Helping Your Child Adjust to Daylight Savings – The Spring Forward Clock Change

Perhaps your baby just started sleeping through the night. Such relief! You’re finally getting actual rest. For the first time in a long time, you can think in full sentences again. 

And then daylight savings time shows up to spoil your beautiful bedtime routine plans.

Each spring, when the clocks move forward for daylight savings time, many families notice a temporary disruption in their child’s sleep schedule.

We get it. The daylight savings clock change always comes at the wrong time. You might be already predicting your future: 

Bedtime battles. Crabby mornings. Rushing out the door at the last second to make it to work.

Cue the silent, frustrated scream in your head. 

Here’s the good news. With a little preparation and intention, you’ll be able to help your child (and yourself) adjust to the time change with less chaos. 

First, Why Does Daylight Savings Alter Sleep Patterns? 

Losing an hour doesn’t seem like it would make much of a difference, right? Well, your internal body clock (circadian rhythm) strongly disagrees.

Circadian rhythms are our bodies’ internal clocks that help regulate when we feel awake and when we feel sleepy. They are regulated by light — so when the sun comes up, we wake up, and when the sun goes down, we wind down.

Unfortunately, circadian rhythms don’t pay attention to daylight savings time and don’t instantly sync when the clock “springs forward.” In other words, your child’s body doesn’t care that we’ve decided to change the clocks.  

To your child, it will feel like 6 am in their body when you try to wake them at 7 am. They’ve effectively lost an hour of sleep, creating confusion in their developing internal clock. 

This loss of an hour throws off their developing body and sleep rhythm, leading to cranky moods and irritated behavior — especially for babies and young children. And this is exactly why a carefully planned schedule could minimize the chaos.

A Gradual Schedule Shift

You and your family could go with the “cold turkey” method of waking up at the same time after losing an hour of sleep. Some families do this and manage fine. 

But the less disruptive strategy for your child’s internal body clock is to gradually shift their schedule in 15-minute increments. This gives their body time to adapt without the shock of suddenly losing a full hour. 

Here’s how it works:  Let’s say your child has an 8:00 pm bedtime. After the time changes, 8:00 p.m. will feel like 7:00 p.m. to their body. Instead, you want their body to accept the time change by introducing 15-minute shifts to their routine before we spring forward. 

Start adjusting your child’s schedule about three days before the clock changes.

Here’s a sample “Spring Forward Clock Change” schedule:

• Thursday 7:45 pm bedtime
• Friday 7:30 pm bedtime
• Saturday 7:15 pm bedtime
• [move clocks ahead 1 hour]
• Sunday 8:00 pm bedtime

And now they’re back to an 8:00 pm bedtime without that jetlag feeling because you took the time to gently reset their circadian rhythm days beforehand. These 15-minute increments allowed your child’s biological cues to slowly realign naturally, rather than forcing adjustment to a lost hour.

Be sure to include nap and meal times in this shifted schedule to keep the entire day going smoothly. Consistency across their entire routine helps their body adapt faster. 

Tips to Help the New Schedule Stick

Once you’ve started the gradual shift, there are a few other strategies that can help your child adjust. 

• Light exposure – Since children are especially sensitive to light, open the curtains in the morning, so the sunlight can reset their body clock.
• No sleeping in – Make the morning active to signal that “it’s daytime now” which helps solidify the new schedule in their body. 
• Limit screen time before bed – Avoid stimulating screens which interfere with melatonin release, delaying their sleep cycle.
• A cool, dark, quiet space – Use blackout curtains and a fan to encourage winding down to go to sleep.

What Not to Do

Here are a few things to avoid to keep the transition gentle:

• Don’t skip naps – Thinking skipping naps will make your child “more tired” will backfire on you. An overtired child will actually be more wired, fight bedtime, and wake up in the middle of the night more.
• Don’t let bedtime routines slide – All the steps in your child’s bedtime routine – from brushing teeth to story time – help signal to their brain that it’s time to sleep.
• Don’t panic if you have a rough day – Even if there’s still some morning crankiness or bedtime objections, stay consistent and stick to the adjustment schedule to ultimately have your child synced with the new time change.

Dealing with Real-World Schedules

Here’s what’s frustrating: you can control your routine, but you can’t control school or work start times. 

You still need to get out the door on time, and your child still needs to hold it together through the day (whether at daycare or school), even if they’re operating on less sleep.

A couple of things you can do to make school days smoother:

• Prep the night before – Lay out their outfit, pack their backpack, and have lunch ready to go. Removing those morning decisions reduces stress for everyone when you’re already working with a tight schedule. 
• Give their teacher a heads-up – If your child is really struggling, a note or email to their teacher goes a long way. It’s considerate, and it gives them context for any out-of-character behavior during the week.

A little preparation helps keep the week from feeling completely derailed.

Remember to Take Care of Yourself Too

Keep in mind, you are losing an hour of sleep, too.

So while you’ve been focusing on easing this seasonal transition for your child, you also may  be a little tired and cranky. 

Implement the same suggestions above on yourself: earlier bedtime, blackout curtains, limited screen time in bed. They’re just as beneficial to your adjustment.

Other things to keep in mind:

• Give yourself a break – Daylight savings time could hit you as hard as your child. Exhibit patience and grace with yourself (just like you’ll give your little one).
• Ask for support – Take turns with your partner on wake-up duty so one of you can catch a few more sleep. (Or even one of our doulas).
• Lower your expectations – The week could feel rough, and you were hoping to avoid that. But it is just a week. Everyone will adjust in the end. 

Allow everyone to take a full week to adjust (including you). No one is winning a medal here! You have time. 

A Quick Overview

Daylight savings tips to remember: 

• Start early – Incorporate the schedule shift on Thursday, so Sunday doesn’t feel like a shock.
• Use light strategically – Block natural light at night with blackout curtains to encourage sleep, then pull them back in the morning to reset your child’s body clock.
• Protect the routine – Keep bedtime consistent to ensure a smooth adjustment to Daylight Saving Time.
• Prep school nights – Lay out clothes, pack bags, and have lunch ready to reduce morning chaos.
• Don’t skip naps – An overtired child fights sleep harder, not less.
• Take care of yourself, too – You’re losing an hour as well. Remember, the same strategies apply to you.

We’re Here For You 

You’ve done this before. Twice a year, in fact. But it’s still exhausting.

Give yourself some grace as you get everyone on board with this new schedule. You can’t control the time change, but you can help your child sleep through daylight savings time easier and reduce everyone’s frustration.

Remember: this won’t last forever.

Within 3–7 days, most children adjust to the new schedule. But now you have strategies to lessen the disruptions and make the transition smoother for everyone.

And if you’re in a high-stress period of life and need additional support, at Buddha Belly Doulas, we can help with our overnight care service. You get a full night’s rest so that you can be your best parenting self during daylight hours. Our overnight postpartum doulas can help support healthy sleep routines for both babies and parents during transitions like daylight savings.

Contact us to learn more. We’re ready to help!

Also check out: Baby Sleep: The Basics of Baby Sleep Stages