Bedtime by age
What time should a 2 year old go to bed?
Between 6:30 and 7:30 pm for most 2-year-olds who wake up around 6:30. At two they need 11 to 14 hours a day, and that still counts an afternoon nap of an hour and a half or so.
Lights out for a 2 year old
Lights out between 6:30 and 7:30 pm.
Tonight, counted back
An hour and a half out leaves room for a bath without rushing.
Or screens off, on a night without a bath.
What's different for a 2 year old
- Sleep
- 11 to 14 hours a day, naps included
- Naps
- One, about 1½ to 2 hours
- Routine
- About 30 minutes
- A late nap is the usual reason bedtime slides at two. If lights out keeps drifting, wake them from the nap a little earlier, by 3:00 at the latest.
- Two is the age of "no" and "one more". Give a choice that doesn't matter, like which pajamas or which of two books, and keep the order of the steps fixed.
- There's no rush to leave the crib. Most families find the move to a bed goes easier closer to three, and climbing out is the usual reason to switch sooner.
- A few weeks of fighting bedtime is common somewhere around two. Hold the same lights out through it. Changing it every night drags it out.
Bedtime chart for a 2 year old, by wake-up time
How much sleep: the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that children 1 to 2 years old sleep 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours, naps included. Each window below counts back 11 to 12 hours of night sleep from wake-up, with naps on top, rounded to the nearest 15 minutes. The later end is the least sleep, so lean early if they take a while to fall asleep or woke up tired.
| Up at | Lights out | Aim for |
|---|---|---|
| 5:30 am | 5:30–6:30 pm | 6:00 pm |
| 6:00 am | 6:00–7:00 pm | 6:30 pm |
| 6:30 am | 6:30–7:30 pm | 7:00 pm |
| 7:00 am | 7:00–8:00 pm | 7:30 pm |
| 7:30 am | 7:30–8:30 pm | 8:00 pm |
| 8:00 am | 8:00–9:00 pm | 8:30 pm |
Sleep hours come from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's consensus statement on how much sleep children need (Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2016), which the American Academy of Pediatrics endorsed. The lights-out windows are our own arithmetic inside that range, not medical advice. Every kid is a little different. If you're worried about how your child sleeps, ask their pediatrician. For any age and wake-up time, use the bedtime calculator.
Knowing lights out is the easy part. Nightlight plans the two hours before it: a dinner that fits the energy you have left, then every step, timed back from 7:00.
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.