How Much Sleep Do You Need?

Almost every animal on Earth sleeps: people, cats, birds and many more. But how much sleep does each one need? The answer is very different for a baby, a teenager, a giraffe and a bat.

Sleep experts in the United States give these numbers for people:

Babies (4 to 12 months): 12 to 16 hours a day, with naps. Teenagers (13 to 18 years): 8 to 10 hours. Adults: 7 hours or more.

Babies need the most. They sleep a lot during the day, in short naps, and they wake up many times at night. Their brains and bodies are growing very fast. Sleep helps them grow.

Teenagers need more sleep than adults, but many of them get too little. Their bodies want to go to bed late, and school starts early. So a lot of teens feel tired in the morning.

Adults need at least seven hours. With less sleep, it's harder to remember things, and people make more mistakes.

Animals are even more different. A giraffe in the wild sleeps very little, often less than two hours a day, in short naps of a few minutes. It often sleeps standing up, so it can run from lions quickly. The little brown bat is the opposite. It sleeps about 20 hours a day, hanging upside down in a dark place. It wakes up at night for a few hours, when there are a lot of insects to eat.

So what about you? You can't sleep like a bat, but you can sleep better. Sleep experts have one easy tip: turn off your phone and other screens 30 to 60 minutes before bed. If you go to bed at ten, put your phone away at nine. Your brain needs that quiet time to get ready for sleep.