How to Ease Daylight Saving Sleep Loss

October 21, 2020

updated March 5, 2025 – Yes, it’s just an hour. But when you’re the parent of a newborn, infant or baby twins, it’s a crucial hour! In 2025, we spring forward on March 9 at 2am, so while we lose an hour, babies who used to wake up at 5am now wake up at 6am (yay?). This post, How to Ease Daylight Saving Sleep Loss contains step by step infant sleep help to help ease the sleep transition.

Spring, the Beginning of Daylight Saving Time

Daylight Saving time comes every Spring. So if you have an early rising baby on Saturday the early wake time will be solved Sunday morning when you “spring forward”! Of course even though the clock shows a later time, you and your baby have still lost an hour of sleep.

If you would like to ease your baby into the time change, you can start tonight by slowly adjusting bedtime 10 – 15 minutes earlier each night. If possible, help them to wake up slightly earlier as well. You can also shift the timing of daily activities such as giving a bottle or meals a few minutes earlier to further support the adjustment.

During this adjustment period, be sure to avoid bright light from phones and screens in the evening, as these can make falling asleep earlier more difficult for babies (and adults too).

Of course these best laid plans might not work. Babies are pretty notorious for *not* reading blogs like this! If your baby wakes up early for a few days after daylight savings, that’s perfectly normal. But if you’re a parent who really wants to keep baby on a schedule, the gradual approach may help.

Don’t forget about Your Own Sleep

For parents of little ones, life revolves around sleep, and nothing wreaks havoc on sleep like Daylight Savings. There’s a BIG difference between waking up at 6am and 5am! While you’re helping your baby to sleep better with gradual adjustments, you can start adjusting your own bedtime and wake time. Switch full nights of sleep with your partner and try to wake up 15 minutes earlier each day until you reach your desired schedule.

Loss of sleep after time adjustments is associated with more car accidents and overall disrupted sleep patterns leading to drowsiness, reduced alertness, and impaired cognitive functioning. If you’re driving, take extra care to be sure you’re alert and be aware of others’ behavior on the road as well.

The postpartum time is especially difficult on new mothers and fathers as sleep deprivation weakens the immune system. Additionally brain fog, aka “mommy brain” can contribute to poor decision making with daily tasks.

Daylight Saving Sleep Tips for Babies – Autumn, the end of Daylight Saving Time

If you’d like to keep baby on schedule, it’s important to note that your baby loves routine and gradual change. Little ones don’t respond well to a “cold turkey” approach. One way we can help babies through Daylight Savings, is by gradually falling back an hour at bedtime. As night nanny Sonia says, don’t worry if you can’t start exactly 10 days before Daylight Savings ends. Any success you have in pushing up baby’s bedtime will only help when it’s time to turn the clocks back.

For a baby that typically goes to bed at 7p.m., you might try this about 10 – 14 days in advance of Daylight Savings:

How to Ease Daylight Saving Sleep Loss: Tips to help your Infant Anytime of Year

• Saturday/Sunday/Monday: Lay baby in the crib for bedtime at 7:10- 7:20
• Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday: Bedtime at 7:20- 7:30
• Friday/Saturday: Try to push bedtime to 7:40- 7:50
• Sunday:  8 p.m. bedtime, which will actually be 7:00 on the day of Daylight Savings!

1. Keep your baby’s bedtime routine consistent. It’s never too early to start with a routine such as “bath, breast/bottle, books and bed.” gets a relaxing bath, final feed of the night and then quiet time to digest and bond with you. Plenty of time to digest and work out gas, as well as a predictable routine pave the way for comfortable sleep. These are also the stepping stones for babies to eventually sleep through the night. 
2. Leave baby alone if s/he seems to be napping “too long.” Don’t worry, baby is making up for the lost hour from springing forward. While naps/bedtime may be a little off this week, sleep is what’s need to help baby grow and develop. 
3. Don’t forget black-out curtains! It can be hard for little ones to wind down when it’s still bright and sunny outside. Room darkening curtains or shades can help baby AND you! Our doulas and night nannies like these for kids rooms.

Why do we have Daylight Saving Time?

Daylight saving time (DST) was originally introduced to make better use of natural daylight and reduce energy consumption. The idea is to shift an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening, so people can take advantage of longer daylight hours after work or school. Here are the facts:

1. Energy Savings – Historically, DST was believed to reduce electricity use by extending daylight hours in the evening, though modern studies show mixed results.
2. More Daylight for Activities – Longer evening daylight allows for more outdoor activities and boosts retail and recreational businesses.
3. Safety Benefits – More daylight in the evening may help reduce car accidents and crime rates.
4. Agricultural & Workplace Adjustments – While often assumed to help farmers, many actually oppose DST because it disrupts their schedules.

Regarding infant sleep, sleep training and plans are rarely perfect. If following the baby sleep schedule feels forced, it’s okay to just….stop. Newborns in particular are on their own schedule and that is perfectly normal. Daylight Saving time is a parenting reality that can go into the this too shall pass category.