It is time to “spring forward” the clocks on 31st March, which can be a dreaded time for parents because with this, comes an adjustment that does not happen immediately. I get loads of questions about this because children tend to be quite structured in their bedtime and will wake up around the same time each morning regardless of what time they went to bed.
However, there are some things you can do to help make the transition go a little smoother. My recommendation is to leave your clock alone Saturday night. Wake up Sunday morning, have breakfast, then go around your house and change the clocks. Psychologically, it will feel much better for everyone if you wait until Sunday morning to change the time.
If, for example, your little one usually takes a morning nap around 10am, you will adjust this to 10:30am for the three days after the clocks change. This will mean that your baby is going to bed a little earlier or sooner than the normal wait between sleep, but again it’s not so much so that it’s going to interfere with his / her schedule too much. Do the same for the afternoon nap. It may take them a bit more time to fall asleep since he/she may not be as tired, but in a week’s time, they will be back on track again.
Let’s say your child usually goes to bed at 7 pm, I recommend putting that child to bed at 7:30pm for the first three days following the time change. (This will FEEL like 6:30pm to your child.)
Once the three days are up, revert back to your normal times.
Be patient… it takes roughly one week for the body to adjust to change in sleeping habits, so it won’t take long to get back on track!
