Free Sleep Calculator for Kids
Enter your child's age and usual wake time to get a recommended bedtime for school nights. Built on the same expert sleep ranges pediatricians reference.
Add a wake time to also get suggested bedtimes for this age.
Your recommended sleep range will appear here after you calculate.
How it works
School-age children, roughly 6 to 12 years old, are recommended 9 to 12 hours of sleep per day by the expert consensus endorsed by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. That is more than most parents expect, and more than most kids actually get once homework, activities, and screens fill the evening. If your child is hard to wake on school mornings, the bedtime is usually the first thing to check, not the alarm.
The math on this page is simple and honest. We take the recommended range for your child's age, subtract it from the wake time you enter, and allow about 15 minutes to fall asleep. The result is a bedtime window rather than a single magic number, because healthy children genuinely differ within the range. A fresh, active 8 year old may thrive near 10 hours while a growth-spurt 11 year old needs closer to 12. Watch daytime mood, focus, and morning wakefulness for a week or two, then settle inside the window.
Consistency matters as much as the hour itself. A bedtime that slides two hours later on weekends creates the same Monday morning fog as shortchanging the night entirely. Keep weekend bedtimes within about an hour of school nights, keep the hour before bed calm and screen-light, and keep the wake time fixed even when the bedtime slips. That fixed wake time is what anchors the whole schedule.
A few practical notes for this age group. Most school-age children no longer need daytime naps, so a child who melts down every afternoon is probably telling you the nights are too short. Caffeine hides in chocolate and some sodas, and an after-dinner serving can push sleep onset later than it looks. And if your child snores loudly, breathes through the mouth all night, or is exhausted despite a full night in bed, that is a conversation for your pediatrician, not a calculator.
Want the general version for any age? Try the sleep needs calculator. For night-by-night planning around a fixed alarm, the bedtime calculator counts back through full sleep cycles. And the guide on how much sleep you need by age explains where these ranges come from.
These calculators give planning estimates based on average sleep cycle timing. They are not medical advice and cannot diagnose sleep problems. If poor sleep persists, talk to a clinician.
Common questions
How much sleep does a 7 year old need?
9 to 12 hours per day, according to the AASM-endorsed expert consensus for school-age children (6 to 12 years). Most of it should be nighttime sleep; daytime naps are usually no longer needed at this age.
What is a good bedtime for a 10 year old?
It depends on the wake time. For a 7:00 morning wake-up and 9 to 12 hours of sleep, bedtime falls between about 19:00 and 22:00, minus the time it takes to fall asleep. Enter your child's wake time above for an exact suggestion.
Do school-age children still need naps?
Usually not. The consensus guidance notes that most school-age children no longer need daytime naps. If your child regularly needs a nap to function, the nights may need attention first.
Why does my child need more sleep than I do?
Growing bodies and brains do more overnight repair work. School-age children are recommended 9 to 12 hours while adults need 7 to 9. That is why an early, consistent bedtime matters more for kids than for grown-ups.
Is this calculator medical advice?
No. It uses population guidelines from an expert panel, not a diagnosis. If your child snores loudly, struggles to fall asleep most nights, or seems tired despite enough hours, talk to a pediatrician.