Age changes sleep needs

How much sleep does a child require?

According to consumer information provided by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, there is no "magic number" for optimal sleep that applies to everyone. The need for sleep changes with age; and even within a single age group, enough sleep for one individual could be too little for another.

But these are the general recommendations:

• Newborns: 16 to 18 hours a day

• Preschool-age children: 11 to 12 hours a day

• School-age children: at least 10 hours a day

• Teens: 9 to 10 hours a day

• Adults (including the elderly): seven to eight hours a day

Family on 07/09/2014

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