The clocks go back tomorrow (Sunday, October 27) and for the parents among us, this can be a huge source of stress – but one mum has shared how she manages the change
As the clocks are set to go back, parents might be fretting over their little one’s sleep schedule – but one mum has taken to social media to say it’s not worth the worry. The prospect of an extra hour in bed or an additional hour of revelry for those out celebrating Halloween may sound appealing, yet some are filled with dread at the thought of darker mornings and their child’s response to the time shift.
We’ve all been there – you’ve finally nailed your child’s bedtime routine, your angel is tucked in at the same time every night, and then suddenly, the clocks change, throwing everything off kilter as your tot struggles to understand the new schedule. Ruth, known on TikTok as @ruthwattshv and working as a health visitor, has offered comforting advice to parents, suggesting that the upcoming clock change needn’t be a battle.
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“So in England, the clocks are going back, so if your child’s waking up at 6.30 in the morning, it’s going to become 5.30 in the morning and these are my two different ways to tackle the clock change,” she explained.
She elaborated: “Number one, and this is the one I tend to do just go with it. You may have a couple of bad nights, but the clocks will go back so actually we’ll be putting them down a little bit earlier and they will catch up quite quickly.”
For those planning ahead, Ruth suggested a more gradual approach, advising parents to start “six or seven days before” the change. If bedtime is usually 7pm, she recommends putting children to bed at 6.50pm on the first night, then slowly adjusting until bedtime is an hour earlier, making the transition seamless.
She also advised applying the same method to nap times.
Ruth revealed that she used to “worry about it” as her little one “sleeps so bad”, but reassured parents that “they catch up pretty quickly.”
She added, “Give them a few days and they’re in the swing of it anyway”.
“Yeah you might have a few early mornings but then they’ll be tired enough to go to bed earlier that next night, so sending you all strength, try not to worry about it, it’s gonna come, and it’ll pass quite quickly,” she shared.
Explore Learning and Gemma Coe, a certified child sleep consultant also known as the Child Sleep Specialist, offered some advice on children’s sleep patterns.
“As autumn progresses and the weather turns colder, children’s sleep schedules can be influenced by the decrease in daylight hours,” Gemma explains. “With less natural light, our circadian rhythms (the internal body clocks that govern our sleep-wake cycles) can become disrupted. For children, especially those sensitive to changes in their routine, this can mean more difficulty falling asleep or waking up earlier than desired.”
Gemma also suggested that it could take about a week for children to adjust, saying: “When the clocks go back an hour in autumn, children who are naturally early risers may start waking even earlier, which can lead to overtiredness and affect their mood throughout the day. The impact of this disruption can vary depending on the child, but in general, most children take about a week to fully adjust to the new schedule.”
She advised parents to “Control light exposure by using blackout curtains in the morning to block out early light and keep the environment well-lit in the evening to reinforce that it’s still time to be awake.”
Parents can offer support to their kids during the transition by:
