When the Clocks Go Back: Helping Your Baby Through the Hour Change

Remember when the clocks going back meant a lovely bonus hour in bed?

Ah, sweet memories. Once there is a baby in the house, that "extra hour" tends to go straight to your little one, who will happily spend it awake, chatting to the ceiling, before the sun is up. ⏰

This year the clocks go back at 2am on Sunday 25 October. So if your baby usually wakes at 6am, their body clock will be calling it 6am while your kitchen clock says 5am. Not ideal.

The good news? Babies' body clocks are surprisingly flexible, and a little bit of planning makes a big difference. Here is how to handle it, step by step, from the week before to the fortnight after.

The Week Before: Choose Your Approach

There is no single right way to do this. It mostly depends on your baby's temperament and how much fuss you can face. Most families pick one of three routes.

• The gradual shift. Starting around Monday 19 October, push everything (naps, meals, bedtime) about 10 minutes later each day. By Saturday night, your baby is going to bed an hour "late", which becomes their usual bedtime on Sunday.
• Split the difference. On the Sunday, put your baby to bed 30 minutes later than usual by the new clock, then nudge it another 30 minutes over the following few days.
• Just go with it. Switch to the new time on Sunday morning and let things settle. This works best for easy-going babies, or toddlers who already wake on the late side.

Got a baby who falls apart if bedtime moves by five minutes? The gradual shift is your friend. A laid-back sleeper who naps anywhere? You might get away with doing nothing at all.

Whichever you pick, tell everyone who looks after your baby. Grandparents, nursery and your partner all need to be on the same page, or Wednesday's nap ends up in chaos.

The Weekend Before: Get the Bedroom Ready

Here is the sneaky part of the October change. After Sunday, the mornings are suddenly lighter at the time your baby wakes. And light is the strongest "it's morning!" signal a body clock gets.

If daylight is creeping round the curtains at 6.30am, your baby's brain will happily take that as permission to start the day. Making the room properly dark helps keep that early light from undoing all your hard work.

A portable blackout blind is a quick fix if your curtains are thin or you are renting and can't drill into the window frame. They stick on, peel off, and can come on holiday later.

Do a quick check at dawn this weekend. Stand in the nursery with the door shut and see where the light sneaks in. Gaps at the top of the curtain pole are the usual culprit.

Steady background sound can help too. If the bin lorry, the birds or a partner's early alarm tends to wake your baby, a white noise machine smooths out those sudden noises while the body clock catches up.

Saturday Night: The Final Nudge

If you are doing the gradual shift, tonight is the last step. Bedtime should now be close to an hour later than it was a week ago.

Keep everything else about bedtime exactly the same. Same bath, same story, same song, same sleeping bag. Familiar cues tell your baby it's sleep time, even if the clock looks a bit odd.

And don't forget your own clocks. Your phone will update itself, but the oven, the car and that wall clock in the hall won't. Change the ones you rely on before you go to bed, so Sunday morning isn't spent working out what time it actually is. 😅

Sunday Morning: Hold the Line (Gently)

Your baby wakes. You check the clock. It says 5.15am. Deep breaths.

If you can, keep the room dark and calm until closer to your normal wake-up time. You don't need to leave them crying. Just keep things low-key: soft voice, dim lights, no big "good morning!" energy yet.

Once it's time to get up, flip the switch. Open the curtains wide, get some daylight in, and if the weather allows, head outside for a morning walk. Bright morning light is one of the best tools you have for resetting a body clock, for you and for your baby. ☀️

For toddlers, a "time to wake up" clock is a game changer. It glows one colour for sleep and another for wake, so a two-year-old who can't read numbers still knows whether it's OK to get up.

Set it to your new wake time from Sunday onwards. If your toddler is used to it already, they'll just follow the light, and you won't need to argue the case at dawn.

The Week After: Shift the Whole Day

Bedtime is only one piece of the puzzle. Your baby's whole day runs on a rhythm, and meals and naps help anchor it.

• Meals: Serve breakfast, lunch and tea at your usual new-clock times. Hunger cues are surprisingly good at resetting a body clock.
• Naps: Stretch them later gradually. If the first nap is usually 9.30am, it might creep back towards 9am for a few days, and that's fine.
• Afternoons: Get outside if you can. Daylight in the middle of the day helps, and the dark evenings arrive fast now.
• Evenings: Dim the lights and draw the curtains an hour or so before bed. With darkness falling around 5pm, the house can feel like bedtime long before it is.

Expect a few wobbly days. A slightly grumpy afternoon or a nap that goes rogue is completely normal while everyone adjusts.

Two Weeks Later: Still Up at Dawn?

Most babies and toddlers settle into the new time within a week or so. Some take a little longer, especially if they were already early risers before the change.

If you are a fortnight in and still seeing 5am starts, check the usual suspects. Is the room still letting in light? Is bedtime drifting too early because everyone is shattered by 6pm? Is the last nap finishing very late or very early?

Often a small tweak, like shifting the afternoon nap by 15 minutes, does the trick. And if sleep has gone properly sideways and you are worried, have a chat with your health visitor or GP. That's what they are there for.

Remember too that early waking isn't a reflection of your parenting. Some babies are just larks. You haven't broken anything. 💛

A Quick Note for Next Time

The clocks go forward again in March, and this time it works the other way: bedtime will suddenly feel too early for your baby. The same tricks apply, just in reverse. Shift things 10 minutes earlier each day, keep evenings bright, and keep the blackout blind handy for those light spring evenings.

If sleep kit is on your wishlist, now is a brilliant time to add it before the dark mornings and party season kick in. You can pop it all on your BubsNest wishlist so family know exactly what will help. Start your wishlist here.

Good luck this Sunday. With any luck, the extra hour might even end up being yours after all.