2-2-3 custody schedule calendar

Why it’s hard to keep in your head

The 2-2-3 is built around short stretches, and it’s also the hardest rotation to remember: no weekday belongs to the same parent two weeks running, so “whose Tuesday is it?” has a different answer every week.

What two weeks look like

The top row is the first week, the bottom row the second. Then it repeats.

What it’s good at, and what it costs

• Short time away: the longest stretch with one parent is three nights.
• Weekends alternate: each parent has Friday to Sunday every other week.
• Six handovers every two weeks, three a week. Each one is a pickup, a bag and a moment of contact between parents.
• No fixed weekdays: anything tied to a weekday switches parents every week.

The trade is short stretches against frequent handovers. If the handovers start to cost more than the short stretches are worth, often as routines start to matter more, 2-2-5-5 keeps the same weekdays with four handovers a fortnight, and alternating weeks needs only two.

Making handovers easier

A handover at school or daycare, where one parent drops off in the morning and the other picks up, avoids a doorstep exchange. Set the handover time in the generator to the pickup time and the calendar gets a handover entry on each changeover day: Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

How to add it to your calendar

The file works with every major calendar app. Import it once and the rotation fills in for as long as you chose.

1. 1

   Find the rotation and start date in your parenting plan

   Check the plan for the pattern’s name or the days it lists for each parent, and the date the arrangement begins.

2. 2

   Set up the calendar

   Pick the schedule, enter both names so each block reads “Kids with …”, then choose the first day and who has the children that day.

3. 3

   Check the preview

   Flip to a month you already know and compare. If the days look shifted, the first day or the parent who has it is off.

4. 4

   Download the calendar file, or print it

   The .ics file holds one all-day event per block, each repeating every two weeks until the end date you picked. Add a handover time to get a short handover entry on each changeover day. For paper, Print or save as PDF puts each year on one page.

5. 5

   Import it

   iPhone or iPad: open the file and tap Add All. Mac: double-click it, or File → Import in Calendar. Google Calendar: on a computer, Settings → Import & export → Import, then pick the calendar. Outlook: Add calendar → Upload from file.

What a calendar file can’t do

• It’s a copy of your schedule, not the schedule. Your parenting plan or court order is what counts; where the two differ, the order wins.
• It contains the regular rotation only. Holidays, school breaks and birthdays usually replace the rotation for a few days, and every plan words them differently. Add those as separate events and delete the single days they replace.
• An imported file doesn’t sync. If each parent imports it, an agreed swap only changes the copy that gets edited. To keep one version you both see, create a shared calendar in iCloud or Google Calendar, import the file into it, and invite the other parent.
• Nothing you type is uploaded. The file is built in your browser and saved straight to your device; we only count which rotation was downloaded.

Never miss a handover

The calendar file shows whose day it is. Smart Calendars adds what a file can’t: an alarm before each handover that rings until you stop it, with three sounds and Snooze, on iPhone and iPad with iOS 26 or later. Describe the schedule in a sentence, the way you’d explain it to a friend, and ask for the alarms; the calendar maker above writes that sentence for your exact schedule.

Add the dates your plan treats differently, like holidays, school breaks and agreed swaps, by typing them the way you’d text them or by photographing that page of the plan. You check every event before it’s saved, and you can share the calendar with your co-parent by link, QR code or .ics file.

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Other rotations

• 2-2-5-5 custody schedule calendarAlso called 5-2-2-5. Same weekdays every week, alternating weekends.
• 3-4-4-3 custody schedule calendarThree nights and four, then four and three. Six of the seven weekdays never change hands.
• Alternating weeks custody schedule calendarWeek on, week off. One handover a week, always on the same day.

Compare all 50/50 rotations

Questions

How many handovers does a 2-2-3 schedule have?

Six every two weeks: on the Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week.

Who has the weekends on a 2-2-3?

They alternate. The parent who has Monday and Tuesday in a given week also has that week’s Friday to Sunday.

What’s the difference between 2-2-3 and 2-2-5-5?

In 2-2-5-5 each parent keeps the same two weekdays every week and each weekend becomes part of a five-night stretch, so there are four handovers a fortnight instead of six. In 2-2-3 the weekdays swap every week.

Can a 2-2-3 start on a day other than Monday?

Yes. Set any start date in the generator. Starting on a Monday keeps the three-night block on Friday to Sunday; any other start day moves it into the week.