With the clocks moving forward an hour, it means one hour less sleep, and you’re probably wondering how that might affect your little one’s routine. Good news is that a smooth transition is absolutely possible.
One thing to be mindful of with the spring clock change is the lighter evenings. Try to keep your little one’s room as dark as possible, as extra daylight can make it harder for them to fall asleep and stay asleep.
To help make the change easier, I’ve put together a simple guide for different ages, with tips on how to adjust your child’s routine when the clocks change.
If you have a little one who naturally wakes up early, then this clock change might work in your favour! It can help shift those early mornings a little later, which is a win for many parents. However, if you have an established routine and are worried about having to wake up your little one. Then the tips below will help you with this transition!
Clock change affecting school age children sleep?
For children that no longer have a nap this makes the change a little bit easier. What you need to do is ‘split the difference’ which means splitting the time they usually go to bed and the ‘new’ clock. An example of this would be if your child’s usual bedtime is 7pm then aim on the day the clocks change to put them into bed at 7.30pm. If you continue these timings for 3 nights. Some children may find this tricky so you could consider moving the time 15 minutes every couple of days instead.
Does time change affect toddler sleep?
Toddlers and babies over 13 months usually move to one nap a day. Around the clock change, it can help to “split the difference” between their nap and bedtime for a few days.
For example, if your little one usually naps at 12:30pm, try moving their nap slightly later to 1:00pm for the first few days after the clocks change. The slightly longer wake window might feel a bit tricky for them, so you may need to keep them a little more entertained than usual. Getting outside for some fresh air or offering a small natural snack can really help bridge that extra time.
At bedtime, if your toddler normally goes down at 7:00pm, try shifting this to 7:30pm for the first three nights after the clock change.
Then you can gradually move things back:
- Night 4: Return to the usual 7:00pm bedtime
- Day 5: Move their nap back to the normal time
This gentle adjustment helps their body clock catch up without making the change feel too sudden.
How to help my baby adjust to time change?
Babies are the trickiest when it comes to clock changes as they are most sensitive to change with timings. It is important that you are consistent with the same wake windows and their normal routine.
For babies over 4 months, a gradual adjustment to their internal clock tends to work best when the clocks change. Making small shifts over a few days helps their body adapt more easily.
For example, if your little one normally goes to bed at 7:00pm, you can move bedtime 15 minutes earlier each night until you’re back to their usual schedule.
It might look something like this:
- Sunday night: 7:45pm
- Monday night: 7:30pm
- Tuesday night: 7:15pm
- Wednesday night: back to the usual 7:00pm bedtime
By the fourth night, your baby should be comfortably back into their normal routine, with minimal disruption to their sleep.
Does time change affect newborn sleep?
The good news for parents of newborns, who are likely running on little sleep, is that there’s nothing you need to do! Newborns typically don’t follow a set routine, so it’s best to just let them be!
If you have any further questions on the Spring clock change, please feel free to reach out and book in for a free 15 minute call.
