Bedtime by age
What time should a 3 year old go to bed?
Between 7:00 and 8:00 pm for most 3-year-olds who wake up around 6:30. Three-year-olds need 10 to 13 hours a day. Some still nap and some have stopped, and that decides where in the window lights out should land.
Lights out for a 3 year old
Lights out between 7:00 and 8:00 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 3 year old
- Sleep
- 10 to 13 hours a day, naps included
- Naps
- Some still nap, about an hour
- Routine
- 30 to 40 minutes
- Still napping? Aim for the later end of the window. Stopped? The earlier end, and for the first few weeks without a nap, earlier than that.
- Quiet time helps even without the nap: an hour in their room with books keeps the late afternoon from falling apart.
- Stalling peaks around three: one more drink, one more hug, the lamp, the door. Build the "one more" into the routine so there's nothing left to ask for.
- If they've just moved to a bed, getting out is the new trick, and the fix is walking them back without a word. How to get a toddler to stay in bed.
Bedtime chart for a 3 year old, by wake-up time
How much sleep: the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that children 3 to 5 years old sleep 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours, naps included. Each window below counts back 10½ to 11½ 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 | 6:00–7:00 pm | 6:30 pm |
| 6:00 am | 6:30–7:30 pm | 7:00 pm |
| 6:30 am | 7:00–8:00 pm | 7:30 pm |
| 7:00 am | 7:30–8:30 pm | 8:00 pm |
| 7:30 am | 8:00–9:00 pm | 8:30 pm |
| 8:00 am | 8:30–9:30 pm | 9:00 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 7:30.
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.