70/30 custody schedules designate one primary custodial parent while ensuring meaningful time with the other. These work for families where distance or work schedules make equal splits impractical. Depending on the specific schedule, the primary parent has 243–261 overnights per year.
Compare the 3 common 70/30 patterns below — each calendar shows how two weeks split between homes.
The every weekend schedule gives one parent all 5 weekdays and the other parent every weekend. This provides consistency for school-age children while ensuring regular weekend time with the non-custodial parent. It's the simplest 70/30 schedule and the most common starting point when one parent is the established primary caregiver.
261/104 overnights per year · 2 exchanges per 7-day cycle
The every third week schedule runs on a 3-week cycle — children spend 2 consecutive weeks with one parent, then 1 full week with the other. Best for families where distance makes frequent transitions impractical, including military families, long-distance coparents, and families separated by a multi-state move.
243/122 overnights per year · 2 exchanges per 21-day cycle
The every third day schedule runs on a short 3-day cycle — 2 days with the primary parent, 1 day with the other. This keeps both parents closely involved but requires very frequent transitions. Most often used as a bridge schedule for very young children or as a short-term arrangement.
243/122 overnights per year · 2 exchanges per 3-day cycle
| Schedule | Overnights per year | Exchanges | Cycle | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Every Weekend | 261 / 104 | 2 per cycle | 7 days | Families where one parent works long hours during the week |
| Every Third Week | 243 / 122 | 2 per cycle | 21 days | Long-distance co-parenting situations (different cities or states) |
| Every Third Day | 243 / 122 | 2 per cycle | 3 days | Very young children (under 5) who need frequent contact with both parents |
The primary parent has the children Monday through Friday every week. The other parent has them every Saturday and Sunday. Transitions happen Friday after school (or Saturday morning) and Sunday evening. This gives the weekend parent 2 overnights per week, 104 per year. Same transition days every week — no rotating, no calendar math.
Best for: Families where one parent works long hours during the week; Situations where children need school-week stability. Full Every Weekend guide →
The primary parent has the children for 14 consecutive days. Then the other parent has them for 7 consecutive days. This 21-day cycle repeats throughout the year. Transitions happen once every 1–2 weeks, which is ideal for families who live in different cities. The secondary parent gets ~122 overnights per year — much more than 80/20 alternating-weekends but still less than 50/50.
Best for: Long-distance co-parenting situations (different cities or states); Military families or parents who travel for work. Full Every Third Week guide →
The primary parent has the children for 2 days, then the secondary parent has them for 1 day. This 3-day cycle repeats continuously. Because it does not align with the weekly calendar, transition days shift each week. The secondary parent gets one overnight every three days, which works out to roughly 122 overnights per year (~33%).
Best for: Very young children (under 5) who need frequent contact with both parents; Parents who live very close together (same neighborhood). Full Every Third Day guide →
Download Kidtime — it builds your 70/30 calendar and tracks every handoff, swap, and overnight automatically. Free to start.