Preparing your baby for daylight saving? Here’s why you shouldn’t worry

Preparing your baby for daylight saving? A baby sleep expert says don’t worry about it – here’s why.

In our latest Facebook live, qualified baby and child sleep consultant Steph Gouin says she gets lots of questions about daylight saving. 

“You’ll probably get told to do all these crazy sort of preparations for daylight saving finishing. But I don’t recommend any of that,” says Steph. 

For those who need a quick reminder, this year daylight saving ends at 3:00 am on Sunday, April 4th 2021 (Eastern Australian Time). And the clocks go back one hour. 

Watch the full interview with Steph below.

Clocks go back!

So what should parents do instead to make life easier? Steph has some surprisingly simple advice.

“Just a couple of nights before the clocks go back, gradually edge bedtime later, towards 7pm.”

So for a baby who usually has a 6pm bedtime, Steph suggests that you start gradually shifting bedtime a bit later, towards 7, from Thursday night onwards. “Then on Saturday night/Sunday morning, instead of [sleeping] 7pm till 7am, it’ll be 7pm till 6am.

“I recommend a 6am to 7am wake up anyway, so if they’re waking at 6, you just start your day as normal in the new time set up.” 

Don’t overthink it

Like with any change, parents may find their children are still a little unsettled.

“There may be a little bit of unsettledness, but our body clocks are very clever and were designed to sort of adapt to these changes anyway,” says Steph.

“So keep going with the normal routine, making sure babies and children get lots of sleep. 

“And if they are a little bit unsettled at bedtime, or they do wake early, make sure they can catch up so they don’t get caught in this vicious, overtired cycle. That then becomes the problem, not the change in the clocks.”

To find out more about Steph, her ebooks and sleep support packages, visit her website Sleep By Steph.