Fall Time Change and Baby Sleep

Before becoming a parent I LOVED the fall time change, aka the end of daylight savings time. When I was a kid it was an extra hour to sleep. When I was in college it was an extra hour to party. Either way I never had any beef with the night that the clocks “fall back”. 

Until.

Until I had my first child.

With horror I realized my 4 month old cannot tell time. And he was now going to be waking up for the day A WHOLE HOUR EARLIER. Meaning, if he usually woke up at 6 am, he was now waking up at 5 frickin am. And let’s be honest, with my firstborn I was already running on very little sleep. Even with my second child (the better sleeper) this time change was not one I welcomed so readily. 

However, I want YOU to have no fear. This time change does not have to be as scary as it seems. I will give you a couple of my favorite strategies to manage your baby’s sleep and a resource at the end of this blog if you need a little more guidance. 

Tips for Time Changes

These tips are generalized, and can be applied to either shift-spring or fall:

• Check the darkness of your child’s room in the early morning. Adjust accordingly.

• The rule of thumb for how long it should take our bodies to adjust is one day per one hour of time change. It should not take your baby several days to get back on track with the new time. 

• Your baby’s sleep may be shifting naturally in the weeks leading up to the change. They may be sleeping later in the fall, or waking a little earlier in the spring. 

• If you are already struggling with your child’s sleep, it’s better to get things under control BEFORE the time change happens!

How to Handle the End of Daylight’s Savings Time?

Your approach to this question may be determined by your child’s temperament. Have a laid-back, flexible baby? Or a sensitive, slow to warm baby? You will want to take this into consideration when deciding how to begin. A flexible baby will likely go with whatever you decide to do on that day with very little fuss. A more sensitive baby may need a bit more time to adjust. Another factor is whether or not your baby has a good sleep foundation already laid. If they are happy to hang out in their crib in the morning for a little while, it will be a breeze to adjust them to the new time. 

One Approach: Do nothing!

This isn’t a joke– it’s actually what I always have done with my kids. They are quite content to hang out in their beds, and the only thing I do differently is to make sure that their ‘okay to wake’ clock is still set to turn green at the correct time the morning after the time change. They just stay in their rooms until the “new” time, and the rest of the day follows the new clock time as well. Then we move on with our lives! This is one approach that is easy to remember, does not require any fancy maths or schedule tweaks, and is great for kids who are not currently struggling with early morning wakes. 

Second Approach: Quick Shift

If you are wholly unsettled with the idea of doing nothing to prepare for the time change, and would like SOME kind of strategy there is also a quick shift. Basically, on Saturday morning, you will get your baby out of bed 30 minutes later than usual. If you have toddlers with an ‘okay to wake’ clock, don’t forget to change their clock light to reflect this as well. 

Then, on Sunday morning (the first morning you wake up with the time changed), you will shift it forward another 30 minutes. Except, on THIS morning, the time change will have happened. So, the new time on the clock has fallen back an hour, and you’re right back where you started before the shift. (8 am *old time* → 7 am *new time*)

For example, your old schedule is:

• 7 am out of bed

• 12 pm nap

• 7 pm bedtime

On Saturday morning your schedule is:

• 7:30 am out of bed

• 12:30 pm nap

• 7:30 bedtime

*SUNDAY MORNING/AFTER THE TIME CHANGE, your schedule is:

• 8 am out of bed (7 AM NEW TIME)

• 1 pm nap (12 NAP NEW TIME)

• 8 pm bedtime (7 PM NEW TIME)

“Okay, but really I think I need more assistance!”

Seeing these two strategies may be enough for you to hang your hat on. If you are still uneasy, or believe that your child may need a more gradual approach to the change, there are other ways available! There is a resource in the Raising Happy Sleepers member’s group that gives you allllll the nitty gritty details on how to support your child through this time change. 

Don’t panic, you GOT this, and I’ll see you on the other side! If you’re struggling, my sleep tune up support can set everything straight!