As a new parent you may have just gotten your baby into a routine at bedtime. Now you’ve realised that the clocks go back soon and this may affect your not just your baby’s sleep but yours too! So, what can you do to make the change go as smoothly as possible?
How Will “Falling Back” Affect My Baby?
“Falling back” is the end of Daylight Savings Time which means the clocks have be turned back an hour. For instance 6pm becomes 5pm, 6am becomes 5am. I used these time as an example because for many parents around the world these are baby bedtimes.
So, if your baby goes to bed at 7pm they will now be ready for bed at 6pm. If they usually wake up at 6am, sorry but they are now going to be up at 5am.
The “Fall Back” Sleep Survival Kit
Before I delve into the how we are going to survive, let’s start with what will help us survive. If you don’t have these products for baby yet, I highly recommend them for the time change!
1.White Noise
White noise is great for babies. It reminds them of the noises they heard inside the womb and so comforts them to sleep. you can use Youtube or Spotify on your phone for this but you could need the White noise for a while so I recommend getting a sleep aid like the one below.
2. Gro Clock
These clocks are a great a little gadget. They are a child friendly way of telling your toddler if it’s morning or night. When it’s morning it shines yellow and at night it glows blue. It’s a great way of teaching your tot about time too.
Sleep Through The Time Change
Every child is different and so there are a few different ways to go about this.
If you’re baby doesn’t have a routine, then you’re job is easy… do nothing.
If you’re baby has a set routine…
For example, bedtime 7pm then the best thing for you is to start making bedtime a little later each night in the run up to the clock change. We’re talking 15-20 minutes each night. Whether this means you have to take it easy for a few days so as not to tire out baby, then trust me and go for it. It does mean you will be up 15-20 minutes earlier each morning but you might actually be thankful too when the clocks actually do change.
If you’re baby has a routine and they nap during the day…
Then, you could always use my method. Rather than changing the bedtimes prior to the time change, we change the nap times. This involves adding in or lengthening an afternoon nap. Our little chap isn’t big on naps so we’ll be trading his little morning nap for an afternoon nap but if your baby has a long nap in the morning try splitting it into a morning nap and afternoon nap.
Adding the afternoon nap simply makes them less tired at their usual bedtime. You may have to tire them out in order to get them to nap but there are loads of simple ways to do this. Singing, reading them a story, sensory play among others can all use a little more of baby’s energy.
After the clocks change and your little one is in their new routine, you can either revert back to the morning nap or if like us you’d like baby to go to bed a little later anyway, you can keep the nap.
Every Child Is Different
Every child really is different and therefore these. methods aren’t completely foolproof but if you have another method that you use please let us know in the comment. There’s a parent somewhere that needs your help.
I used to find this so stressful when the kids where little! When they were very small I would do it gradually over a few days, once they were a bit older I used to just adjust by half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon. It used to confuse me so much!
Oh gosh, it’s been a while since my bunch where babies! But I do remember the struggle of helping them adapt to the clock changes!
Oh how I dislike the time change! My kids are 3 and 7 now, so it easier now, but it still takes them about a week to get use to the new times.
And yes to the noise machine! We still use ours 🙂