Keep the bedroom quiet, dark and cool.
4. Stop coffee, karak and other caffeine by the afternoon.
5. Eat the last large meal well before bed.
6. Put screens away 30 to 60 minutes before sleep.
7. Get up if sleep has not come after about 20 minutes, and do something calm until you feel sleepy.
8. Keep naps short and before 3 pm, as the Saudi Ministry of Health suggests.

### Common mistakes

- **Counting time in bed as sleep.** Eight hours in bed with an hour awake is seven hours of sleep.
- **Moving the alarm, not the bedtime.** A later start rarely lasts; an earlier night usually does.
- **Relying on the weekend.** Lie-ins shift the body clock and do not undo the week.
- **Judging from one night.** One short night says little; a pattern over a week or two says much more.

## When should you see a doctor about sleep?

The NHS suggests seeing a doctor if:

- changing your sleep habits has not helped;
- you have had trouble sleeping for months;
- it is affecting your daily life in a way that makes it hard to cope.

Loud snoring with pauses in breathing, falling asleep while driving, and tiredness that does not lift after a full night are also worth raising. The AASM statements say that anyone concerned about sleeping too little or too much, or a parent concerned about a child, should speak to a healthcare provider.

## Glossary

| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Sleep duration | The total time actually asleep in 24 hours, naps included |
| Sleep quality | How unbroken and restful the sleep is, not only how long |
| Sleep cycle | One pass through light, deep and REM sleep, 80 to 100 minutes long |
| Slow-wave sleep | Deep sleep, stage 3, most common early in the night |
| REM sleep | Rapid eye movement sleep, when most dreaming happens |
| Circadian rhythm | The body's roughly 24-hour clock that times sleep and waking |
| Sleep debt | The shortfall that builds when you sleep less than you need |
| Shift work disorder | A circadian rhythm disorder linked with working at night |
| HRV | Heart rate variability, the change in time between heartbeats |

## Where Sisly fits

Sisly is a titanium ring or band that reads sleep, energy, stress, heart rate variability, activity and skin temperature against your own normal, so you can see how your nights change through the week, the summer and Ramadan. It is AED 999, paid once, with no subscription, about 7 days between charges, and your readings are hosted in the UAE. The app is in Arabic and English, and Sisly is available to pre-book.



## FAQ

**Is 7 hours of sleep enough?**

For most adults, yes. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society recommend 7 or more hours a night on a regular basis for adults aged 18 to 60, and the NHS gives 7 to 9 hours. Some people need more. If you sleep 7 hours and still feel constantly tired during the day, the NHS suggests you are probably not getting enough sleep.

**Why am I still tired after 8 hours in bed?**

Time in bed is not the same as time asleep. An hour awake in the night, a hot room that keeps sleep light, or a bedtime that moves by hours through the week can all leave you tired. A 2012 review found that heat increases wakefulness and reduces deep and REM sleep. Tiredness that does not lift after full nights is worth raising with a doctor.

**How much sleep does a teenager need?**

Teenagers aged 13 to 18 need 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's 2016 consensus. The US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute notes that teenagers may naturally have a later bedtime than adults. With early school starts and late family evenings in the Gulf, many teenagers sleep less than this on school nights.

**Do naps count towards how much sleep I need?**

For young children, yes: the AASM and WHO figures for babies, toddlers and preschool children include naps. For adults, naps add to the 24-hour total, and the Dubai Health Authority suggests a 20 to 45 minute nap during Ramadan to make up for shorter nights. Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health suggests avoiding naps after 3 pm, so they do not push bedtime later.

**Can I catch up on lost sleep at the weekend?**

Only partly. In a 2019 study in Current Biology, young adults who slept short during the week and then as long as they liked at the weekend still became less responsive to insulin when the short nights returned. The authors concluded that weekend recovery sleep did not prevent the metabolic changes. Lie-ins also shift the body clock, which makes the first work night harder.

**How much sleep do people get during Ramadan?**

Less than the rest of the year, on average. A 2020 meta-analysis by Faris and colleagues found that total sleep fell from 7.2 hours a night before Ramadan to 6.4 hours during the month. The Dubai Health Authority suggests consistent sleep and wake times, a main sleep of 4 to 5 hours after suhoor and a short afternoon nap to make up part of the difference.

**Do older people need less sleep?**

A little less, according to the ranges the CDC publishes: 7 to 9 hours for adults aged 61 to 64 and 7 to 8 hours from 65. Sleep also changes shape. The US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says deep sleep decreases through adulthood, and that older adults usually go to sleep and wake up earlier than younger adults.