Navigating the Spring or Autumn clock change with young children!

Navigating the Spring or Autumn clock change with young children can feel such a nuisance. The clocks spring forward in the Spring and fall back in the Autumn. This means we lose an hour the night of the Spring clock change and gain an extra hour the night of the Autumn clock change. Pre-children, this wasn’t something I gave too much thought too (unless I was working the night shift as a Midwife, then that extra hour on a 12.5 hour shift in the Autumn felt like a lifetime!!).

As parents to children under 5 years old, these clock changes always felt like such a huge pain in the proverbial! So here are some options for how to manage these clock changes with your little ones.

If they are under 4-5 months – my top tip would be to just roll with it, they are unlikely to have much of a pattern anyway at this age, so just continue to parent responsively – feeding when they show hunger cues, supporting them to sleep when they show tired cues. You can generally just ignore the impact of the clock change for them and just make any adjustments you feel you need for yourselves.

From 6 months Onwards

You may have more of a pattern to your days (note the term pattern here rather than routine!! Babies and young children rarely conform to a rigid routine, but they do often fall into a pattern with their days from 6 months onwards due to the regularity of naps and meals).

You can choose one of the following options (or of course create your own variation that you feel would best suit you, your little one and your family dynamics, taking into account their temperament, developmental age or any other factors that could be impacting their sleep already).

Spring – Clock going forward 1 hour

Option 1 – Plan ahead and begin shifting nap-time/bedtime by 10-15 mins earlier each day in the 4-6 days running up to the clock change.

Option 2 – Plan ahead and begin shifting nap-time/bedtime by 30 mins earlier each day in the 2 days running up to the clock change.

Option 3 – Shift everything 1 hour earlier on the day/evening of the clock change. This can be harder with younger ones who may still be napping 1-3 times, easier once they no longer nap in the day and you are only needing to adjust bedtime and wake up time.

Option 4 – Do nothing, see what happens and adjust as you see fit over the coming days. This was always my approach…partly because the clock changes always seemed to catch me unawares, but mostly because the wait and see approach was just more my way!