Preparing your children for the Clock Change this Spring
The clock change is fast approaching and its time to starting preparing your children for the clock change – are you ready?Â
(If you are looking for tips to prepare your children for the Winter Clock change – you’ll need this post instead!)
Whilst the British Summer Time Clock Change in Spring comes with lots of elements to celebrate (from longer days, brighter nights and hopefully the reappearance of the bright yellow ball in the sky), the arrival of Spring in the UK can also bring a number of other challenges, particularly when the clocks go forward and we lose yet another hour in bed (as if it wasn’t hard enough surviving on 5 hours sleep a night already!).
One slight positive of this years’ Spring Clock Change is that at least the gift of an hours less sleep at least hasn’t been our Mother’s Day present like it was last year! That was savage!!
In my experience, many parents find that preparing your children for the clock change (which ever direction it is in!) can be incredibly challenging, interfering with bedtime routines, resulting in over tired or confused toddlers who struggle to stay up later/go to bed earlier, followed by the icing on the cake – an incredibly early wake up or struggling to wake up in time for school!
Whilst the prospect of the children going to bed an hour earlier than normal may seem like something to celebrate, it can also be an uphill battle; and often leads to confusion and children finally going to sleep even LATER than normal – making them grumpy and tired the following day! With us all missing that extra hour in bed, it can be a difficult week or two whilst everyone adjusts!
Whilst the Winter clock change promises an “extra hour in bed”, many parents find their child wakes up an hour earlier on the days after, leaving parents actually feeling more tired and sleep deprived than usual!
In Spring however it can actually have the opposite effect. If you have an early riser, you may celebrate the fact that they may want to wake at a more reasonable hour. However if you are one of those people who has to set an alarm clock in order to rowse or whose kids need a lot of encouragement to get out of bed in the morning; the Spring forward clock change can still be a bit of a challenge; including getting them to want to go to sleep in the first place!
There are however some practical steps you can take in advance when preparing your children for the clock change this Spring (which falls on the Sunday 29th March). Here’s what you need to know!
1. Reset your child’s body clock
If as a family you are creatures of habit like we are, your child will probably be used to going to bed at a particular time.
In this house it tends to be around 7.30pm. To try and suddenly get your children to go to bed a whole hour earlier than usual is likely to result in a bit of an endless battle, with them resisting sleep and wanting to stay up later and play – after all – its still light outside and they don’t even feel tired!
If you want to have a home in hells chance of getting your kids in to bed at the normal time – NOW is the time to start adjusting their body clock -slowly but surely. It is recommended therefore that you start to slowly around 2-3 weeks before (so that’s anytime really from now onwards), and adjust your child’s bedtime to be 10/15 minutes earlier than normal. Repeat this new bedtime for 3 or 4 nights and then sneak it forward again by another 10/15 minutes.
By continuing to do this every few days, you will have gradually pushed your child’s bedtime back to a whole hour earlier than the original. This means on the night before the clocks go forward, Neve will be going to bed at closer to 6.30pm rather than 7.30pm she is used to, having slowly adjusted to a slightly earlier bedtime on the weeks approaching the clock change.
It is important to remember here that meal times and nap times also need to be adjusted too, as these go hand in hand. Ensure you sit down for meals slightly earlier too during this transitional period, effectively pushing forward all the key events during the day.
2. Block out the LightÂ
Obviously in Spring time – the presence of light can be an issue, with children struggling to comprehend how it can possibly be bedtime when it’s still bright and sunny outside. Drawing the curtains and / or blinds around your home early, or having something like the Gro Blackout blind to make their bedroom appear darker can give the illusion of the darker night time they are used and really help them settle more quickly.
Whilst you may want to make your days busy and active in order to tire them out, consider coming inside at least an hour before bed (as vitamin D can reduce the amount of melatonin – the sleep inducing hormone  – they produce.) Instead opt for a calming bedtime routine such as a story or bath with the lights dimmed and curtains drawn can send signals to your child that it’s almost time for bed, helping trigger the melatonin production too.
3. Maintain your usual bedtime routine
During the weeks approaching the clock change, try and consistently have a repeated and calm bedtime routine with your child, which may include something as simple as getting into their PJs, a soak in the bath or snuggling up with a book.
Whatever your bedtime routine looks like, the important thing is to try and be consistent so that children learn the steps that are involved. We personally don’t have a bath every single night (as Neve has very sensitive skin) but we always get into her pyjamas and read a book together before bed.
After a busy day in the office or when there is housework or jobs to be done, it can be really tempting to let your child watch a story or play with the iPad or tablet before bed, but this really isn’t recommended too close to bedtime. As mentioned above, melatonin production is triggered when it starts to get dark, and blue screen or the glare of a device, even if an educational game or online book, can actually have the opposite effect.
4. Wake Up Times
Whilst your little ones adjust to their new bedtime, you may find your child wants to wake up a bit later too, which comes with a number of choices as a parent. If they are normally an incredibly early riser, you may want to embrace this and hope that they shift their wake time a little to the right! However, this comes with a risk, particularly if they then don’t feel tired at bedtime.
Instead, I would personally stick to as close to their normal wake times as possible, which may involve a bit of encouragement at first. Try and let the natural light back in (or drop the black out blind) so that the daylight stirs them as naturally as possible and send signals to their body that its time to wake up!
You may find younger children become tired in the afternoon following the clock change, having effectively ‘lost’ an hour of sleep, but try and avoid them having a nap unless they normally do so, or stick to their usual nap durations to avoid causing more difficulties at bedtime!
Finally, for those with children of school age, be kind to yourself and your little ones by making sure everything is ready for the school run the night before – that way, if the kids (and you!) wake up a bit later, the morning madness won’t feel quite so sever!
I hope you find these tips for preparing your children for the clock change helpful and let me know how you get on with the adjusted bedtime!
