How much sleep do adults need, by age?

"Seven to nine hours" is the sleep number everyone has heard. It's a good rule of thumb, but it isn't the whole story. The amount of sleep you need shifts through childhood and the teenage years, settles in early adulthood and changes a little again later in life.

Here's what the Australian guidelines say for each age, why consistent bedtimes matter as much as the hours, and how the Thrive Health Band and app can show you your own sleep, night by night and month by month.

How much sleep you need at each age

The Australian Government's 24-hour movement guidelines include sleep alongside activity and sitting time. For each night, they recommend:

Children aged 5 to 13: 9 to 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Young people aged 14 to 17: 8 to 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Adults aged 18 to 64: 7 to 9 hours of good quality sleep, with consistent bed and wake up times.
Adults aged 65 and over: 7 to 8 hours of good quality sleep, with consistent bed and wake up times.

There are separate guidelines for babies and children under five, who need more again.

The Sleep Health Foundation adds an important caveat: these figures are a guide, and people genuinely differ. Some adults are true short sleepers, and others need more than average. A useful test is how you feel and function during the day. If you wake refreshed, stay switched on through the afternoon and don't rely on a weekend lie-in to catch up, you're probably getting about what you need.

Why the numbers change with age

Sleep needs fall through childhood and, according to the Sleep Health Foundation and healthdirect, stabilise at around 20.

Teenagers are a special case. The Sleep Health Foundation explains that it's natural for them to want to go to bed later and sleep in. Their body clock is shifting, not just their habits, which is why a 7am school alarm can feel so brutal.

Later in life, sleep tends to look different rather than simply shorter. healthdirect notes that older people spend more time in bed but sleep more lightly, in shorter spans, and usually need about the same amount of sleep as they did as younger adults. That's why the guidelines for over 65s sit at 7 to 8 hours, within the adult range, rather than dropping away.

For women, the years around menopause can bring their own changes to sleep. Our piece on perimenopause, sleep and mood covers that in more detail.

Hours aren't the only thing that counts

Both adult guidelines say "good quality sleep with consistent bed and wake up times", not just a number of hours. Seven hours at roughly the same time each night can feel very different from seven hours that drift by two hours between weeknights and weekends.

A few everyday habits, drawn from healthdirect's sleep advice, can help:

Keep your timing steady. Go to bed and get up at around the same time each day, weekends included.
Build a buffer before bed. Give yourself some wind-down time away from problem-solving and screens.
Watch the afternoon coffee. healthdirect suggests avoiding tea, coffee and caffeinated soft drinks for at least 3 to 7 hours before bed.
Keep naps short. If you need one, healthdirect suggests limiting it to 20 minutes. Our article on naps and nights goes into this.
Make the room work for you. Aim for a comfortable temperature, dark and without much noise. On warmer nights, our summer sleep tips can help.

How Thrive shows your sleep

The Thrive Band has no screen, so there's nothing glowing on your wrist at 2am. You wear it to bed, and the Thrive app shows you what happened in the morning.

Sleep and sleep stages. Thrive shows how long you slept, along with your deep, light and REM sleep and time awake. REM appears when Precise sleep is switched on in the app's settings.
Quantity, quality, regularity and timing. Thrive scores each of these out of 100, so you can see whether it's the hours, the continuity or the consistency of your sleep that's changing.
Bedtime reminder. Thrive can remind you before bed to start winding down, from 15 minutes to an hour beforehand. Your bedtime can come from your own sleep pattern once Thrive has learnt it, or you can set it yourself, which helps keep bedtimes consistent.
Today's Vitality. A score from 0 to 100 that brings sleep and recovery, your heart, Today's Load and your mood together. The Band measures your HRV itself, and our HRV explainer covers what that number means.
Your own normal. Thrive learns what's usual for you across nine areas of your health, including how long you sleep and how much of it is deep sleep, so a run of short nights shows up against your own history rather than a chart.

You can ask Ask Thrive questions in everyday language, such as "How much sleep have I averaged over the past month, and how regular have my bedtimes been?" or "How has my deep sleep looked this month compared with last month?"

Thrive also keeps track right across your health, from meals and Food Fit to blood tests, medications and supplements and your medical history, so you can see sleep alongside everything else. If you'd like a partner, carer or health professional to see your sleep too, Thrive Loops lets you share selected information with a participating trainer, health professional or someone you trust. You decide what to share and with whom, and you can change or revoke access at any time.

Before you buy

You'll need a compatible iPhone or Android phone, because the Thrive app is on the Apple App Store and Google Play, in Australia and eight other countries. The app stores are only for downloading the app, though; they aren't where you buy the Band or a Plan. You can buy at thrivehealthband.com, or at a participating World Gym Australia location or health and wellness clinic.

The Thrive Health Band is A$660 for the first year under the launch offer (usually A$740). That includes the Band, which is yours to keep, and 12 months of the Thrive by Optihealth app, My Health on the web, Health Fingerprint, Ask Thrive, Thrive Loops and your data, paid once upfront. Prices are in AUD and include GST. Free Australia-wide shipping during the launch offer (usually A$14.99).

Nothing renews automatically. After your first year, you can get a new band plus 12 more months for A$660, or keep your band and renew the Thrive Connected Plan for A$240 a year (A$20 a month).

You're also covered by a 12-month Thrive Care Warranty, and consumer guarantees under Australian Consumer Law always apply. See Returns if something is wrong with your purchase.

Common questions

How much sleep does an adult need?

The Australian guidelines recommend 7 to 9 hours of good quality sleep a night for adults aged 18 to 64, and 7 to 8 hours from 65, with consistent bed and wake up times.

Do older people need less sleep?

Not much less. healthdirect says older people usually need about the same amount as they did as younger adults, although their sleep is often lighter and more broken up.

Does Thrive track sleep stages?

Yes. The Thrive by Optihealth app shows your deep, light and REM sleep and time awake each night, alongside your sleep duration and consistency. REM shows when Precise sleep is switched on in the app's settings.

For more answers, see Questions.