This weekend in Europe Daylight Savings Time ends. Which means on Sunday 27th October at 3am the clocks go back 1 hour. This can be quite difficult for many parents, to see their child wake up 1 hour earlier in the morning!

So the first thing I would recommend to all parents is just to leave the clocks alone as it can be quite upsetting to get up in the 5 or 6 o’clock hour (if you are used to getting up after 7am!) Just get up at your usual time and start the day. After your cup of coffee and a bit of breakfast, then you can go around changing the clocks. It will feel much better this way, trust me!

My best advice for children to help them with the change is to split the difference with the old time and the new time.  How does that work? 

See my recommendations below for different aged children.

School Age Children:

Let’s say your child usually goes to bed at 7pm. I recommend putting that child to bed at 6:30pm for the first three days following the time change. (This will FEEL like 7:30pm to your child). Then on the fourth night put them to bed at 7pm (or whatever their normal time is). It will take about a week for your child’s body to get used to this.

Toddlers:

If you have a child that is 1 year or older then on the day of the time change you would put them down for their nap 30 minutes earlier than usual. So, if your little one usually takes a morning nap around 9:30am, you will adjust this to 9am on the day of the change (this will FEEL like 10am). It will feel a bit later than usual for your child, but not so much that it will cause much damage to their schedule. Then do the same for the afternoon nap (if they have a second nap).

For bedtime, if your child usually goes to bed at 7pm. I recommend putting that child to bed at 6:30pm for the first three days following the time change. (This will FEEL like 7:30pm to your child). Then on the fourth night put them to bed at 7pm (or whatever their normal time is). On the 5th day move the naptimes to the normal time.

Infants:

If your baby is under the age of 7 months and their bedtimes and naptimes are not yet predictable just jump into the new time on the day of the change and use their usual wake windows as a guide.

If your baby is on a fixed schedule (usually 7/8 months and older) then on the day of the time change start 45 minutes earlier than usual and move them 15 minutes each day. So if morning nap time is usually 9:30am then on Sunday put them down at 8:45am (this will FEEL like 9:45am to your child). Then on Monday put them down at 9:00am, Tuesday would be 9:15am, Wednesday 9:30am. Do the same for the afternoon nap. If bedtime is usually 7pm then on the first day of the time change put them to bed at 6:15pm (this will FEEL like 7:15pm), then the second night would be 6:30pm, then 6:45pm until you reach 7pm on the fourth night.

Tips:

A great thing about this time change is that there are more hours of darkness which helps make this transition a little easier.  If your child wakes up too early, walk them back to their room and tell them it’s not time to get up yet.   If your child wakes up too early and is in a crib, be sure to help his body understand it isn’t morning time by keeping him in his crib in the dark room until normal wake time.   

Note for Toddlers/School-aged children: If you have a toddler or an older child who relies on a clock to know when their “morning time” has arrived, set the clock as per the times recommended above until you get back to their usual time.

Be Patient. It is normal to see our little ones take a bit more time to fall asleep after the clock change. You might notice that they are tired a little earlier. It usually takes about a week or two for children and babies to completely adjust to the new time, for some children it can take up to a month. Be patient and consistent, and don't worry it will happen.

Get outside! The daylight helps to set our circadian rhythm so get outside as much as you can to help your body clock adjust to the new time.