Autumn Clock Change

- Laura Thompson | 15th October 2021 -

Remember before you had children and the clocks going back in autumn meant an extra hour in bed!? Yeah … now we are parents sadly it’s not quite the same. Clocks go back an hour at the end of the month, if you’re lucky that means your 7am riser will wake up when the clock shows 6am on Sunday morning, we can deal with that! If you are not quite as lucky your 6am riser will wake when the clock says 5am and if you are really unlucky and already have an early riser your 5am wake will now read 4am … yuck!

Not to panic, I have some tips to help you get prepared!

A Gradual Shift

If you are a planner or have a child who is very sensitive to change this might be good option for you! It allows you to make very gradual changes to your child’s schedule several days before the clocks actually change, starting on Wednesday. You will gradually shift the schedule by 15 minutes a day so that everything starts 15 minutes later. This should mean that by the time the clocks change on Sunday your schedule is already on track! This year many UK schools will be on half term holidays so you could really use this to your advantage and start pushing bedtime later over the holidays so that by the time they go back to school they are pretty well adjusted.

Here is an example of how that might look!


Meet in the middle

For this approach you will need to start the day before the clocks change so on the Saturday will shift everything 30 minutes later. Now ideally this means you try to start the day 30 minutes later than usual – this will be tough so just do your best!
Everything else will then be pushed 30 minutes later too including mealtimes, naps and bedtime. The idea behind this is that you will already have started moving the schedule so by the time the clocks change you are half way there. It’s a nice idea for children at school or nursery as it means they have a couple of days to adjust before going back on Monday.

Here is an example of how this might look!

Go with the flow

You don’t have to make any changes in advance if you don’t want to (or if you’re reading this the night before and there’s no time!)

When your child wakes up, avoid the temptation to look at the clock – it will not feel good! Just get up and go about your day as normal and get your schedule onto the new times. The only thing to bear in mind is that you may need to adjust the timings of nap times and bedtimes just for today so your child does not become over tired.

Here is an example of how this might look!

A few extra hints and tips …

 Toddler Clocks

If your child is 2 years or older then you might find a toddler clock very useful during this time whilst you are helping them get used to what will feel like a later wake time for them for a while. Depending on the approach you are taking you can adjust the wake time on the clock accordingly so that you can work towards getting back to your desired wake time.

Outside Time

One of the best ways to help regulate your child’s internal body clock is to get them outside into natural day light, this is where our circadian rhythm takes it cues from, so try to give your child plenty of opportunities to spend some time outdoors.

Darkness

Don’t forget to put your blackout blinds up to stop that morning sunshine waking your little one any earlier in the mornings!

And finally …

Please don’t panic, if you keep to a consistent schedule your child will adjust. It’s lot like jetlag so even if you do absolutely nothing to prepare everyone will still adjust to the new timings in a week or so!

Make sure you’re following me on Instagram for more sleep tips!