The beginning of daylight savings is nearly upon us.
It’s a time often dreaded by parents as putting the clocks forward one hour can see little ones go through a stage of unsettled sleep, early rising and later bedtimes at night.
My top tips for combating these issues are:
- Invest in great blockout coverage for your windows: Trying to tell your baby/toddler it’s bedtime when the sun is still streaming into their bedroom is a battle you don’t want to encounter! Blockout coverage makes your child’s room dark at their normal bedtime. It also helps ensure their bedroom is still nice and dark when the sun rises earlier (as it does over summer). You can purchase blockout blinds, use black cardboard or make your own using lined blockout material.
- Use white noise: The other thing that comes with the sun rising earlier in the morning is noise – birds chirping, cars starting, garbage trucks going by. Blockout those external factors by using a nice loud white noise (low rumbling and natural is best) and position the white noise in the room so that it is between your child and where the noise is coming from.
I also recommend transitioning to daylight savings time around a week to 10 days before the change actually happens, so that your baby’s internal body clock adjusts over time. You can of course just go cold turkey on the change, but I have found that this can disrupt sleep even more and make it longer for your child to adjust.
In the week preceding the introduction of daylight savings, bring your child’s bedtime forward by 10 minutes. For example, if they are usually in bed by 7pm, I work my way to 6.50pm, then 6.40pm, then 6.30pm etc.
You can do this with their day sleeps/feeds and mealtimes as well so that when the clocks tick over to daylight savings, they will be going to bed at the old time 6pm but new time 7pm.
Their day naps will be aligned as well. You may also choose to wake them in the morning 10 minutes earlier so their bodies adjust at the other end of their big overnight sleep as well.
Also remember consistency and routine are important. If you aren’t already doing a nice consistent wind-down routine before bed, introduce one now so that all the little activities you do in the lead-up to bed become a cue to sleep, no matter what the circumstances.
