Signs of spring are slowly appearing, and I am SO ready for it! The days are getting longer, and I can’t help but smile every time I notice sunshine in the evening. And with the “spring ahead” time change approaching, those sunny evenings will get even longer! As lovely as the longer days are, you may wonder how the spring forward time change will impact your little one’s sleep.
Those who’ve been reading along with my blog or following me on Instagram know that I like to keep baby sleep as simple, stress-free and as intuitive as possible. The same principles apply to navigating this time change. It doesn’t have to be complicated or stressful. I am not going to give you a step-by-step plan to follow. Instead, I’ll give you some questions to think about (because you know your little one and family best) and suggestions on how to approach making changes to their day if that’s something you want (or need) to do. I’ll also share some helpful tips to make this transition as smooth as possible. And, of course, a bit of insight into how I will navigate this transition with O.
Things to Keep In Mind
Before I dive into some options for helping your little one through this transition, let’s unpack a few things you’ll want to consider.
Temperament
Like all things sleep-related, how your little one responds to the spring forward time change is largely determined by their unique personality and temperament. As you read the options below, think about how your baby or toddler adapts to change; are they easygoing, and do changes to their day-to-day don’t seem to bother them? Are they highly sensitive and thrown off by the slightest change? Or are they somewhere in the middle?
You’ll also want to consider their rhythmicity (one of the nine temperament traits). Are they reasonably regular, meaning they eat, sleep and wake at the same time every day? Or are they the type that never naps at the same time for the same length and resist a schedule? A child who is more regular and has a “set schedule” will be more sensitive to the time change than a more flexible child.
Note that throughout this blog, I use the term schedule very loosely. I don’t believe babies HAVE to be on a schedule to thrive. Some babies are very regular by nature and almost put themselves on a schedule. Also, some families need a schedule to accommodate work and other activities (more on this below). It is totally fine in these circumstances to have a schedule. I simply want to address this so that no mom reads this and thinks she’s doing something wrong by not having her baby or toddler follow a schedule. Some babies resist them, and some families don’t need them. For more thoughts on schedules and what I generally recommend to families, click here to read my blog on rhythms and routines.
Age
The age of your child matters too. Young babies under nine months, especially newborns, are more likely to roll with the time change as they are usually not sleeping and waking at the same time every day (unless, again, your little one has the regular rhythmicity temperament trait discussed above.) Older babies on one or two naps and toddlers tend to wake and sleep more regularly than young babies. They may find it more challenging to adapt to the spring forward time change.
Your Family’s Lifestyle
How flexible your day-to-day is will also largely determine your approach for navigating the spring forward time change. Families who have older children with set school drop-off or activity times may not be able to let their little ones “sleep in” when the time changes. And little ones in daycare or who need to be up by a specific time for their parents to get to work will want their baby to adapt to the new time. On the other hand, families with a stay-at-home parent or who have a flexible work schedule can really choose any of the options discussed below.
Spring Forward Option 1 – Do Nothing
You read that right… you actually don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to. If it works for your family to have your little one wake up and go to bed “later,” then by all means, keep things simple for yourself and choose to do nothing.
For example, if your little one currently wakes up around 6:00 am and goes to bed around 7:30 pm, you can shift everything by an hour and have them wake up around 7:00 am and go to bed around 8:30 pm.
For parents of little ones who like to wake up early, the spring forward time change is an excellent opportunity to get them waking at a more reasonable hour. That 5:00 am wake up is suddenly 6:00 am, which to many parents feels heavenly.
Some little ones have a strong biological clock and will revert to their original wake-up time. If you’re hoping to take advantage of the time change to shift away from early mornings (or want the new wake-up and bedtime to stick), then it’s essential to move their entire day by an hour. All meal and nap times need to be bumped, not just wake-up and bedtime. Reminder, if your family doesn’t have set nap or meal times, you do not need to worry about this – this tip is for babies and toddlers with a highly regular temperament.
This option really can be used by anyone, not just those who have early risers. It’s great for parents who would prefer a later bedtime or have a lot of flexibility with their schedule. This is also my first choice for most babies under nine months, especially newborns. If your baby is still young enough that they don’t really have a set schedule, then it often makes the most sense not to change anything. Why add extra stress and change if it’s not necessary, right?
Spring Forward Option 2 – Wake baby or toddler at the new time
Another simple, stress-free, minimal planning option. Simply wake them at the new time in the morning that the time changes, then follow their usual routine throughout the day. For example, if your baby was waking around 7 am before the time change, you would wake them around 7 am the new time.
For little ones who struggle to get a second nap in without pushing bedtime too late, this is a great option to have them wake earlier. I also love this for parents of really easy-going babies or toddlers who need a specific wake-up time for daycare. It’s another excellent option for young babies who don’t wake up and nap at the same time every day.
Spring Forward Option 3 – Gradual changes over the next week
Lastly, you can make gradual changes to their schedule over the course of a week. Every day or two, you would move their activities (wake-up time, nap time, meals, bedtime) by 15 mins until their day has shifted to the new time.
This isn’t my favourite strategy for several reasons, but there are absolutely situations where this approach is best. If you have a sensitive little one who struggles with change and you need to keep bedtime or wake up at the same time, this is the approach I recommend.
The reason this isn’t my favourite is that it puts a lot of stress and focus on a “schedule” and adds to the parents’ mental load tremendously for a week. If you are a parent who tends to obsess about sleep (or used to), constant schedule adjustments will only add to your anxiety. This option is also challenging for families who have little control over the timing of their day. For example, it will be hard to make these incremental changes if your little one is in daycare unless they’re also gradually shifting activities over the week.
If you feel this is the best option for your family, keep it as stress-free as possible. Set realistic expectations for yourself that it may not be as simple as moving things by 15 minutes each day. Give yourself lots of grace if things don’t go according to plan. There are bound to be days where you forget to move a meal or a nap time or that bedtime runs later than planned. Trust that even if sleep ends up being “off” for a few nights (or more) that things will adjust to the new time soon enough.
My plan with O
As you may have guessed, I choose option 1 – do nothing. This is how we have approached time changes in the past, and it works for us. I like this approach mostly because I prefer a later bedtime for O during the summer months. It gives my husband and I so much more freedom to do the things we enjoy as a family and not stress about being home for bedtime. We spend our summer weekends boating, camping, and spending time with family and friends. On weeknights, we love to have supper outside on our deck, go for evening walks, and tend to our garden. And we love when O is a part of these activities. The extra hour takes the stress out of bedtime for us, and we feel less rushed.
Currently, O goes to bed around 8:30 pm and is up between 6:30-7 am. A few nights a week, her bedtime creeps closer to 9:00 pm, so my plan this week is to try not to let that happen (but I am not going to worry about it if it does.) Her new bedtime will be around 9:30 pm, and I will wake her by 8 am if she isn’t awake before then. I will not be surprised if O naturally shifts her bedtime a bit earlier, but we will try to keep her bedtime around 9/9:30 pm if possible. And if at any point, this later bedtime no longer works for us, we can always make a gradual (or more abrupt) change back to her original bedtime.
I realize we are very fortunate that we can choose to have this schedule. Not all families could approach the spring forward time change this way. I hope that if you want or need to make a shift this post helps you do it as stress-free as possible! Try not to overthink it, and remember only you know what works best for your little one.
