As all you parents will be alarmingly aware, the “Spring Forward” #clockchange time of year has started to creep closer. Just as you thought you had a hang of the naps and finally bedtime wasn’t as excruciating as it used to be, Spring clock change comes bouncing round the corner, fully prepared to wreak havoc with your carefully laid timings!
No need to worry! Dealing with clock changes is very similar to travelling to France. You aren’t expected to adjust overnight and neither are babies. The hardest part of dealing with the clock change is knowing if you should be moving bedtime backwards or forwards and if you are, when do you do it. The trickiest part of this, is baby’s age. The older they are, the better they adjust to new routines and timings and the more they’re able to tolerate overtiredness. To deal with this, I have a separated approaches into age brackets to make it easier.
Spring Change
0-3 month olds: Start 6 days before the clocks are due to move (Monday), and make bedtime that day 10 mins earlier (6.50pm). The next day (Tuesday), start your day at 6:50am and move all the naps 10 mins earlier than you normally would. Then bedtime will be another 10 mins earlier (6.40pm). Again, the next day (Wednesday) start your day a further 10 mins earlier (6.40am) and move the naps another 10 mins earlier. Carry on moving the bedtime first and then the next day adjust the naps and by Saturday night, you will be at 6pm bedtime and when you wake up on Sunday, BOOOOM! You’re back at 7-7! So just for a quick recap, the bedtime timings would be;
Monday – 6.50pm
Tuesday – 6.40pm
Wednesday – 6.30pm
Thursday – 6.20pm
Friday – 6.10pm
Saturday – 6pm
Sunday – 7pm
3-6 month olds: Start 4 days before the clocks are due to change and shuffle them 15 mins per night/days so by the time you get to Saturday, you are at 6pm bedtime ready for the change on Sunday
Wednesday – 6.45pm
Thursday – 6.30pm
Friday- 6.15pm
Saturday – 6pm
Sunday – 7pm
6-9 month olds: Start 3 days before the clocks change and shuffle the routine by 20 mins. By this age babies are much better at tolerating changes and overtiredness and won’t be so thrown off by it.
Thursday – 6.40pm
Friday – 6.20pm
Saturday – 6pm
Sunday – 7pm
9 months +: Shuffle them by 30 mins over two days so on Saturday put them down at 6.30pm and on Sunday put them down at normal/current 7pm!
You can play the timings by ear. You know your baby and knows what they can cope with so if you want to go nice and slow with your 9 month for example, then go for it! There’s no hard and fast rules, they’re just guides in making the change a bit easier for parents. When it comes to the change in Autumn, the same rules apply except you move bedtime forward each evening ready for it to “fall back”.
Just remember, follow their cues and don’t push them further than you think they can comfortably go or they’ll get overtired which will add a whole new issue! But babies are really flexible if we let them be and they adjust very quickly with a little bit of help and support!
Please like and share this post if you can so you can help as many new parents as possible. The first few clock changes are mind boggling so it’s helpful to have a step by step guide you can follow!
#newparents #clockchangehelp #imheretohelp #babysleephelp #babysleeptips #newbornsleep
