Mum-of-two Daisy Woods, better known online as Muddle Through Mummy, has shared how she managed to get her young toddlers to adjust their sleep as summer time starts
A mum has shared how she helped her toddlers adjust to summer time change (stock image)
A mum-of-two has shared her top tips on how to get your toddlers and babies to adjust for time change, as the clocks go forward for British Summer Time. In the UK the clocks go forward one hour at 1am on the last Sunday in March, and back one hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October. The clocks changing in spring and autumn can wreak havoc with your little one’s sleep schedule.
The next time the clocks change will be on Sunday 29th March at 1am. When we wake up on Sunday morning the automatic clocks such as phones and tablets will have already changed, but you will need to tweak the time on manual clocks, watches and other devices such as ovens and microwaves, putting them forward by one hour.
Parents will also face another challenge, which is to help their little ones adjust their sleep schedules, as even one hour could cause chaos and over-tiredness.
To help, one mum-of-two named Daisy Woods, better known online as Muddle Through Mummy, has shared a tips she learned as her own children were young babies and toddlers that helped them adjust to their new sleep time more easily.
“Here’s how to adjust your baby or little one’s sleep routine when the clocks go forward,” she said at the start of her video.
She went on to say she initially got the advice from a sleep consultant when her children were babies, but said it still worked just as well as they’d grown into toddlers and younger children.
“On the night that the clocks go forward, […] you would put your child to bed at a normal time, and they’ll just magically sleep for 12 hours and wake up at the normal time, which will technically be an hour later,” she explained.
She went on to explain if your kids usually wake up at 7, they would now be waking up at 8, despite having slept for the same amount of time.
For the first day of summer time, the sleep consultant had then explained the little ones won’t notice a half an hour difference, so you should plan your kid’s nap time half an hour later, and then have bedtime take place half an hour later as well.
“Do that for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, and come Wednesday, go back to your usual time settings,” Daisy said.
CBeebies have also shared more advice on how to help your kids adjust to the new time, which includes making sure to stick to your same familiar ‘wind-down’ routine every night, as this will help them to calm down for the night.
If the extra hours of daylight are a problem in the mornings (during early Autumn) or evenings (in Spring and Summer), they also recommend installing blackout blinds in your little one’s room can help to make it feel like night time.
