Posted on Oct 19th, 2023
So the clocks are going back by 1 hour in the UK and Ireland at 2am on Sunday 29th October 2023. Apart from knowing that Halloween is only a couple of days away, Bonfire Night a week later and Christmas is fast approaching, what does that mean for you and your family's sleep?
Well at one point in the past it may have meant a longer lie in on your Sunday morning (Those were the days!).
However, if you are reading this blog that is highly unlikely to be the case for you now!
Instead, your main focus now is about how that one hour change in the clocks is going to affect your little one's sleep routine.
SO WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP YOUR LITTLE ONE WHEN THE CLOCKS GO BACK?
There is no doubt that this can be a difficult change. It's a bit like going on holiday to Europe where there's a 1 hour time difference.
It's a bit easier mentally to prepare for that as:
1) You are going on holiday!
2) You are travelling there which means you know that your daytime routine will go out of the window on travel days.
With the clock change, it might seem a little different than that break away, but the concept is similar. I usually promote two options to handle the change: one is a bit more gradual and in-keeping with their existing routine; the other is a bit more of a "do-it-in-one-move" approach.
Both work, they just have a different path in getting there.
THE GRADUAL APPROACH
Let's look at the gradual approach first (based on a 7am-7pm routine):
THE "DO-IT-IN-ONE-MOVE" APPROACH
The "do-it-in-one-move" approach looks a little different and is as follows:
THE "DO NOTHING” APPROACH
The other approach is to simply do nothing. Some babies are super flexible and the one hour change doesn't really impact them.
My advice is to pick an approach which works best for you and your child. Our son always falls into the "do-it-in-one" approach as he is a good sleeper and can sleep beyond his scheduled time. You know your child best. You will get back on track.