Six tips for adjusting your baby to this weekend's clock change

Sleep expert Lucy Wolfe runs down the ways you can get your child ready for daylight savings

Clocks go forward this Sunday.

Erratic rainstorms, longer evenings, and daffodils in full bloom - spring is officially in the air. With the official passing of winter, however, also comes the painful transition into daylight savings time.

During the wee hours this Sunday, our clocks go forward for the season, causing us to lose an hour's sleep. For parents of young children, of course, this is a much bigger deal than simply switching a few clock hands around.

“The time change is a big concern for many families especially for those who have historically struggled with their children’s sleep, recently worked to achieve better sleep or who have experienced disrupted sleep after a previous time change,” says pediatric sleep consultant, Lucy Wolfe.

Lucy Wolfe is a pediatric sleep consultant and baby expert.

Lucy, who wrote  The Baby Sleep Solution, often hears from worried parents around this time of year. A recent US survey even indicated that 77% of parents are  concerned with the effect of daylight savings on their child’s sleeping pattern and a whopping 59% dread the potential disruption more than tax return season.

However, there is no need to panic ahead of this weekend, with lots of easy ways to prep your baby for the clock change.

Make sure they’re well-rested 

There’s no need to try to keep your little awake all day in the hopes of getting them down an hour early on Saturday night. 

Lucy actually recommends paying specific attention to daytime sleep in the lead-up and letting them nap as much as needed.

“Do your best to prepare your child for this transition by ensuring that they are well rested in the run-up. Pay specific attention to daytime sleep and fill this need as much as possible,” she recommends.

Think of the transition as a marathon, not a sprint. It's going to take them a few days to adjust, so don't torture yourself by skipping naptime. 

Create a sleep-friendly environment 

As usual, a dark and quiet environment should help with getting babies to go down and might also avoid early-rising. 

With the clocks going forward, this is the perfect time to hopefully enjoy those early risers sleeping in that extra little bit. 

If they sleep in an extra few minutes, embrace it, but don't let them sleep past 7:30am.

“Make sure that you have blackout blinds and a sleep-friendly environment to help with going to sleep and to avoid unnecessary early rising,” Lucy says. “This is often a chance for routine early risers to improve their wake time.” 

Try the gradual adjustment approach 

Adjust your child's schedule by 15 minutes a day.

Consider moving your child’s schedule earlier by 15 minutes every day, starting today. Adjust meals and nap times and their wake-time accordingly so that within the week, you’re on the new clock.

“Don’t start the day before 6am and awake no later than 7:15am,” Lucy recommends. “Provide naps, meals, and feeds 15 minutes earlier all day, along with a bedtime that is 15 minutes earlier than the day before.” 

Repeat for the next four days so that by Monday night, your original bedtime has been adjusted one hour earlier.

Recommendation based on 7pm bedtime 

• Friday bedtime: 6:45pm (current clock)
• Saturday: 6:30pm (current clock)
• Sunday: 7:15pm (old 6:15pm)
• Monday: 7pm (old 6pm)

Split the difference 

“If you prefer, do nothing until the day of the change,” Lucy says. “Make sure you either treat any wake before 6:30am ‘new time’ as night time and wake your child by 07:30am ‘new time’ that morning so that the internal body clock is not interrupted and won’t disrupt your nap and bedtime rhythm.” 

Follow your usual daily routine on Sunday, addressing meals, naps, and bedtime as you always do but offering a level of flexibility, possibly splitting the difference between the old-time and the new time.

“This means that your child is potentially going to bed 30 minutes earlier than normal,” Lucy says.

“They may struggle as their inner-clock may resist this, but within three to seven days their system will adjust and your regular timetable will run just fine. If necessary add an extra 10 to15 minutes to your current bedtime routine to help with the transition” 

Don’t force anything

Your baby's schedule should adjust after a week.

“Bear in mind that we do not really want the time change to achieve anything, except that by the end of the week we are on the same time schedule that we have always been on prior to the spring forward,” Lucy says.

“Attempting to the get the time change to adjust bedtime or create a later wake time rarely has a positive result, often resulting in night time activity and decreased nap durations by day.” 

Don’t panic 

While the clock change can be a hindrance, there’s no need to let it upset your weekend. While the change might result in a brief challenge to your baby’s internal clock, everything should settle by next week.

“Overall, I discourage any unnecessary worry around this adjustment. Even though the change may result in a brief challenge to the internal body clock, by continuing to define the morning as no earlier than 6am and no later than 7:30am in the days following the change, the hope would be that your typical bed and wake times can be re-established within the week,” Lucy says.

“The shift forward is less disruptive than the transition back and may for some families help to establish a later wake time in some instances.”

• This article was first published in March 2021