Kid Bedtime by Age in 2026: Sleep Needs from Newborn to Teen

Sleep is one of the few parenting variables with strong evidence-based recommendations from a major medical body (the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the AAP). The recommendations are stated in total hours per 24 hour cycle by age range, leaving the actual bedtime as a family math problem of wake-up time minus sleep need. This guide walks through the AASM recommendations by age, the typical sleep patterns that fit them, and the bedtime ranges that work for school-age kids in 2026. It does not address sleep disorders or medical issues; for those, talk to the kid’s doctor.

The AASM sleep recommendations

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine publishes the following total sleep targets per 24 hours, including overnight sleep and any daytime naps:

• Newborn (0 to 3 months): 14 to 17 hours, distributed across many short sleep periods.
• Infant (4 to 11 months): 12 to 16 hours, including 2 to 3 naps.
• Toddler (1 to 2 years): 11 to 14 hours, including 1 nap.
• Preschool (3 to 5 years): 10 to 13 hours, with or without a nap.
• School age (6 to 12 years): 9 to 12 hours, no nap.
• Teen (13 to 18 years): 8 to 10 hours, no nap.

These are ranges, not single numbers. Some kids land at the high end (a “long sleeper” 5 year old needs 12 to 13 hours), some at the low end (10 hours is enough for some 5 year olds). Watch the kid, not the chart.

How to find the right bedtime

The simple math is:

Bedtime = wake-up time minus sleep need minus 20 minutes

The 20 minutes accounts for the typical fall-asleep window after lights out. Some kids fall asleep in 5 minutes; some take 45. Over a few weeks, the average becomes clear.

Example: a 7 year old waking at 6:45 AM for school, needing 10 to 11 hours of sleep. Working backward:

• 10 hours of sleep means asleep by 8:45 PM, so in bed with lights out by 8:25 to 8:30 PM.
• 11 hours of sleep means asleep by 7:45 PM, so in bed by 7:25 to 7:30 PM.

Most families find a workable median around 8:00 to 8:15 PM bedtime for a 7 year old on this wake-up schedule, hitting about 10.5 hours of sleep.

Bedtime ranges by age

These are typical bedtime ranges that hit the AASM recommendations for a kid waking 6:30 to 7:00 AM for school or routine:

• 6 to 9 months: 6:30 to 8:00 PM, with two daytime naps totaling 2 to 3 hours.
• 9 to 18 months: 6:30 to 8:00 PM, transitioning from two naps to one.
• 18 months to 3 years: 7:00 to 8:30 PM, one nap of 1 to 2 hours.
• 3 to 5 years: 7:00 to 8:00 PM, nap optional (0 to 90 minutes).
• 6 to 8 years: 7:30 to 8:30 PM.
• 9 to 11 years: 8:00 to 9:30 PM.
• 12 to 14 years: 9:00 to 10:00 PM.
• 15 to 18 years: 9:30 to 11:00 PM (constrained by school start, often clashes with biological drift).

A kid waking earlier (5:30 to 6:00 AM for an early school bus) needs a bedtime 30 to 60 minutes earlier than the ranges above.

Bedtime routine matters as much as bedtime

A consistent pre-sleep routine signals the body to begin melatonin production. The routine itself matters less than the consistency. A typical routine, age 3 to 10:

1. Dinner ends 1 to 2 hours before bedtime.
2. Bath or wash (calming for most kids, stimulating for some; observe).
3. Pajamas and tooth-brushing.
4. 15 to 30 minutes of reading or quiet activity together.
5. Lights out, brief check-in, parent leaves.

The routine should not exceed 60 minutes total. A 90 minute bedtime routine creates a tired kid who then has to wind down again.

The screen rule

Screen exposure within 60 minutes of bedtime delays melatonin onset by 30 to 90 minutes for most people, more for adolescents. The blue-rich light from phones, tablets, and TVs suppresses the body’s sleep hormone production.

For kids under 12, the simple rule is no screens after dinner. For teens, the more enforceable rule is no screens in the bedroom (charge phones and tablets in the kitchen or hallway overnight). Bedroom screen presence correlates strongly with shorter sleep duration in every age group.

A book, audiobook (the Yoto Player or Toniebox formats are bedtime-friendly), or quiet conversation works as the wind-down replacement.

When naps end

The nap dropping process is gradual:

• Age 1 to 2: two naps consolidate to one.
• Age 2 to 3: the single afternoon nap remains, 1 to 2.5 hours typical.
• Age 3 to 4: the nap shrinks; some kids stop napping daily; the nap shifts toward optional.
• Age 4 to 5: most kids stop napping. A subset (15 to 25 percent) continue napping occasionally through age 5 or 6.

Once a kid stops napping, bedtime usually moves 30 to 60 minutes earlier to absorb the lost afternoon sleep into the overnight period.

Forcing a nap on a kid who has dropped it tends to backfire; the kid lies awake during nap time, then is overtired at bedtime, then sleeps poorly overnight. Quiet time (alone in the room with books or quiet toys for 30 to 60 minutes) is a useful transition for kids age 3 to 5 who no longer nap but still benefit from a midday break.

Teen sleep and school start times

Adolescent sleep is the single hardest age. Puberty shifts the circadian rhythm 1 to 2 hours later, so teens biologically want to fall asleep around 11 PM to midnight and wake around 8 to 9 AM. Most American school systems start between 7:30 and 8:30 AM, which cuts the morning end of the window short by 1 to 2 hours every weekday.

The result is chronic sleep deficit during the school year, partially recovered on weekends with later wake-ups. The AAP and CDC have both endorsed later high school start times (8:30 AM or later) for over a decade; some districts have implemented it. Where school start cannot be moved, the only family-side levers are:

• Consistent bedtime even on weekends (no more than 60 minutes of drift on weekends, otherwise Monday reset is painful).
• No screens in the bedroom overnight.
• No caffeine after 2 PM.
• Bright light exposure in the morning (open the curtains immediately on waking).
• Dark, cool bedroom (65 to 68°F, blackout curtains).

For more on family routines and testing methodology, see our /methodology page.

The honest framing: most American kids are getting 30 to 60 minutes less sleep than the AASM recommends, with teens often 90+ minutes short. The cumulative cost shows up as worse mood, worse focus, worse immune function, and worse academic performance. The single largest factor a family controls is bedtime consistency and the removal of screens from the bedroom. Both are free.

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