On the last Sunday of March the clocks in the UK ‘Spring’ forward an hour. This marks the beginning of British Summertime with lighter evenings, although there may still be a chill in the air! 

So how can we prepare for this with our babies and children? It can be normal to take some time to adjust (some of us will take up to a week or so, and some of us might not notice it at all).

Initially, there will be more light in the evenings, and a little less in the mornings (although this will soon change). This Spring clock change can be really helpful for those with little ones who wake very early.

How to handle it?

• Do nothing and go straight to the new time. If you have older children or babies on a loose schedule this can be the most straight forward.
• If you have a baby who has quite a predictable routine, you could put them to bed half an hour earlier the day before the change. This way you meet in the middle between the old and the new time.
• You can move everything in advance by 15 minutes across a few days. This is good for those who are on a regular schedule and who are quite sensitive to routine changes. You can be even more gradual and do it by 5/10 minutes over a week if you prefer. If you are doing this, remember that you will need to shift their entire day (feeds, naps & meals).
• Get lots of fresh air, natural light, and movement on the day of the change. Try to relax and you will get there!

Hopefully you will get some later wake up times from your little ones. If your little ones wake up very early in the mornings, I highly recommend getting a black out blind. For those travelling I love the SnoozeShade cot cover. It is made of air-permeable mesh that blocks out 94% of light – perfect when you don’t know if where you are going will have black out curtains, or if you are staying up watching tv in the same room as your baby.

Rosey Davidson is an author, speaker and the founder of Just Chill Baby Sleep, an infant sleep consultancy supporting families to get better sleep. Rosey has a range of resources including her new book The Just Chill Baby Sleep Book, her award-winning online courses, one-to-one support, and her free resources over at @just_chill_mama. 

For more great sleep advice pre-order a copy of Rosey’s new book 'The Just Chill Baby Sleep Book : Easy and Empowering Sleep Solutions'

Further Reading

Spotlight on baby sleep expert: Rosey Davidson - Just Chill Baby Sleep
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