With summer officially behind us, it’s time to bunker down for the cooler months and prepare for the end of daylight savings on Sunday, April 4, 2022.
While it may be slightly easier to tweak your baby’s sleep routine at the end of daylight savings, toddlers and preschoolers are a whole other story altogether. These mighty little beings can be extremely stubborn when it comes to bedtime, so it helps to include them in the adjustment process so they feel they have some power.
We know that transitioning a tot to a new sleep routine is no easy feat, so to help you prepare, we had a chat with sleep consultant Amanda Bude for some handy tips about adjusting to a new sleepytime schedule.
End of daylight savings for toddlers
Guideline for transitioning a toddler
- A sleep trainer clock will give toddlers a visual cue for when it’s time to sleep and get up.
- Make sure your child’s bedding has been changed to take into account the cooler weather.
- Often meal times through the day and dinner need to be adjusted earlier as well, so sometimes this can be done in 15-30 min time slots over a five day period (similar to the routine for babies above).
- Be aware of blue light or screen time exposure in the afternoon. This might need to be stopped for a period of time as the child adjusts to the new change if bedtime resistance starts to happen.
- Make sure children get exposure to sunlight during the day as well to help adjust to the new environment.
- If outside noises are a disturbance use white noise or music to drown them out.
- Heat the sheets with a heat pack, so that they are not cold going into bed.
All the best of luck to the mums and dads turning back the clocks. Don’t forget to wind them back one hour on Sunday morning April 4, 2022 – most smartphones will do this automatically so don’t be caught out!
Those of you in Queensland, the NT and WA – it’s business as usual.
Read next …
If your bub is having trouble winding down and drifting off into sweet slumber, we have plenty of helpful articles on why it might be happening and what you can do to help:
