A five-year-old needs 10 to 13 hours of sleep per 24-hour period, including any naps. That range comes from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and aligns with the National Sleep Foundation’s recommendation for preschool-age children. Most five-year-olds land somewhere around 11 hours total, but the right amount for your child depends on how they function during the day.
Where Naps Fit In
By age five, the vast majority of children have stopped napping. About 94% of kids drop daytime sleep entirely by this age. If your five-year-old still naps, that’s normal too, and those naps count toward the 10-to-13-hour total. Children who do still nap at this age typically sleep about 1.5 hours during the day, with the rest coming at night.
If your child recently dropped their nap or is in the process of phasing it out, you may need to shift bedtime earlier to make up the difference. A child who was sleeping 10 hours at night plus a 1.5-hour nap will need closer to 11 or 11.5 hours of nighttime sleep once the nap disappears.
Why Those Hours Matter at This Age
Five is a pivotal year. Many children are starting or about to start kindergarten, and sleep directly affects how well that transition goes. Children who consistently slept 10 or more hours per night showed more favorable outcomes in social-emotional development, learning engagement, and academic performance during kindergarten, according to a study published in Pediatrics. Five- and six-year-olds with shorter sleep duration scored significantly lower on achievement tests at the end of first grade compared to well-rested peers. They also tended to score lower on standardized IQ tests.
Sleep also plays a role in physical growth. Growth hormone pulses occur after sleep onset, particularly during deep sleep stages. While the relationship between deep sleep and growth hormone is more complex than once thought (disrupting deep sleep for a single night doesn’t seem to reduce growth hormone output), consistent, sufficient sleep over time supports healthy growth, bone density, and body composition.
Signs Your Child Isn’t Getting Enough
Sleep-deprived adults get sluggish. Sleep-deprived children often look the opposite: wired, impulsive, and emotionally volatile. If your five-year-old seems hyperactive, has trouble controlling impulses, melts down more easily than usual, or can’t sit still and pay attention, insufficient sleep may be a factor. These behavioral signs can mimic or worsen attention problems, which makes them easy to misattribute to something else.
Other signs are more straightforward. Difficulty waking up in the morning, falling asleep in the car during short trips, or needing to be woken up well past their usual wake time on weekends all suggest a child isn’t banking enough hours during the week.
When Snoring Is a Red Flag
Not all sleep problems are about quantity. Some children sleep the right number of hours but don’t get restful sleep because of obstructive sleep apnea, a condition where the airway partially collapses during sleep. Loud nightly snoring is the most common sign. Other indicators include mouth breathing during sleep, pauses in breathing, restless sleep with tangled sheets, frequent nighttime awakenings, and bedwetting that starts up again after a dry period.
During the day, these children may have morning headaches, irritability, and declining performance at school. If your child snores most nights and shows any of these daytime symptoms, it’s worth raising with their pediatrician. Enlarged tonsils and adenoids are the most common cause at this age, and the condition is treatable.
Building a Bedtime Routine That Works
If your child needs to be asleep by 8:00 p.m. and wakes at 7:00 a.m., that’s 11 hours, right in the middle of the recommended range. Work backward from their wake time to figure out what bedtime needs to be, then build a consistent routine leading up to it.
An effective bedtime routine for a five-year-old lasts about 30 to 40 minutes and includes two to four calming activities in the same order each night. Brushing teeth, putting on pajamas, and reading a book or two is a classic sequence for good reason. The predictability signals to your child’s brain that sleep is coming. Positive, low-key interaction during this window (talking about the day, reading together) helps children settle more easily than being left to wind down alone.
Screens should stay out of the routine entirely. Television and tablets stimulate the brain and suppress the body’s natural production of the hormone that triggers sleepiness. Keep the bedroom cool, ideally between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and as dark as possible. A small nightlight is fine if your child needs one, but overhead lights and bright lamps work against the biological signals that help children fall asleep.
Consistency matters more than perfection. Doing the same routine most nights of the week produces better results than an elaborate routine you can only manage a few times a week. Children who follow a regular bedtime routine fall asleep faster, wake less often during the night, and show benefits that extend beyond sleep into language development and emotional regulation.
The Transition to School-Age Recommendations
The 10-to-13-hour recommendation covers ages three through five. Once your child turns six, the guideline shifts to 9 to 11 hours. That doesn’t mean your child suddenly needs less sleep on their sixth birthday. The transition is gradual, and many six-year-olds still do best with 10 or more hours. Pay attention to how your child handles their day. If they’re alert, emotionally regulated, and able to focus during activities, they’re likely getting the right amount for their body.