A 2-year-old who wakes at 7:00 AM and naps for about 1.5 hours should go to bed around 7:45 PM, within a window of 7:15 to 8:15 PM. On a day with no nap, bedtime moves to about 6:15 PM. Both aim for about 12.5 hours of sleep in 24 hours, inside the 11 to 14 hours (naps included) the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends for ages 1 to 2. Each time includes about 15 minutes to fall asleep.
These are the same numbers the kids bedtime calculator gives for a 2-year-old. The nap is the big variable at this age, so the charts below give a bedtime for each nap length.
Free toolSleep Needs by AgeRecommended hours for every age, from newborns to over-65s.What time should a 2-year-old go to bed at night?
Take the wake-up time, count back 12 hours and 45 minutes, then add back the length of today's nap. For a 7:00 AM wake-up and a 1.5-hour nap, that's 7:45 PM.
| Wake-up time | No nap | 1-hour nap | 1.5-hour nap | 2-hour nap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6:00 AM | 5:15 PM | 6:15 PM | 6:45 PM | 7:15 PM |
| 6:30 AM | 5:45 PM | 6:45 PM | 7:15 PM | 7:45 PM |
| 7:00 AM | 6:15 PM | 7:15 PM | 7:45 PM | 8:15 PM |
| 7:30 AM | 6:45 PM | 7:45 PM | 8:15 PM | 8:45 PM |
At this age, aim to land within about 30 minutes either side of the time in the chart. A longer nap means a later bedtime, minute for minute, so the 24-hour total stays about the same.
What time should a 2-year-old go to bed and wake up?
A common, workable schedule is up at 7:00 AM, one nap of about 1.5 hours after lunch, and in bed by 7:45 PM. That gives about 11 hours at night plus the nap.
Here's how the night splits for different nap lengths on a 12.5-hour daily total:
| Nap | Sleep at night | Bedtime for a 7:00 AM wake-up |
|---|---|---|
| None | 12.5 h | 6:15 PM |
| 1 hour | 11.5 h | 7:15 PM |
| 1.5 hours | 11 h | 7:45 PM |
| 2 hours | 10.5 h | 8:15 PM |
If your toddler wakes at 6:00 AM no matter when they go down, a later bedtime rarely fixes it. Move the whole day an hour earlier instead, using the 6:00 AM row above.
What time should a 2-year-old go to bed with no nap?
Without a nap, a 2-year-old who wakes at 7:00 AM should go to bed around 6:15 PM, or 5:45 PM for a 6:30 AM wake-up. That can feel very early, and it's meant to: the whole day's sleep now has to fit into the night.
The AASM minimum of 11 hours would technically allow a bedtime as late as 7:45 PM for a 7:00 AM wake-up, but that's the floor, not a target. A 2-year-old who skipped the nap and is kept up to the usual time often has a much harder evening.
At 2, a no-nap day is usually a one-off rather than the end of naps. A review of napping studies from around the world found that fewer than 2.5% of children stop napping before age 2, while about 94% have stopped by age 5. So if your toddler refuses the nap for a few days, it's most likely a phase. Keep offering it, use the early bedtime on the days it doesn't happen, and go back to the nap column when it does.
Signs a missed nap is catching up with them:
- Falling asleep in the car or stroller in the late afternoon
- Meltdowns or a burst of wild energy around dinner
- Waking more at night or very early the next morning
If a late-afternoon catnap happens on a no-nap day, count it as a short nap and use the 1-hour column, moving bedtime a little later.
How much sleep does a 2-year-old need?
A 2-year-old needs 11 to 14 hours of sleep in 24 hours, including naps. On the 12.5-hour target the calculator uses, a 1- to 2-hour nap leaves 10.5 to 11.5 hours for the night.
For sample toddler schedules and when naps usually drop, see how much sleep does a toddler need. The sleep needs by age calculator gives the recommended hours for every age group.
Making a 2-year-old bedtime work
A short, predictable routine every night is one of the most useful things you can do at this age. In a study of more than 10,000 children up to age 5 across 13 countries, a consistent bedtime routine was linked to earlier bedtimes, falling asleep faster, fewer night wakings and more sleep, and the more nights a week families kept it, the better the results.
- Keep it to 20 to 30 minutes, in the same order: bath, pajamas, teeth, a book or two, lights out.
- Dim the lights in the last half hour and keep screens out of it.
- Give small choices, like which pajamas or which book, but not whether bedtime happens.
- Say the same goodnight words every night so they know what comes next.
The step-by-step version is in bedtime routine for kids. For the next stage, see what time should a 3-year-old go to bed.
When to talk to your pediatrician
Check with your pediatrician if your child snores loudly most nights or has pauses or gasps in breathing while asleep, is very sleepy or unusually irritable during the day despite enough time in bed, or has trouble falling or staying asleep that goes on for weeks.