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As children develop, both the distribution of sleep in a 24-hour period and total sleep requirements change. A newborn infant requires 16 to 18 hours of sleep a night, decreasing to 14 or 15 hours by age one, 10 or 12 by age four, and less than 10 by age ten. Sleep needs further decrease as adolescence progresses, stabilizing at 7 or 8 hours in adulthood. The elderly tend to lose their capacity for extended sleep. They may sleep very little at night but doze during the day, returning to the multiphasic sleep patterns of childhood.
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