‘Spring forward’ - how to prepare your child for the March 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 March, where we ‘spring forward’ and lose an hour…which none of us enjoy! 

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 forward, try to move bed time back by approximately 15 mins every day from Wednesday.  

For example:

On Wednesday of the week before the clocks change

Move bed time back by 15 mins. This will mean that if your child normally goes to bed at 7pm, you will put them down at 6.45pm.

On Thursday, you want to move the timings another 15 mins.

So now they are going to bed at 6.30pm.

By Friday  you want to have moved the timings by 45mins in total.

Your little one will be going to bed at 6.15pm (if their normal bed time is 7pm).

On Saturday you will move the timings by a final 15 mins
and by 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 earlier than normal.  If your little one is still napping then you can put your little one down for their nap 30 mins earlier than normal on Saturday so that you start to make the shift over to the new time the next day or so.  Then on Sunday night you can put your little one to bed at their normal time and this means that they have only had to adjust to 30 min change rather than a whole hour!

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 very well for those children who are early risers as you jump forward an hour so your little one who is waking at 5am every morning is now waking at 6am and you can then work from this point and offer mealtimes, naps times etc at the new times which will hopefully help to get you over that early waking situation! 

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 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.

Don’t forget that we offer parent consultations should you need support with anything from sleep to behaviour and so much more! Details of the packages we offer can be found here.

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