Daylight Savings

Daylight savings can be a time that parents dread as it can muddle with your child’s sleep pattern. But it doesn’t have to be so bad. Read on to find out my ideas to help your child with the change.

In Australia, we turn our clocks forward at 2am on the first Sunday in October. We lose an hour of sleep. This can mean that your child who usually wakes up at 7am will start waking up at 8am (sounds great….until you have to get them to childcare and you have to get to work). It also means that your child who used to go to sleep at 7pm now wants to go to sleep at 8pm.

We also turn our clocks backwards at 2am on the first Sunday in April, so we gain an hour of sleep. This can mean that your child who used to wake at 7am will start waking at 6am (yikes!). It also means that your child who used to go to sleep at 7pm now wants to go to sleep at 6pm (lovely for an evening of peace but stressful managing that not long after you return home from work).

I remember a time when I didn’t think twice about daylight savings, but times have changed and with children it’s a time I know can be a little tricky. However, we can tackle this with little fuss. You can either manage this prior to the change in time, or manage it after. I have provided below a series of options so you can choose the one that suits your family best. 

Managing the time change

Let’s think of managing the time change in terms of Disney Characters:

• Belle (Beauty and the Beast) – she’s organised, always on time, always planning and thinking several steps ahead. She would tackle daylight savings in the week ahead.
• Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story) – he’s always playing catch up, trying to keep up with Woody.
• Rapunzel (Rapunzel) – She’s been keeping to the same routine her whole life!
• Ariel (The Little Mermaid) – She doesn’t think about what’s happening until after the fact and she needs to work out how to manage the situation.

Which one are you?

If you’re like Belle, you’ll manage daylight savings prior to the change in time, start shifting their schedule forwards/backwards (as appropriate) by 15 minutes every second day, starting from the week ahead.

If you’re like Buzz Lightyear, you’ll manage daylight savings after it has already started, shifting their schedule forwards/backwards by 15 minutes every second day starting from the day the Sunday when the time changes.

Suggested schedule when daylight savings STARTS

Suggested schedule when daylight savings FINISHES 

Other options when tackling the time change

Option: If you’re like Rapunzel you can choose to follow your typical schedule. So if your child typically wakes at 7am and goes to sleep at 7pm, once daylight savings starts, you will get your child up at 6am and make sure they are asleep by 6pm. You’ll keep to the 6am and 6pm times for the duration of daylight savings. This works well if you don’t have any work or childcare commitments and you don’t mind the 6am wake.

Option: If you’re like Ariel, you can change your child’s body clock in one hit. This means that as soon as the time changes, you run your day as normal. So when entering daylight savings, you will wake your child at their usual time (for example, 7am) even if it is 6am to their bodies. When daylight savings ends, you will get your child out of bed at 7am even if it is 8am to their bodies and they have been awake for an your. This will take a little while for your child to adjust but they will get there in the end. This is best for very adaptable children.

My top 5 suggestions when managing the time change:

1. BLACK OUT: Make sure the room is blacked out. Check out my blog “Black is my happy colour”. A blacked out room will make sure no light enters at the time of falling asleep and waking up which will help speed up the process of changing between times.
2. SUNLIGHT: Make sure your child has plenty of sunlight, particularly in the early morning hours. And keep the house well lit until it is time for bedtime.
3. ROUTINE: Keep your routine, this is how your child knows what they are doing next. (e.g. bath, book, bottle, bed)
4. SLEEP TRAINING CLOCK: –Some find the use of a sleep training clock to indicate to the child it is “sleep time” or “wake up time” very helpful. This is particularly useful for children who have transitioned to a big bed.
5. CONTACT US: Help is here! If you need help working out your child’s new schedule or how to manage the change, contact us, we’re here for you.