Why the count matters
Every other weekend is the usual shape when one home holds the school week, and it’s easy to overestimate. Unless the plan adds a Sunday night or a midweek overnight, the weekend parent has two nights a fortnight.
What two weeks look like
| Every other weekend custody schedule: who has the children each night, over the two-week cycle | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Week 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Every other weekend plus a midweek overnight: who has the children each night, over the two-week cycle | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Week 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Both start on the weekend parent’s Friday. The first returns the children on Sunday evening; the second keeps them until Monday’s school drop-off and adds every Wednesday night.
Counting the nights
| Weekend parent has | Nights per 2 weeks | Nights per year | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday to Sunday evening | 2 | about 52 | 86/14 |
| Friday to Monday school drop-off | 3 | about 78 | 79/21 |
| Friday to Monday, plus every Wednesday night | 5 | about 130 | 64/36 |
In many places the number of overnights also feeds into child support, so the arrangement written in your plan is the one to count. This page only counts nights; ask your lawyer or check your local child-support guidelines for what they mean where you live.
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Other rotations
- Alternating weeks custody schedule calendarWeek on, week off. One handover a week, always on the same day.
- 2-2-5-5 custody schedule calendarAlso called 5-2-2-5. Same weekdays every week, alternating weekends.
- 2-2-3 custody schedule calendarTwo nights, two nights, three nights. Then the same again with the parents swapped.
Questions
- How many overnights is every other weekend?
- Two every fortnight if the children come back on Sunday evening, about 52 a year. Keeping them until Monday’s school drop-off makes it three, about 78 a year.
- What is a 60/40 custody schedule with alternating weekends?
- Usually every other weekend from Friday to Monday morning, plus one midweek overnight every week. That’s 5 of every 14 nights for the weekend parent: closer to 64/36, but commonly called 60/40.
- How do I set up every other weekend in the calendar maker?
- Pick “Every other weekend”, set the first day to the Friday of the first weekend, and choose the weekend parent under “Who has the kids that day?”.
- Does every other weekend include holidays?
- No. Holidays and school breaks normally follow separate rules in the parenting plan; add them as their own events.