Daylight Savings & Baby Sleep

Daylight Savings changes can cause some confusion for your little one’s routine. Rest assured, we have a simple solution for you and your child.

As the summer ends day light savings is also coming to an end, which means its time to put the clock back an hour.

But how does this affect your child’s sleep routine? 

Lets look at the science behind changing your babies naps, food times and bed time in order to get ready for this day light savings change.

Babies’ biological rhythms are set by food, light and social interaction. So by using these three elements, we can slowly shift the times of these activities in order to re-sync their routine to the new time.

The aim is to move your child’s sleep, food and social interactions forward in small increments of time over the period of a week. You can do this either the week before daylight savings ends, or afterwards. To help your child cope with the change, distract them with quiet cuddles or fun games. It also helps to be in the sunlight first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon. The tables below assume that your child is on a 7am-7pm schedule. If that’s not the case, adjust it to suit.

Day light savings change schedules:

If you start the week before daylight savings ends:

If you start the day after daylight savings ends:

If your child was previously an early riser, the time change may be a blessing in disguise. Because there is now an extra hour to re-settle your child from 5-7am.

If you have the opposite problem, and your child’s bedtime was too late, an extra early bedtime may help them to go to sleep and sleep more soundly.

Want some extra help?

If you’d like some assistance with your little one and their sleep routine, you can book in a free 15min consult. We can offer support by helping with the environment and nutrition, settling tools and techniques to support your little one.