‘Fall back’ – how to prepare your child for the October clock change!
Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant
The day when clocks change is coming up and it can always be a worry that this is going to have an effect, meaning all your hard work on getting a good sleep routine in place could be ruined. Fear not! There are some easy ways to keep this on track!
This blog specifically focusses on the clock change that we have in October, where we ‘fall back’ and gain an extra hour…or we hope that this would be the case but not always so when we have little ones.
As adults, when the clocks change, we can adjust quite quickly as we can naturally adapt our routine very easily, however, children do not have the benefit of knowing what the time is or the ability to adjust their routines so easily; because of this they need our help to reset their body clocks. We need to recognise that the time change for young children can be very similar to the effects we can feel from jet lag. When we are approaching the clock change it is good to be organised and think ahead. It’s a good idea to start the preparations on the Wednesday prior to the clocks changing on the Sunday.
So, how do you do it?
There are 3 options to choose from:
Option 1:
In the days prior to the clocks changing, you want to make very slight time changes to your child’s bedtime. So, for the clocks going back, you should try to move bedtime, forward by approximately 15 mins every day from Wednesday.
For example:
On Wednesday of the week before the clocks change
Move bedtime by 15 mins. This will mean that if your child normally goes to bed at 7pm, you will put them down at 7.15pm.
On Thursday, you want to move the timings another 15 mins.
By Friday you want to have moved the timings by 45mins in total your little one will go to bed at 7.45pm (if your child’s normal bedtime is 7pm).
On Saturday adjust the timings by a final 15 minutes and on Sunday you will be on the new time schedule with very little problem for you or your little one!
Option 2:
On Saturday evening put your child to bed 30 mins later than normal. If your little one is still napping then you can put your little one down for their nap 30 mins later than normal on Saturday so that you start to make the shift over to the new time in the next day or so. Please note that this option does not guarantee that your little one won’t be up earlier on Sunday morning but it does help to adjust the body for the time change and will help them to settle quicker over the coming days.
Option 3:
It is also possible to do nothing prior to a clock change and then just adjust accordingly for the next couple of days with mealtimes and wake/bedtimes and wait for things to settle down. The importance of keeping to regular mealtimes, natural daylight etc will all help. This can work for those babies and children who are on a very loose schedule or if it feels too much to make the changes to the routine.
But what if we have to get up at that time to get to nursery etc?
I understand that with the clocks going back if your little one is at nursery or school and the later wake ups could cause an issue then you can do a quicker version of what I have outlined above, so this would be starting the moving forward by 15 mins from the Thursday (before the clocks changing on the Sunday). On the Thursday you go forward 15 mins, then Friday another 15 and then Saturday another 15 so that by Sunday you are in the same position as before. It is a much quicker process but can still work as effectively if you do not have the flexibility to do it over the week.
Some other things that can help
First of all, at night, when starting the bedtime routine, but then also when your little one is in bed, make sure that the room is dark (blackout blinds are essential, especially in the summer months) as this will help with the production of the sleep hormone and will make settling at bedtime easier. In addition, black out blinds will also help to stop early morning waking on the lighter mornings. Then, when you are getting your little one up in the morning you need to make sure that there is a defined difference between night and day, so, when you enter the room to get your little one up, open the curtains and switch on the lights etc. By exposing ourselves to light in the day and darkness at night, our body clocks set much more effectively. The importance of getting out for fresh air in the day will also help, minimum of 30 mins a day really can make a difference!
Sticking with a good predictable bedtime routine will help with the release of those all-important sleep hormones and will get the body clock working to the new time more quickly.
Mealtimes and the routine of the day will also help to set the body clock so moving the mealtimes when changing wake and bedtimes is essential to the whole process working for you and your little one. By making these gradual adjustments you are much less likely to experience any issues or disruption to your routine, bedtimes etc. when the clock change actually happens!
If you are interested in reading more about sleep and getting strategies and tips for you to establish healthy sleep and sleep associations for your little ones, have a look at our sleep blogs here. You might also be interested our webinar guide to sleep which you can download here.
We also have a podcast - ‘Newborn to Teen and Everything in Between’ - Listen here.