How will this affect you?

Finally, spring is here! The evenings and mornings are getting lighter, it’s getting warmer(ish!), and at 1am on Sunday the 31st of March, the clocks will spring forward an hour, kicking of British Summer Time. This means that we’ll be “losing” an hour’s sleep but don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it sounds, at least not for those of you with little ones…

This is actually the kinder of the two clock changes if you’re a parent of a baby, toddler or young child. A 6am wake up will be come a 7am wake up, unlike the October clock change, when a 6am wake up becomes a 5am wake up - eeeek! But let’s not worry about that for now.

Let’s look at four simple strategies to help you handle the spring clock change with ease…

1) Do nothing

Yes, that’s right, you don’t have to do anything. As it’s much easier for little ones to adapt to this clock change than the autumn one, you can just “wing it” and their routine should naturally shift to fall in line with the new time.

This might be for for you if:

You prefer to go with the flow.
You have a young baby who isn’t in much of a routine any way.
Routine is not that important (e.g. if you’re at home with your child all day).

2) Take advantage

Do you have an early riser? Have you tried everything to shift their wake up time later, yet they’re still waking at 5am? This clock change can be a great opportunity to ‘re-set’ and shift their wake up time. All you need to do is let them wake naturally, and then shift their naps and bedtime later. Just be careful if there is a underlying cause of the early waking, as it might creep back in.

This might be for for you if:

Your baby or child is an early riser.

3) Split the difference

If you want to keep your current routine, you can adjust your little ones’ body clocks gradually in the lead up to the clock change. On the morning of Friday the 29th March, wake your little one 30 minutes earlier than their normal wake up time, bring naps and bedtime earlier by 30 minutes. Then bring everything forward by another 30 minutes on Saturday 30th March. For example:

This might be for for you if:

You don’t want your little one to sleep in too late.
Routine is important for you or your little one.

4) Jump straight in

If adjusting things in the lead up just sounds like too much effort, just wake your child at their normal wake up time on Sunday, and then keep to their normal routine from that point onwards. Bear in mind that your little one might become tired during the transition, as they’ve essentially lost an hours’s sleep, so this isn’t a good idea for infants who are already struggling with over tiredness.

This might be for for you if:

You have a child who is no longer napping, or who is only on one nap.
You want to keep to your normal routine but don’t want the faff of adjusting timings in advance.