20 Examples of a 2 Year Old Sleep Schedule

Need a 2 year old sleep schedule to combat sleep regression? These daily schedules can help you reset your toddler’s sleep once and for all!

Once my toddler hit 2 years old, I had no idea how I ever managed to put him down for a nap three, four, and sometimes five times a day in the past. With only one nap to contend with in the toddler stage, our schedule got a lot less complicated and freed up our time much more.

That said, I know all too well when a schedule goes out of whack, both for naps and the bedtime routine.

Rather than sleeping right away in his crib, he talked to his lovey, played, or sang, sometimes for up to an hour and a half. Adorable, yes, but also enough to throw his entire schedule off. To make things worse, he’d wake up at his usual time, extra cranky from not getting much sleep.

Thankfully, I learned that a new schedule can sometimes be all we need to reset sleep. That said, we don’t always have a ton of fellow parents of 2 year olds we can ask out of the blue.

That’s why I did the work for you. I surveyed and researched what other parents do for their schedules and listed them here. Since most kids this age take one nap a day, I only included schedules that included just that. And I stuck to those with reasonable wake-up and bedtimes.

Take a look at these examples and recommendations to find a sample schedule that works for you:

Table of Contents

2 year old sleep schedule examples

Example 1:

Wake up: 6am
Nap: 1-2pm
Bedtime: 7pm

Example 2:

Wake up: 6am
Nap: 1-3pm
Bedtime: 8pm

Example 3:

Wake up: 6:30am
Nap: 11am-1pm
Bedtime: 8pm

Example 4:

Wake up: 6:30am
Nap: 12-3pm
Bedtime: 7pm

Example 5:

Wake up: 6:30am
Nap: 12:30-3pm
Bedtime: 7:30pm

Example 6:

Wake up: 6:30am
Nap: 1-3:30pm
Bedtime: 8pm

Example 7:

Wake up: 6:30am
Nap: 1-4pm
Bedtime: 8:30pm

Example 8:

Wake up: 6:45am
Nap: 12-2pm
Bedtime: 7:15pm

Example 9:

Wake up: 7am
Nap: 11am-1pm
Bedtime: 7:30pm

Example 10:

Wake up: 7am
Nap: 11am-1:30pm
Bedtime: 7pm

Example 11:

Wake up: 7am
Nap: 12-1pm
Bedtime: 7:30pm

Example 12:

Wake up: 7am
Nap: 12-2pm
Bedtime: 7:30pm

Example 13:

Wake up: 7am
Nap: 12:30-3:30pm
Bedtime: 8pm

Example 14:

Wake up: 7:30am
Nap: 12-2pm
Bedtime: 8:30pm

Example 15:

Wake up: 7:30am
Nap: 1-3pm
Bedtime: 7:45pm

Example 16:

Wake up: 7:30am
Nap: 1:30-4pm
Bedtime: 8:30pm

Example 17:

Wake up: 7:30am
Nap: 1:30-4pm
Bedtime: 8pm

Example 18:

Wake up: 7:30am
Nap: 2-4pm
Bedtime: 7:30pm

Example 19:

Wake up: 8am
Nap: 1-3pm
Bedtime: 8pm

Example 20:

Wake up: 8:45am
Nap: 2-4pm
Bedtime: 8:30pm

Free resource: Do you struggle with getting your child to take a nap? Grab The Five Habits That Will Make Your Child’s Naps Easier! Discover the five steps you need to do to finally get a break while he naps. Get your copy below. You’ll also get my newsletters, which readers say they LOVE:

“I babysit my 2.5-year-old granddaughter and I’ve taken your advice successfully, several times. Thank you!” -Jeannette B.

Best practices for changing your sleep schedule

Regardless of which schedule you’d like to try, keep these best practices in mind to avoid potential problems:

Try a shorter nap. If your 2 year old takes forever to fall asleep, his extra-long nap may be preventing him from being sleepy enough come bedtime. A shorter nap can give him enough time to be awake before bedtime.
Put him to sleep earlier. Sometimes toddlers can’t sleep because they’re overtired. As ironic as it is, lack of sleep doesn’t make for good quality sleep. Instead, try putting him to sleep or nap earlier than usual. Even 15-minute increments can work wonders.
Stick to any change for five days. It’s tempting to try a new sleep schedule, only to give up when it doesn’t work immediately. The thing is, change often needs to happen through consistent repetition. Give it at least five days to work before you call it quits or try something else.
Have him stay in bed until the “official” wake up time. You don’t have to end nap time because he woke up. Instead, encourage him to keep sleeping—or at least stay in bed for quiet time—until nap time officially ends or when your morning begins. That way, he learns that waking up early doesn’t mean it’s time to get up. Even better: he might even fall back asleep!

What time should a 2 year old go to bed?

As you can see from the sleep patterns above, the time a 2 year old goes to bed varies. I generally recommend no later than 8:30pm, assuming that works with your schedule. From the examples above, a typical 2 year old sleeps anywhere between 7-8:30pm.

You can also fiddle with bedtime depending on what time you want wake-up time to be the next morning. Most kids sleep for 10-12 hours at night. With a 7pm bedtime and needing only 10 hours of sleep, your toddler could wake up at 5am. If that’s too early, you might want to push bedtime back to 8pm.

How long should a 2 year old nap for?

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Just as bedtimes vary, so too does the length of naps for a 2 year old. The length depends on how long your toddler slept at night, so it’s best to take into account the entire 24-hour period, rather than only the nap. For instance, a two-hour nap may sound good, but not if he’s only getting nine hours of sleep at night.

In general though, kids in this age group usually nap about two to two-and-a-half hours a day.

p.s. Check out The Napping House by Audrey Wood, one of our favorite children’s books to help kids take naps:

Conclusion

Any time our kids throw us for a loop—from taking forever to fall asleep to interrupted nights—it’s easy to get frustrated. Thankfully, you now have several examples of schedules to try and reset your child’s sleep.

If anything, at least you only have to deal with one nap a day now—and not the three, four, or even five from the months gone by.

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2 Comments

Jess says:

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My toddler was waking up at 8am, nap time at 1-3/330, then fighting bedtime at 830 to the point where he was staying up until 12am or later. His pediatrician told us to cut his nap time out completely. So yesterday we did that. He woke up at 8am, we skipped nap time…he was grumpy but we figured that was to be expected. He went right to sleep ay 830pm…it was like magic! He slept until 8am! So today we skipped the nap again, bedtime at 830 but he fought me until 9ish. And now as I type it is 320am and he’s been up since 2am. In bed, seemingly content but talking and shouting and playing with his hands. Now I don’t know what to do. Should I stop his new schedule? Should I let him sleep in if he wants to? Should I continue to try and cut his nap out? His pediatrician also prescribed him melatonin which I haven’t been wanting to use. I just don’t know what else to do. I need advice. Please help.

1. Nina Garcia says:
  
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  Hi Jess, that’s great you sought your pediatrician’s advice, as she would know his situation well. But if it didn’t work the second night, personally I try to give a new schedule a few days before calling it quits. Sometimes you need to be consistent with change for it to “sink in.” That said, if you find that you’ve tried cutting the nap for a few days and he’s still up at night or even getting worse, then I would try something new. Two-years-old seems young to cut nap completely, so if that doesn’t work, maybe you can experiment with, say, an 8pm bedtime, or 12:30-2:30pm nap, etc.