How do you adjust your child's sleep when the clock goes forward an hour?

In spring, the clock goes forward an hour. That sounds like losing an hour of sleep, but for most families with a young child it turns out exactly the other way around.

Good news for early birds

You don't lose an hour, you gain one in the morning. A baby who woke up at six every day suddenly wakes up at seven. The same sleep, a friendlier number on the clock.

For anyone who's been pulled out of bed at five or six for months, this is the best moment of the year. See waking too early every morning if that's your situation.

Two ways

Path 1: gradually. Start four to five days ahead and move naps and bedtime fifteen minutes earlier each day. By Sunday, everything falls into place on its own.

This is the route for sensitive sleepers, and for parents who'd rather not leave it to chance.

Path 2: all at once. No preparation. You wake up on Sunday, enjoy that one morning of sleeping in, and from then on simply follow the clock.

For a baby or toddler with a solid sleep foundation, this works fine. Neither is better; it depends on your child and on you.

How long it takes

The rule of thumb is one day of adjusting per hour of time difference. So count on a day or so in which the rhythm still shifts a little, and not more.

Adults feel this change too. Be gentle, with your child and with yourself.

What helps that week

Light steers the body clock more strongly than the clock on the wall. Make the morning light and keep the evening dark. In spring, that second part is the hardest: it stays light longer in the evening, and then falling asleep doesn't want to happen.

So blackout isn't a luxury in this period. See setting up the nursery.

The other side of the year is described separately: when the clocks fall back.