Daylight Saving Sleep Tips for Babies

October 21, 2020

Yes, it’s just an hour. But when that particular hour occurs at 4am, parents might want to figure out a way to help their babies sleep a little longer! This post, Daylight Saving Sleep Tips for Babies contains step by step advice and a 2022 calendar to make the sleep transition a little easier for the whole family. Whether Springing Forward or Falling Behind, these tips can help.

Daylight Saving Sleep Tips for Babies

Spring, the Beginning of Daylight Saving Time

Daylight Saving time comes every Spring, so if you have an early rising baby…voila! early wake times will be solved Sunday morning!

In all seriousness though, here are some tips to help ease that lost hour for baby and allow for smooth bedtimes any time of the year.

1. Keep baby’s bedtime routine consistent. It’s never too early to start with a routine such as “bath, breast/bottle, books and bed.” Here baby 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 during spring and summer months. Room darkening curtains or shades can help baby AND you! We like these for kids rooms. Another option is temporary, portable blackout shades for use a few months during the year. 

Autumn, the end of Daylight Saving Time:

Worried your baby will “fall back” on 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!

If you’d like to keep baby on schedule, it’s important to note that babies love for things to be done gradually. 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. 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 clock’s 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:

• 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, November 3:  8 p.m. bedtime, which will actually be 7:00 on the day of Daylight Savings!

Of course these best laid plans might not work. Babies are pretty notorious for *not* reading blogs like this and having down-to-the-minute schedules! If your baby wakes up early for a few days after daylight savings, that’s perfectly normal. This is a parenting reality that belongs in the this too shall pass category. But if you are a parent who really wants to keep baby on a schedule, we recommend the gradual approach outlined above.

We don’t want you to fall back on sleep! Click below for our free sleep training class now!