As we gear up to “fall back” on Saturday, November 5th, 2022 and turn our clocks back one hour, you might be feeling a sense of dread about how this will affect your child’s sleep.

You might also be dealing with sickness, developmental transitions, and all the things, so adding one more unknown in the mix can be a bit intimidating.

I know pre-kids I was always excited for an extra hour of sleep, but we all know that once you have kids this transition does not bring any promises of extra sleep.

But trust me, it doesn’t need to be as scary as it may seem. Today, I’m going to be breaking down tips to help keep this transition stress-free for everyone.

In this blog, we will go over:

When you should start adjusting
What happens if you just wing it
How to help your infant adjust
How to help your toddler adjust
How to help your child adjust

When should I start adjusting?

My first recommendation is to leave your clocks alone Saturday night. When you wake up on Sunday morning, have your coffee, then go around your house and change your clocks. Some people like to start adjusting the week before, but if you’re anything like me, my mental capacity is already consumed with all the parenting and work things that I never end up actually doing anything until the actual time change is here. So don’t stress at all the week before or even the night before.

Enjoy your morning, and then you can start changing the clocks. (Obviously our phone clocks immediately change, but try not to stress when you wake up that morning and see the new time.) Psychologically, it can feel much better for everyone if you wait until Sunday morning to change the time on the clocks around the house and aren’t stressing about waking up when you see that the clock says it’s 5am.

What if I just do nothing?

So maybe the idea of planning out a strategy feels like more stress than anything. And that’s ok! You definitely don’t have to approach this with a strategy if that doesn’t feel right to you. This is a totally fine option for some families! So don’t stress at all if you just want to go with the flow and let your baby and family adjust to the new time by winging it. There may be a few ups and downs, but eventually everyone ends up adjusting just fine.

What if I do want a plan for this transition?

If you are looking for a gradual plan to help everyone adjust, then you’re in the right spot.

Depending on the age of your child, you can approach the transition a little differently. I’m going to be breaking down a plan based on your child’s age, so scroll below to your child’s age for some age-appropriate tips. Here goes!

How to help my young baby adjust (0-6 months):

For a baby who is still too young for a predictable nap schedule and just follows awake windows, the good news is that you can just continue following the age-appopriate wake window. Don’t worry about having to start naps at a certain time and aim to put your baby to bed based on their wake window. Here is a breakdown of recommended wake-windows for your baby:

0-6 weeks: 45-60 minutes

6-10 weeks: 60-75 minutes

11-15 weeks: 90 minutes

4-5 months: 2 hours

6-7 months: 2.5-3 hours

So continue to follow these wake windows regardless of the time on the clock. Simply jump to the new time on Sunday, as if you were traveling to a new time zone. Use their wake time window (awake time between sleep periods) as your guide.

How to help my older baby who is on a predictable nap schedule adjust (6+ months):

If your baby’s bedtime and nap times have become predictable (usually not until over 6 months old or older), meaning they are always going to bed around the same time each day here is my recommendation for adjusting:

Move bedtime 15 minutes later each night until you reach the normal time again.

For example, if bedtime is normally at 7pm, then on Sunday night put your baby down at 6:15pm on the clock (this will feel like 7:15pm to their body). On Monday put them to bed at 6:30pm, and on Tuesday at 6:45pm. On Wednesday you should be back to 7pm.

You can do the same thing for naps. Start 45 minutes earlier than normal and move them 15 minutes later each day. So if morning nap is usually at 9am normally, then on Sunday start with 8:15am on the clock, on Monday 8:30am, and on Tuesday at 8:45am. By Wednesday, you’re back at a 9am nap time.

Follow the same process for any other naps throughout the day!

A great thing about this time change is that there are more hours of darkness which helps make this transition a little easier. If your child wakes up too early, be sure to help their body understand it isn’t morning time by keeping them in their crib in the dark room until normal wake time.

How to help my toddler adjust:

If you have a toddler who is one or older, on Sunday, the first day of the time change, put them down for their first nap 30 minutes earlier than normal. So if they usually nap at 9:30 a.m. put them down at 9:00 a.m, which will feel like 10am to their body. You would do the same with the afternoon nap, if your toddler still takes 2 naps.

For bedtime, if normal bedtime is 7:00 p.m, move it up 30 minutes to 6:30 p.m. Do this for 3 nights after the time change.

On the 4th night (Wednesday), put them to bed at the normal time of 7pm, or whatever time is normal bedtime. On the 5th day (Thursday), put your child down at the normal time, so if nap is usually at 9:30, the nap time will be back to 9:30am and so on with the rest of the day.

It may take your child a bit more time to fall asleep, this is normal! Since the time is different initially, they might seem tired earlier. It usually takes about a week for children and babies to completely adjust to the new time. And for some children it can take up to a month. Be patient and stay very consistent, it will happen!

Note: If you have a toddler who relies on a clock to know when their “morning time” has arrived, set the clock one half hour ahead of the new time so that it reads 7:00AM at the new time of 6:30AM. Allow your child to wake a bit earlier than normal (they will think it is 7:00 according to the clock, but it will be 6:30AM new time). This will only be temporary as your child adjusts to wake at their usual 7:00AM time after about one or two weeks.

How to help my school-aged child adjust:

My best advice for children to help them with the change is to split the difference with the old time and the new time. How does that work?

Here is how you can help make the transition as smooth as possible:

If you have a child that does not nap and normally goes to bed at 7pm, you would put them to bed at 6:30pm on Sunday night, the first night of the time change.

Do this for 3 nights, putting them to bed 30 minutes earlier than normal.

On the 4th night, put them to bed at the normal time, 7pm, or whatever is normal bedtime for your child.

Note: If your older child relies on a clock to know when their “morning time” has arrived, set the clock one half hour ahead of the new time so that it reads 7am at the new time of 6:30am. Allow your child to wake a bit earlier than normal (they will think it’s 7am on the clock, but it will be 6:30am, new time). This will only be temporary as your child adjusts to wake at their usual 7am time after about one or two weeks).

And remember that like any other transition, it takes some time to adjust, but you should be back to normal soon! If you still feel the effects of the time change a week or two past the transition, it’s time to dig in some more and see what else might be going on with sleep!

Good luck! You’ve got this!

How to Help your Child Adjust to Daylight Savings