Bedtime Fading: Step-by-Step Plan for Toddlers and Preschoolers 15-48 Months

Before implementing this plan, we recommend reading our comprehensive post on Bedtime Fading.

Pre-work

• Implement a short, predictable bedtime routine lasting 20–30 minutes (e.g., bath → pajamas → books → song → lights out).

• Keep a consistent morning wake time. Aim to wake your child up during the same ~30 minute range with a morning routine.

• Review other sleep training approaches. Determine whether you need to combine bedtime fading with another approach or with response cost.

• Keep naps as stable as you can. If your child is over 2.5, you may need to shorten the nap considerably. Most toddlers over age 2.5 need 6-7 hours awake between the end of the nap and bedtime. Avoid nap transitions during this time.

Step 1

• Identify your baby's natural sleep onset time. Take a week to log the times that your child actually falls asleep each night. Calculate the average time your child fell asleep. This is your child's current biological bedtime. Do not worry if this time is socially late.

  • For example, we'll use 9:30 pm as the biological bedtime.

Step 2

• Set the initial "faded" bedtime. This time should be 15–30 minutes after your child's biological bedtime. This ensures your child approaches bedtime with sufficient sleep pressure to fall asleep quickly. This might be very late and that's ok!

• Complete your bedtime routine and put your child in bed at the faded bedtime.

  • For our example, the bedtime routine might last from 9:20-9:45 pm and you would put your child in bed at 9:45 pm.

Step 3

• Repeat the faded bedtime each night until your child is falling asleep within 15–20 minutes consistently. This typically takes 4-7 nights, but it can take longer if you are combining bedtime fading with a behavioral intervention or response cost.

  • For our example, it might go like this, your child takes 25 minutes to fall asleep the first night, 35 minutes to fall asleep the second night, 30 minutes the third night, 15 minutes the fourth night, 10 minutes the fifth night, 20 minutes the sixth night.

Step 4

• Darken the room/house for ~30 minutes before your target bedtime. This will help your child produce melatonin earlier. You don't need to sit in a completely blacked out room, but close the curtains and use low-level light as you play in the evening. It will take time for your baby's circadian rhythm to shift. Turning down the lights early will accelerate that process.

  • In our example, let's say your target bedtime is 8:30 pm. That means you would close the curtains around 8 pm and play in the living room using a dim table lamp until you start your child's bedtime routine.

• Shorten or shift naps. You may need to shift or shorten your child's nap to ensure s/he has 6-7 hours of awake time before your target bedtime. Every 2-3 days, shift nap(s) 15 minutes earlier or shorten the nap by 15 minutes.

  Shift bedtime earlier. Every 2–3 nights, put your child down 15 minutes earlier until you reach your target bedtime. Be realistic about how much sleep your child can achieve overnight. Most toddlers will only be able to sleep 9-11 hours overnight, with ~11-13 hours in a 24-hour period on average. That means an early bedtime will result in an early wake time. If your child takes a long time to fall asleep, don't shift bedtime earlier the next night. You may even need to shift bedtime 15 minutes later again to ensure your little one is able to fall asleep consistently before shifting earlier again.

  • In our example, you would put your child down at 9:30 pm for 2-3 nights, 9:15 pm for 2-3 nights, 9:00 pm for 2-3 nights, 8:45 pm for 2-3 nights, and finally 8:30 pm.

  • Naps would need to end ~6.5 hours earlier at 3 pm, 2:45 pm, 2:30 pm, 2:15 pm, and 2:00 pm, respectively.

🎉 Congratulations! You're done! Your child should be falling asleep at your target bedtime without struggle.

Need More Help?

If you need a little help to figure this out or if you are facing other challenges, then please check out our other blogs, our newborn class, and sleep training class. We have other blogs on schedules, naps, travel, toddler issues, and more! If you just need to talk to someone who can help you devise a sleep plan, then feel free to book a one-on-one consultation with us. We are moms with advanced degrees in sleep, nursing, and behavior analysis. We are always happy to help!