Spring and clocks going forward
The Spring season has officially started in the UK and it’s nearly time for the clocks to go forward. A lot of children manage this clock change a lot easier that the clocks going back, but aside from the clock changes, there are other changes as we move into spring that can affect your child’s sleep.
Lighter mornings and evenings
Mornings: The mornings are getting lighter and this can make it harder for your child to go back to sleep in the morning. Babies and younger children don’t understand time, so they don’t know that they should still be asleep at 5am. Keeping a consistent wake up time, can help with this. That doesn’t mean you have to wake them up, but have a time that you class as morning and are happy for them to be up from. When it’s morning, open the curtains and be bright and more dynamic.
Evenings: It’s also still light at bedtime, which makes a lot of children feel as though it is still daytime and it can cause huge FOMO. Keep bedtime calmer and quieter. Light affects the production of the sleepy hormone melatonin, so also keep it as dark as possible. Black out blinds and black out curtains can really help to keep your room dark, to help with the production of melatonin and so your little one doesn’t know it is still light outside.
Tip: Beware of any heat build up between black out blinds and the window, as they can cause the window to crack. Make sure to open blinds once your child is awake, especially after naps during the day.
More noise
The lighter mornings and evenings also encourages people to be out and about earlier and later. Sometimes they can be quite noisy and this can affect your baby’s ability to sleep. Playing white noise in the bedroom can help to mask outside sounds. If you use it, use it for all naps and have it playing all night. There are different types of white noise, so you may need to try different ones to see which your baby (or you, if they are in the same room) can tolerate.
Clocks going forward
Children tend to adapt quicker to losing an hours sleep, than they do to gaining the hour. If your child adapts quickly, you can just do nothing. If your child struggles with the clock change, here are a couple of options:
30 Minute Adjustment: Put them to bed 30 minutes earlier on Saturday night and then the new normal time on the Sunday night, or
Gradual adjustment: Put them to bed 15 minutes earlier on the 4 nights leading up to the clock change, so starting on Wednesday night.