Keeping Your Child’s Sleep on Track During the Clock Change

Read time: 4 minutes

Published on: 15/11/24

With the clocks going back recently, did your baby wake up earlier than usual, cutting short that extra hour of sleep you’d been hoping for? Imagine if there was a way to adjust their sleep schedule to flow smoothly with the time change, letting you all enjoy that full hour of rest.

Fortunately, there is.

We spoke to Charmian Mead, Baby and Toddler Sleep Expert and author of 7pm to 7am Sleeping Baby Routine, for her expert insights. In this interview, Charmian shares practical advice on avoiding common pitfalls, managing routines for multiple children, and using feeding schedules to help create a smoother transition during the time change.

Q: What are the most common mistakes parents make when trying to adjust their baby’s sleep during the clock change, and how can they avoid them?

A: The most common mistake, especially when the clocks fall back and we gain an hour, is parents shifting their child’s bedtime an hour later to accommodate a longer night in the hope their baby or child sleeps later in the morning. Where this might work well for the newborn stage, it's unlikely to work when a baby sleeps through or the majority of the night.

A plan to cope with the clock change depends greatly on a baby’s age and nap schedule, but it’s important to wake a baby at their usual wake-up time if they haven't already woken. On the 7 pm to 7 am Sleeping Baby Routine, I recommend following a 12-hour day and 12-hour night, but on the day of the change, this could extend to a 12.5-hour day with slightly longer wake windows rather than longer naps.

Q: For parents with more than one child on different sleep schedules, what strategies can help manage the clock change for the whole family?

A: I typically work with families with 1-4 children on a synchronised bedtime routine. Regardless of age, all children are bathed and in their rooms around the same time, even if they fall asleep at different times, usually within the hour. With the October clock change, we all gain an hour of sleep. For older children who no longer nap, having a slightly longer day after the clock change shouldn’t be too much of an issue; the whole family might feel slightly more tired before bed, which could shift forward by about 10-20 minutes if needed. For babies on 1-3 naps, a daily routine often has an inconsistent morning wake-up between 6-7 a.m., but the nap schedule remains the same. Wake windows can extend slightly to accommodate the extra hour the following day.

Q: What role does diet or feeding play in helping babies adjust to the time change, and should parents adjust feeding schedules along with sleep?

A: A baby’s calorie intake, whether from milk or food, has a huge impact on sleep during the first two years of life. Calorie intake is the first thing I assess when investigating and resolving sleep concerns and regressions. When adjusting to the clock change, there’s generally no need to alter a child’s diet or mealtimes, unless they wake up an hour or so earlier. In that case, mealtimes could move a half-hour earlier, and the nap schedule could be slightly delayed to get back on track by mid-day, aiming for the usual 7 p.m. bedtime.

Q: Can changes in the environment, like room temperature or humidity, impact how well a baby adjusts to the new sleep schedule?

A: Environment, temperature, and light impact sleep in general, and while there’s no need for a permanent new sleep schedule, it’s important for long-term sleep that a baby has the right environment for their age. From newborn to toddler, there is a shift in bedding, lighting, and parental responses.

Q: How can using tools like white noise machines or sleep aids help during the clock change, and are they useful?

A: I don’t usually recommend sleep tools like white noise unless a household is particularly noisy, in which case, a family might already be using a white noise machine. I find brown noise more soothing than white noise, which can often have the opposite effect as a baby grows to toddlerhood, as the sound can be quite aggressive. For the clock change, when we gain an hour and when helping a child sleep longer through the night, brown noise could help a baby sleep through and support early waking. These tools can be very helpful for some babies.

Charmian, thanks so much for your time!

You can learn more about baby sleep routines and working with Charmian as a consultant on her website, The Sleeping Baby Routine and on her Instagram profile @thesleepingbabyroutine.