Here’s a 3 year old sleep schedule that’ll make the transition from toddler to preschooler bearable. It also makes for happy well-rested children.
I have had 5 three year olds…
And, I’ve worked with many hundreds more as a certified sleep consultant.
We often think we have sleeping all figured out when they’re babies and they finally sleep through the night. Then, we get through the 4 month sleep regression, then a 2 year sleep regression… and then… for goodness’ sake…
We’ve got the sleeping transitions that occur when our little ones are 3.
So saddle up… this post will help you figure out wake times, bedtimes, nap times, and how to drop that afternoon nap if your little one is ready.
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The 3 Year Old Sleep Schedule You’ll Be Able To Keep
Without further ado…. let’s dive in.
A Sample 3 Year Old Sleep Schedule
Your child’s schedule will be whatever works for your family. I have a stay at home mom schedule so I’ll share mine here as a starting point. I currently have a 3 year old and this is his 3 year old sleep routine.
This is what my son’s days look like, more or less.
You’ll notice I don’t have every hour or even every two hour block laid out, but the “bones” of the routine (wake up, eat, nap, eat, bed) I do.
- 7:30 a.m. | Wake up, come out, eat breakfast
- 8:00 a.m. | Read aloud time with older siblings (I homeschool, here are homeschooling pros and cons if you’re considering it)
- 8:45 a.m. | Outdoor play
- 11:00 a.m. | Cartoons and/or independent play
- 12:00 p.m. | Eat lunch then free play
- 1:00 p.m. | Nap or rest time (he still naps nearly every day)
- 3:00 p.m. | Come out of room, have snack, free play
- 5:30 p.m. | Dinner, bath, bedtime routine, etc.
- 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. | Bed
Whether he “seems tired” or not at 1 p.m. or bedtime, he goes to the crib anyway. 9 times out of 10 he’ll fall asleep quickly.
This comprehensive step-by-step PDF guide will help you develop healthy sustainable sleep habits for your child (aged 1 to 5 years of age).
Learn MoreWhen adults get tired we drag, lose energy, and act sluggish. When 3 year olds get tired they become hyper, loud, and defiant.
Don’t wait until your child “seems tired” to put him down to sleep.
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Wake Time – Get A Clock? (Important For 3 Year Olds!)
So, your 3 year old’s wake up time will vary depending on their situation.
If they go to daycare.
If they’re in preschool.
Or, if they are at home with you.
There’s no need to create a random time just to have one, but the goal is to have a normal time that you shoot for each day that your child can sleep to.
Or, if it suits you, a time that you are OK with your child waking up.
The reason this is important is because whatever time they start waking up routinely is the time they’ll keep.
Our kids are not allowed to come out of their rooms and start the day until 7:30 a.m. Most sleep until at least 7 anyway, but they use this inexpensive clock you can get on Amazon to know when they are okay to come out of their room and start the day.
This is something that’ll bring you years of sanity. It also prevents kids from thinking 5:00 a.m. is a fine time to get up.
With the sleeping changes that come during the 3 year of your little one’s life, it’s important they start the day fairly regularly.
You may choose any time that suits your family, but get your child used to staying in their room and entertaining themselves for a short period of time.
Hold The Bones Of Your 3 Year Old’s Sleep Routine
If your 3 year old is starting to take shorter naps or skip naps, then the sleep schedule can lose all shape.
This isn’t necessarily bad, but beware.
Things get HAIRY if we throw the routine to the wayside and just go with whatever happens.
What ends up happening is the child will not fall asleep until 4:00 p.m. then will wake up at 5:30 p.m. to eat then run around overtired until 10:30 p.m. and then either wake up super early or end up sleeping late.
Only to repeat the chaos the next day.
If a child naps longer than they need, they are not tired enough to sleep at night, and this can lead to bedtime battles.
So how do we avoid an overtired preschooler?
Keep the bones of the routine.
Keep the wake up time similar in the morning, wake your child up if they sleep much past the normal time. They will then be able to make up for that at naptime or early bedtime.
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Don’t let your child take a nap late into the early evening.
If your child falls asleep late for the nap (after, say, 3:30 p.m.) give your child an hour or so and then wake them up. This way they’ll be able to go to bed at the normal time.
Wake your 3-year-old up if they sleep too late.
If your regular bedtime is 7:30 p.m., wake your child up by 3:30 p.m. so they will be tired by their regular bedtime. Sleeping too late will cause bedtime battles which can contribute to nightmares and night terrors.
Keep mealtimes and snack times similar.
Your child’s body will metabolize to the times you feed them. Remember getting hungry every day at the exact time that lunch is served? Keep the meal times as constant as you did before.
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How To Drop Your Child’s Afternoon Nap
No 3-year-old sleep schedule post would be complete without talking about how to drop the afternoon nap.
It is very common during this year of life for your child to stop napping.
Here’s how my children have dropped their afternoon nap, for a point of reference.
Remember, each child has their own particular sleep needs.
- My first child dropped naps about 3.5 years of age. She went from daily naps to 4 times a week, to 3, to 2, to 1 or barely none. She continued rest time each day at 1 p.m. as per before and, even still today at 7, will take the occasional nap.
- My second child continued napping nearly every day until Kindergarten. Even sometimes he’d come home from school and nap. Now he’s 6 and will very occasionally nap in the afternoons if he’s been out late. He was always a sleepy baby.
- My third child dropped his nap around 3.5 years of age. He went from 7 naps a week to 5 to 3 to 1 to barely any. He’ll sleep now in the afternoon once every two weeks or so, but still has rest time at 1 p.m. in his room now at the age of 5.
- My fourth child, at 3 years and 10 months old and still took an afternoon nap every day. He would often only sleep from around 1 until 2:30 or 3, occasionally until 3:30. He could miss a nap if we’re going to go somewhere, but he still needs it.
- My fifth child napped until he was 4 years old.
Don’t Drop Rest-Time For Your 3 Year Old
If you think your child is starting to not need naps every day, put them in their bed anyway. This is called quiet time or rest time.
Give them some soft toys, a few books, and put them down for a nap. If they aren’t tired they won’t sleep. And, if they are, they will.
They may even read for a while then fall off into sleep for a bit.
➡️ If you think they don’t need a nap and stop putting them down for this altogether, this is a recipe for overtiredness. Even if they don’t fall asleep, they’ll have quiet and rest.
It could be time to start a Quiet/Rest Routine.
The more overtired a toddler is, the more likely they are to have confusion arousal at night which you really want to avoid if possible. This includes night terrors, some nightmares, and even sleepwalking. It’s much more likely during a transitional period when they are dropping naps and adjusting their nighttime sleep.
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Wake Your 3 Year Old Up If They Fall Asleep Later
If your little starts to fall asleep later in the afternoon than normal, like past 3 p.m. say, then don’t let them sleep until they wake up.
They may not be tired at 1 p.m. but crash later.
If you let them sleep until 6 p.m. then they won’t go to bed until much later and then on and on and on. Let them have a bit of sleep and then wake them up in time for an early dinner, then put them to bed at a normal time.
➡️ They may lie in bed awake at night for a while, singing, talking, etc. and not falling straight asleep. This is normal as they are transitioning into a new sleep schedule, and that’s okay.
If they start taking 1 to 2 hours to fall asleep at night, cut that nap short or wean it altogether.
Wait For Fewer Than 2 Naps A Week To Fully Drop
Before you agree that your child doesn’t need any more naps… wait until they are taking fewer than 2 naps for a few weeks at a time… and watch their behavior.
You’ll notice if they are fine without a nap or reeling from the transition to less sleep.
- Are they content throughout the day or very irritable?
- Do they fall asleep the minute you put them in a car or are they alert?
- Do they start having a repeat of baby witching hours in the early evening or are they able to make it to bedtime okay?
- What is their overall mood? Positive or struggling?
Of course, there are other factors at work here, but if your child is resisting naps yet still clearly exhausted, do not give up rest time.
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Move Bedtime Slightly Forward If Naps Are Missed
So… I know I said not to move around the routine too much – and I stick to this! – but there’s no harm in moving bedtime up 30 minutes or so if the nap has been missed.
If your child is exhausted and worn out, what they need is sleep.
Expect It To Be Rocky, Expect It To Settle
Know that the transition from an afternoon nap to no afternoon nap will not always be smooth sailing and easy.
Some days they’ll throw tantrums left and right and be defiant and all manner of other things.
Symptoms of overtiredness.
Just stick with them, keep your boundaries, and watch things fall into place as the new normal takes over.
Easy to implement routines, rhythms and schedules from birth through school-aged kids to help you streamline day-to-day life with kids, including a step-by-step guide for getting started.
Learn More3-year-old sleep issues…
Many moms feel that sleep issues should be over by the time their child is 3. I agree! But that ain’t always how it plays out, ha. Nope. Sometimes the issues continue.
Let’s quickly touch on some issues that may arise in your 3 year old’s sleep schedule.
Your 3 year old takes a nap some days and not others
This is okay, and it’s normal. It will, however, mean that bedtime seems to move up a bit depending on the day. Say your little one actually has rest time instead of taking an afternoon nap. If this happens a couple of days in a row then your child may also be exhausted at bedtime.
In this case, I’d move bedtime up 30 minutes or so. This means you can do a relaxing wind down routine and let your 3 year old catch up on some sleep.
Learn how to avoid power struggles, constant stalling, drama filled evenings with our simple to implement bedtime routine strategies.
Learn More3 year olds may occasionally nap for a long time
Because your preschooler may eventually drop the afternoon nap, there will be some days on and days off. This can look like Monday and Tuesday there was rest time instead of nap time. Then Wednesday, a nap!
You still do want to wake a napping toddler if the nap is going to interrupt bedtime. If bedtime is 7pm, you want to wake up your toddler by 3:30pm at the latest. Typically. If there was a very active event, vacation, or some late nights, you may not need to.
But on the whole, don’t let your preschooler nap too long. It’ll interrupt bedtime. Or it’ll do the next thing…
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Your 3 year old starts waking up in the night
If your 3 year old’s sleep schedule feels like a mystery and there is some night waking… take heart. Typically 3 year olds only need a certain amount of time in the bed. If your child is getting over 12 or 13 hours a day (including the nap) then there may be some night waking.
Your 3 year old might wake up at 7am, go down for a nap at 1pm, wake up at 4 pm, then go to bed at 7pm. By 1pm your child may wake up and stay awake for an hour or two! This is fairly typical and means that the nap is too long.
Solution: shorten the afternoon nap or move bedtime back slightly.
Your 3 year old fights a nap until naptime is almost over… AND THEN falls asleep
This is a gem. Boy, these precious kids. You put your child down for a nap at naptime. There is playing and singing and games and just when you think rest time is over… the nap has started.
The temptation is very strong to let the child sleep. I discourage this! I mean sure, 30 minutes is fine, but don’t let an hour or two nap start when the nap is supposed to be ending. This will push back bedtime. Your 3 year old will get overtired.
Get a second wind.
And then it’ll be off to the races.
Solution: make sure naptime is over 4 hours before you want to put your 3 year old to bed.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The goal of rest time is to create a calm environment for our kids to decompress. If they are crying because they think they have to go to sleep, assure them that during rest time they can do quiet activities in their bed. Try giving them their favorite book, stuffed animal, etc. to try to calm them down and make it a fun time instead of stressful.
I recommend a night light or a dim light that they can still see as they quietly play but I don’t leave the full light on.
It totally depends on the child. Changing their wake times gradually will take longer but they will often not notice the change as much. Changing cold turkey is faster but they will be tired for a few days while they adjust.
Sources:
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Routines are everything in our home. I have 4 under 6 and I wouldn’t survive with everyone’s sleep schedules if they didn’t have a consistent routine they depended upon. I love the idea of moving our child’s bedtime forward. That’s something my husband and I do as well. Thanks for the rest of your tips, friend!
Hi Rachel,
My firstborn little boy just turned 3 last month and I am struggling with naptimes already. He refuses to take a nap especially on the weekends ‘coz he just wants to play. He ends up overtired and will have a hard time going to bed at night. We still do our bedtime routine though, so his night time sleep is still good. But I tell you, this afternoon naps should continue until he’s at least 7. I just so wish it! Thank you for this read, Rachel.
Truly,
Donna
Is it ok if rest time is tv time?
Hi Rachel, I really enjoy reading your tips but think that I will completely fail if I try to apply them myself. It might work with my little one age two but my thre year old daugther will refuse to comply with the rules I set up for sleeping/napping/getting upp in the mornin gand so on. She is very insisting that I stay with her till she sleeps (bedtime) and refuses to sleep (nap) even when she need to and even that she we stay in the room with lights out and a very relaxed atmosphere. Going to sleep has ben a problem since she was born and she has always been quite restless. I would like to read some post of yours dealing with children that are very insisting when it comes to “having it there way”.
kind regards,
Ditte
Look at her posts on sleep crutches and be firm and consistent. This helped me a ton with my toddler!
I have a 3.5 year old who has never missed a nap the trouble I have is she goes to sleep 12:30 and won’t wake until 3:30-4 and sometimes we wake her then back in bed around 8:15 asleep about 8:30-8:45 no fuss and then awake 8 pm so she is a great sleeper though I’d prefer a smaller nap and bed at 7:30. How can I manage this?
Have you tried waking her from her nap 15 minutes earlier and putting her to bed 15 minutes earlier for a few days until it sticks, then bumping it back another 15 minutes for a few days until you’ve got her at your target wake and sleep times?
LOVE your tips and I have 2 and have tried to follow them since they were little! They have really helped. Yet I have tried to implement the wake times and quiet times in crib or room for my 3yr old, but he SCREAMS until he is hoarse if I do this. I am lost how to deal with this…let him scream? Give in and take him out? oi parenting is hard!
Well nobody wants to listen to screaming, that’s for sure! I wonder if there’s a way to get him to calm down and then implement it? What does he like that’ll help calm him? Is he screaming so that you’ll come back and let him out?
Our 3 year old sneaks out of bed upstairs and leaves her room, naptime or nighttime. She is so quiet we don’t hear it. She refuses to follow the green light idea, she touches the buttons and changes the times. Putting it up high, she just refuses to obey it. She will fall asleep by 9 and wake up 530, regardless of what we do in summer. Even with blackout curtains. Our 5 older boys didn’t have sleep issues like this for this long. She also refuses to eat meals at mealtimes even without snacks in between. She’s very defiant at all times and it’s exhausting.
Jane, I have one child (of my 5) who wants to do nothing I ask, and everything I say no to. He is likely ADHD so NOT SAYING your daughter is, but I wonder if it’s something you considered asking your pediatrician about?
When you say they lay in bed and read books or sing or talk… How?! My 3 year old screams and whines and runs out of her room instantly. We have a terrible habit of allowing her to fall sleep in our bed and she insists. We also have a 1 year old that goes down by nursing with me and I don’t want my screaming three year old to wake her. So I hurriedly get my one year old to sleep while my three year old lays with us in my bed. Then I transfer the 1 year old and then cuddle the 3 year old to sleep. I’m so frustrated with this but don’t know how to get out of it without major tantrums. Any advice? Help!
Hi there! Unfortunately, at this point you’ll probably encounter a lot of resistance with your little one to the new routine. THat’s the bad news. The good news is that she WILL learn a new way and be okay with a bit of consistency and comfort from y’all!
Hello there , my son is 3 years old he naps for about 2 hours he wakes up around 3:30pm and I really struggle with him at night he refuses to go to bed. I also noticed him being different in terms of behavior crying and being fussy about the simple things and he wants me to be next to him especially at night time. All this happened after having a newborn baby. Any tips to deal with his anxiety and fussiness ?
I’d shorten his nap to 1.5 hours and see if that helps. Often at 3 years old that 2 hour nap will really mess up bedtime or cause super early wakings!
Hi Rachel our 3 yr old skips naps alot lately. We put her to bed at 7pm on those days. On nap days we wake her after 1 hour and bed at 8pm. Lately she’s started waking middle of nights for hours :( not sick or sad Just chatting. But keeping the whole house awake. Any tips?
This is actually quite common. Oh man, it’s hard too isn’t it? Sounds like she is trying to drop those naps. Many children, once they hit 3 years of age, they stop napping altogether so this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Does she wake on the nights she does not nap or every night?
Ill like not follow the schedule you shared, I see that my son now at 3 needs about a 6 hour wake time before he gets sleepy/tired.
Do I just do it cold turkey and wake him up at 730am everyday or do I transition slowly waking him up 15 mins earlier each day until I reach desired wake up? Our usual wake up time is 830am
If you like your wake up time then that’s totally fine, move back naptime to something like 2:30 pm or so?
What i really want to know is how you got your 3yr old to read. Any tips is greatly appreciated.
You want your 3 year old to read?
Hi Rachel- excellent article and tips, as always. :) Since August, my son (turning 3 in January) has been able to climb out of his crib. We didn’t plan on transitioning him for a while, and I still believe he lacks the self-control to cope. For naps, I will implement your advice to have books, toys, etc. for rest time but what do I do at night time? If he doesn’t want to sleep (even though he’s tired), then he just climbs out of bed and runs around his room. This is developing into a bad habit that isn’t good for anyone. Thanks in advance, Lori
Is there light in his room? Our toddlers sleep in a dark room so running around isn’t really possible (they can still see well enough to get up if they need to, they just don’t really want to play when they risk bumping into stuff!) We are also firm and consistent about them not getting out of bed unless there’s a good reason (scared or need to use the toilet/potty).
Hi I am just wondering if you ever had issues around the 2.5 year mark. Our son was seeping 8 pm-7 am and napping 2 pm-4 pm like clockwork then suddenly started climbing out of his crib, screaming at the end of a 40 minute nap, and refusing to put himself to sleep like he has since he was 4 months old. Originally we took the side off his crib but he wouldn’t stay in his bed, so we replaced it and lowered the mattress to the floor. He has gotten used to one of us laying with him to fall asleep and I don’t know how to break that habit as he will just scream and scream. Just hoping for any input you might have! Thank you!
What time did he wake up, go to bed, and go to nap?
Hey there,
You said your kids have to stay in their rooms until 7:30 and that you have the wake clock. Can you expand on how you get them to stay in there? My 3(.25 lol) daughter cries upon waking every. single. time. Right now she’s waking at 5:30a (we’re in a nightmare currently), and her ‘designated’ wake time is at least ~6:15a (7:30p-6:30a ideal). She has a wake clock, but she doesn’t care, she doesn’t pay attention to it. Do I let her cry? I’ve tried to explain the clock a thousand times, but it doesn’t do the trick. Thank you for the advise and for your wonderful articles!
I’d probably take a look at her schedule and see if she’s sleeping too much during the day/night which is causing her to wake early. Some kids wake early and then make a huge deal to start the day. Others are getting enough sleep and so naturally wake at 530 because they’ve had enough. I’d rule that out first!
Hi Rachel,
When you let your 3 1/2 yr old takes books or soft toys to bed, how do you manage the light? Do you leave the light on the whole nap, or for say, 15 minutes?
Same question when they wake up, if there light alarm hasn’t turned on yet, do they stay in the dark?
Our daughter has always slept in pitch black, even as a newborn, if there was any light, she’d stay awake to observe everything.
But I’m trying to figure out a way to make bed less scary right now.
She is fighting naps and bedtime, I THINK out of fear because our beloved bunny just died unexpectedly a few weeks ago.
She is suddenly aware of death as a tangible thing, and scared that our dog will die. We listen, talk, pray with her, encourage her to allow herself to feel her emotions over the loss, let her see our grief and tears as well.
But back to sleep, we are getting into a vicious cycle of keeping herself awake, then exhausted/cranky/defiant(unusual for her) all day, then too tired to sleep.
I wil have a nightlight or that type of thing, I won’t leave a full light on. And yes, I don’t turn lights on in the morning, I don’t even go in there until it’s time to start the day! And yes, as far as benig scared now that death has occurred, this is something I”d likely role play and talk through and read books about to help her process!
I have three year old twins who used to have great sleepers. For the past three weeks they wake up at 4am. Doesn’t matter bedtime, nap time, meal time. Every thing results in a 4am wake up. I’m at my wits end and don’t know what to do. They used to wake up at 6-6:30 every morning. I have thought about separating them but they are very opposed to that. Any help would be so appreciated.
do they wake up to play with each other? As in, does one wake up and wake the other up? 3 is a time when naps start to phase out so if they are still napping I’d try to shorten that nap and see if thleps.
We are helping raise our 3 year old granddaughter. She isn’t on a good sleep schedule right now. I like the schedule that you listed. I have the same question as another person in the comments. Do we just start waking her up at 7:30 or gradually wake her up earlier each day?
I’d probably do it cold turkey if it were me, ha, but she’ll be tired!
So my daughter had been on a great routine up until she was about 2.5yrs old, husband took a travel job and we went with him. Threw out whole routine out the door. Decided to stop traveling and I’ve been trying to get her back on a good sleep routine. She just turned 3 a couple months ago, she used to nap for 2-3hrs during the day and still go to bed at 6 perfectly fine. Now that she’s older I’m trying to find a good nap length. But no matter the nap length I do if I put her down at 6:30/7 she will stay up until 8:30/9. Is this ok? She will nap sometimes for two hours. Other days she doesn’t nap at all. So also if she doesn’t nap do I leave her in there for the full two hours for quiet time? Or do I let her out after about an hour of being in there rambling and playing on her own? I feel bad if she’s in there just rambling and stuff for two hours lol. So basically I’m wondering if 2hrs of alone quiet time in a dim room is ok lol. And if when she takes a nap is it ok that she then takes about an hour to fall asleep at night? Or should I shorten her woukd be nap to only an hour? I’ve done that tho and she still took an hour to fall asleep. So idk. Mixed up about this lol. Thanks!
My 2/12 grandson use yo be a great sleeper. As of 6 months ago no nap but has 1 hour quiet time. His schedule is working for him and family . He wakes at 6:30 up at 7 and bedtime 730. At 730 he turns into a monster . Getting pjs on is a battle and after his hugs and books he starts screaming. What can we do