How much sleep children need

Recommended sleep by age

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) published a consensus statement in 2016 giving recommended sleep for each 24 hours. For infants aged 4 to 12 months it is 12 to 16 hours, for ages 1 to 2 years 11 to 14 hours, and for ages 3 to 5 years 10 to 13 hours, with naps included for these three groups. For ages 6 to 12 years it is 9 to 12 hours, and for teenagers aged 13 to 18 years 8 to 10 hours. The statement gives no figure for babies under four months, because normal sleep varies widely at that age.^[1]

WHO guidelines for children under five, published in 2019, cover younger babies as well: 14 to 17 hours for ages 0 to 3 months and 12 to 16 hours for 4 to 11 months, including naps. For ages one to two it gives 11 to 14 hours, and for ages three to four 10 to 13 hours, which for this group may include a nap. Both bodies ask for good-quality sleep, and WHO adds regular sleep and wake-up times.^[2]

The CDC publishes a table for similar age bands: 14 to 17 hours for newborns aged 0 to 3 months, 12 to 16 for infants, 11 to 14 for toddlers, 10 to 13 for preschoolers aged 3 to 5, 9 to 12 for school-age children and 8 to 10 for teenagers aged 13 to 17. Because these figures match those of the AASM and WHO across most age bands, they can be treated as a shared reference range, with the CDC page restating them and not adding separate evidence.^[3][1][2]

Ranges, not targets

The AASM statement says that regularly sleeping fewer hours than recommended is associated with problems of attention, behaviour and learning, and that regularly sleeping less or more than the recommended range is linked to health concerns. It also says that parents who are worried about their child's sleep should consult a healthcare provider. The figures are ranges for groups of children, and the statement leaves questions about an individual child to a clinician.^[1]

Totals are counted over 24 hours, so naps matter for younger children. The AASM and WHO both count naps towards the totals for toddlers, and WHO says the three-to-four-year total may include a nap. That means a child who naps in the afternoon will get less than the full daily total at night. How much less varies from child to child, and the guidance reviewed here does not provide a standard split between day and night.^[1][2]

Fitting a story around the hours

A simple calculation shows how the totals translate into bedtimes. Take a child aged three to five, for whom the AASM and CDC give 10 to 13 hours including naps, who wakes at 6.30 am. Counting back, 10 hours ends at 8.30 pm and 13 hours at 5.30 pm, so the range spans three hours. If the child also has a daytime nap, the night-time portion is shorter and the bedtime later. This is an illustration and not a recommendation. It also assumes sleep begins as soon as the child is in bed, whereas Mindell and colleagues found that children with consistent routines tended to fall asleep faster.^[1][3][4]

Because most routines combine several steps, a story is best seen as one step within a wind-down period. The sources reviewed do not set a story length. WHO guidance encourages reading and storytelling as a good use of sedentary time and recommends regular sleep and wake-up times for children aged one to four. HealthyChildren.org advises starting a routine early and turning screens off at least an hour before bed, so a spoken or printed story is one way to occupy that period without a screen.^[2][5]

Local guidance, limits and a note on medical advice

Families in the UAE can look at national guidance as well as international sources. Gulf News reports that the Ministry of Education's Healthy Back-to-School Guide 2026-2027, prepared by Emirates Health Services, calls for sleep of eight to 13 hours depending on age, and for less screen use in the 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime. That span broadly matches the international ranges above, from 8 hours for older teenagers to 13 hours for preschool children. The guide itself was not available to check, only this report of it, so details such as exact age bands are unconfirmed.^[6][1]

No Gulf-specific measurement of how long young children actually sleep was found among the sources reviewed for this section. The figures above come from international and US bodies and are not specific to the Gulf, so they describe typical needs and not a guarantee for any one child. Readers who want local figures for young children would need national or emirate-level health survey data, which this review did not locate.^[1][2][3]

This page is general information and not medical advice. It summarises what named organisations recommend and cannot assess an individual child. Sleep needs vary, and the AASM statement advises parents who are worried about their child's sleep to consult a healthcare provider. Anyone with a concern about a child's sleep, health or development should speak to a doctor or paediatrician.^[1]