Saturday, October 31, 2026
Halloween bedtime, by age
Halloween is a Saturday this year, and the clocks go back at 2am that same night. So it's a late night, then a kid who's up at what the clock now calls 5:30. Pick their age and the evening is counted back from lights out, with the week after under it.
Their Halloween night
Out the door at 6:00, lights out by 8:00.
Saturday, Oct 31, counted back
Something quick and real. Candy on an empty stomach is how the night goes sideways.
Start earlier than you think. Someone will need the bathroom the minute it's zipped.
An hour and a quarter, give or take. Bring a wagon or the stroller for the walk back.
Leave while it's still fun. The last few houses are never worth it.
A few pieces now. The rest goes up high.
Properly, after the candy.
Half an hour past their usual 7:30.
Alerts on the 31st for dinner, costumes, out the door, home and lights out. On the night, tap any of them and Nightlight opens with the plan.
Halloween night by age
For kids who are usually up around 6:30. Change the wake-up time above and the whole table moves.
How late is fine
- Under 3. Keep it close to normal, fifteen or thirty minutes past usual. A short loop near home is a full Halloween at this age, and they'll be up at their usual time either way.
- 3 and 4. Half an hour late is fine. The walk home is usually where it falls apart, so turn around before they want to.
- 5 to 8. Forty-five minutes late, a little more if they're out with friends. They'll want to keep going, so settle the time you head home before anyone puts a costume on.
Don't count on a lie-in to pay for it. Most little kids wake at their usual time after a late night, just more tired. This year the clocks go back the same night, so on Sunday that usual time shows up an hour early.
If you've been moving bedtime later all week with the daylight saving plan, Halloween is the hour-late night that plan ends on anyway. Go with an hour past usual and Sunday should feel close to normal.
The candy
- Feed them a real dinner before you go. Then the candy is a treat and not the meal.
- When you get home, everything goes on the table. They pick a few pieces to eat now, and the rest goes up high.
- Under four, go through the bag before they do. Hard candy, gum, nuts and anything small and round come out.
- Teeth after the candy, properly, even on a late night. Then one short book and lights out.
- Decide what happens to the rest of the bag before Halloween, not at 8pm with a kid on a sugar high. A couple of pieces after dinner each day works for a lot of families.
Sunday, an hour early
At 2am the clocks go back. Their body wakes when it always does, and the clock calls it an hour earlier. After a late Halloween, that's a tired kid at 5:30 in the morning.
Move the whole day 15 minutes later each day, mornings and lights out together, and by Thursday you're back where you started.
Their body thinks it's 6:30. Lights out 6:45 tonight.
Lights out 7:00.
Lights out 7:15.
Lights out 7:30, the usual.
Up at 6:30, lights out 7:30.
- Keep the room dark until the time on the list, then open the blinds and have breakfast by a window. Bright light at 5:30 tells their body that 5:30 is morning.
- An ok-to-wake clock does the arguing. Set it for that morning's time and move it 15 minutes a day.
- Sunday will be long. If they're falling apart by dinner, put them down at their old time, an hour early by the clock, and start the 15 minutes on Monday.
Handy to have
- Glow necklaces So you can find your kid in a crowd of capes after dark. Find one
- A small flashlight of their own Holding it makes them look where they're stepping. Find one
- An ok-to-wake clock For the week after. Set it for Sunday's time on the list above and move it 15 minutes a day. Find one
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Usual lights out is the middle of the window on the age pages and the bedtime calculator, which comes from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's recommended sleep hours for each age. Every kid is a little different. If you're worried about how your child sleeps, ask their pediatrician.
On the night, Nightlight turns this into a plan on your phone: a quick dinner that fits the energy you have left, then every step with a time on it, out the door to lights out. Every other night it does the same, back from your usual lights out.
Plan tonightFree, no account, and what you tap stays on your phone.
On an iPhone? Nightlight is on the App Store, with a nudge at every step of the evening.