¡Hola! Welcome back.
In our last lesson, we focused on starting the day in Spanish with ¡despierta! and buenos días. Now, we'll complete the daily cycle by learning the phrases you need to end the day. This lesson will teach you how to signal that it's time for bed and how to say good night, focusing on the key expressions vamos a la cama and buenas noches. This will help you establish a comforting and consistent bedtime routine with your son.
1. The Essential Good Night: Buenas noches
The most fundamental phrase for the end of the day is Buenas noches. Just like Buenos días, it's a polite and universally understood expression.
An interesting thing about Buenas noches is that it serves two purposes. It can mean "Good evening" when you arrive somewhere at night, but it also means "Good night" when you are leaving or going to sleep. For your purposes, you'll be using it as the final, comforting phrase before your son goes to sleep.
Let's look at a resource that lists common bedtime phrases.
Spanish for Bedtime Routines: +30 Words & Lullaby Phrases
The article 'Spanish for Bedtime Routines' provides a list of comforting phrases perfect for ending the day with a child.
Please read the short section under the heading 'Dulces Sueños (Goodnight Phrases)'. Notice how the example for 'Buenas Noches' is 'Buenas noches, te amo' (Good night, I love you). This shows how you can combine it with affectionate words you already know.
As you can see, you can say Buenas noches on its own, or make it more personal, like Buenas noches, mi amor (Good night, my love).
2. Announcing Bedtime: It's Time to Sleep
Before saying good night, you need to announce that it's time to go to bed. The most direct and collaborative way to do this is with the phrase Vamos a la cama, which means "Let's go to bed." The word vamos implies you are doing it together, which is encouraging for a young child.
There are several other wonderful and very common ways to say this. Let's explore them in another resource.
It's Bedtime! Say 'Goodnight' in Spanish and 40+ Sleepy ...
The article 'It's Bedtime! Say 'Goodnight' in Spanish' offers a great list of phrases related to going to sleep.
Scroll down to the list under the heading 'Sleepy Phrases'. Find these key phrases and their translations: 'Vámos a la cama' (Let's go to bed.) 'Es hora de ir a dormir.' (It's time to go to sleep.) 'Es hora de ir a la cama.' (It's time to go to bed.)
Here is a summary of your best options for signaling bedtime:
Vamos a la cama.- "Let's go to bed." (A gentle suggestion to do it together)Es hora de ir a la cama.- "It's time to go to bed." (A clear statement)Es hora de dormir.- "It's time to sleep." (Another clear statement)A dormir.- "Time to sleep" or "To sleep." (A very common, short, and sweet command)
You can choose whichever feels most natural at the moment.
3. Putting It All into a Routine
Creating a routine is all about repetition and clear steps. A visual aid can be very helpful for a child. Look at this simple night routine chart.
You can now build a simple sequence for your son:
- Announce:
Es hora de ir a la cama.(It's time to go to bed.) - Suggest the action:
Vamos a la cama.(Let's go to bed.) - Once tucked in, say farewell:
Buenas noches.(Good night.)
To see how this all flows together in a very child-friendly way, let's watch a short video. It models a full bedtime routine and uses several of our key phrases in a song.
Goodnight, Baby! Spanish Bedtime Fun for Babies and Toddlers!
The channel 'Spanish with Liz' has an excellent video that walks through a bedtime routine for a toddler. It's engaging and uses the exact vocabulary we're learning.
Watch the clip from 12:42 to 17:29. Listen for phrases like 'es hora de dormir', 'apagamos la luz' (we turn off the light), 'Buenas noches', and the bedtime song with 'A dormir, a dormir'.
The video shows how you can mix these simple phrases with songs and actions to make bedtime a positive experience in Spanish.
Test your understanding!
It's the end of the day and you want to start the bedtime routine with your son. What could you say to him to mean "Let's go to bed," and what would you say once he is tucked in?
Show answer
You could say:
Vamos a la cama.(Let's go to bed.)- Once he is in bed, you would say:
Buenas noches.(Good night.)
Key Takeaways
¡Muy bien! You have now learned the essential phrases for a peaceful bedtime routine, completing the daily cycle we started in the last lesson.
- To say "Good night" as a farewell before sleep, you use
Buenas noches. - To announce that it's time for bed, you can use
Vamos a la cama(Let's go to bed) orEs hora de ir a la cama(It's time to go to bed). - A shorter, very common alternative is simply
A dormir(Time to sleep).
Next Steps
With this lesson, we've completed our module on morning and evening routines. You now have the basic phrases to start and end the day with your son in Spanish.
In our next lesson, we will move on to a new and very important topic for daily life: Food & Mealtime Conversations. We'll start by learning the names of common foods and drinks like pan, leche, and fruta.
¡Hasta la próxima