Autumn clock change

Autumn is coming and the clocks are changing!

This clock changing can be particularly challenging for families especially if you have a child who is already waking super early.
But there are a few things you can do to make this change easier for everyone, with or without early risers.

You could take 3 different approaches when helping your child adjust to the new time.

Take it easy and gentle on the lead up to it - make small adjustments everyday ahead of the clocks changing so when it happens your child’s body is ticking to the new time. You could start 10 days ahead and make small changes to your mornings everyday. This is particularly good for children who are more sensitive to changes or early risers.

Go cold turkey: On Sunday when the clocks have changed, just delay wake up times, naps, activities and bedtime by one hour. The wake up times will be a bit off for a few days but your child will adapt. This may be for you if you have a laid back child that takes sudden changes in their stride.

Deal with it after the clocks have changed: As it says! Start making changes just on the Sunday and through the following week. You might have some early mornings to start with, but most children have adapted to the new time within 5 days. This may be a good strategy for children who feel very tired.

So what to do? 

What we are doing is nudging the circadian rhythm by one hour. When we talk about circadian rhythm there are two or three factors that greatly influence how it ticks
Light

• Temperature 
• Feeding

Light: Light may be the most important environmental factor influencing the awake/sleep body clock. So use it in your favour.

• Keep it dark (or dim light) in the morning for an extra amount of time (eg. 5 minutes) everyday. So if your child starts the day at 6 am, keep the room dark and calm until 6:05 am on day one, 6:10 am on day two and so on. You could do increments of 10 or 15 minutes instead.

It is very likely your child will wake up at regular time at first, and that is ok. Just stay in the darker room and speak with a low, calm voice until the target time.

• Once it is the planned time, turn the lights on and have an upbeat wake up. 
• Go outside as soon as you can in the morning and make sure your child is exposed to natural light throughout the day as much as possible, even if it is not sunny.

Temperature: Our body's temperature fluctuates throughout the day and night and in fact, it increases as our bedtime approaches. So we tend to sleep more comfortably when it’s on the cooler side. 

• Set your heater to come on not too early. The warmth and noise can encourage your child to wake up.

Feeding: This also has an impact on our circadian rhythm (think about being jet lagged - having meals at the local times will help adapt to the local time quicker). But it is important to appreciate it is most relevant when your baby is having regular meals; this is likely to be happening from around 7 or 8 months.

• Focus on the first feed of the day. Push that first feed later each day to coincide with the new wake up time. 

Important note: if your baby is young or you are having feeding issues, it is best to skip this.

---

These are some gentle changes you can make to adjust your child’s circadian rhythm to the new time. Most children and adults will adopt the new time in around 5 days, but some children are more sensitive and will need extra support through this process.

Once you have all adapted to the new time, remember to have an overhaul of naps and bedtime so it is all ticking along. If you need help with that, you can book a one off video call with me and we can work out how to adjust your days.

Enjoy the Autumn!