What's a 'sleep'?
Little kids don't really get 'days,' but they totally get bedtime. A sleep is one night in bed, so the number of sleeps is the number of nights left before Christmas morning. Tonight counts as one. On Christmas Eve the counter says 1, and that's the night Santa comes. We count it in your own time zone using your device's clock, so the number flips over at your local midnight.
Why a sleep countdown works
In my house, "how many more days?" starts around Halloween and doesn't stop. Turning it into sleeps gives kids a number they can feel shrinking. Saying it out loud at bedtime becomes a tiny ritual, and the excitement goes somewhere useful instead of turning into whining. It also helps with the Elf on the Shelf crowd, who like to know exactly how many mornings of mischief are left.
Ideas to make the wait fun
Make a paper chain with one link per sleep and tear one off each morning. Use an Advent calendar; the first door opens on December 1, which is 24 sleeps before Christmas. Pick one small Christmas activity per weekend: there are 10 weekends left, enough for cookie baking, a light drive, a movie night and a trip to see Santa.
For older kids, try the "sleeps and school days" version: they'll be thrilled to learn there are only about 49 weekdays until a typical winter break starts. See our winter break countdown.
For grown-ups
If you need the boring version, open the full Christmas countdown with hours and minutes, or business days until Christmas for shipping and work deadlines.