On the last Sunday in October, the clocks go back by one hour. In theory, everyone gets an extra hour in bed. If you have young children, you may already be laughing… or crying.
For children, the autumn clock change often means earlier wake-ups, overtired afternoons, and a bedtime routine that everyone knows is happening an hour too late.
Yes, their body clock will eventually catch up. But until then? It’s all about surviving. A bit of preparation, both mentally and logistically, can help you ensure the transition goes as smoothly as possible.
Why it’s harder for children than for adults
To us, as adults, a one-hour clock change seems like hardly anything. But to children, this seemingly small shift can completely throw them off an otherwise well-established schedule.
What makes the October clock change so difficult for children? There are a few main reasons:
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Pushing through tiredness is harder for kids
After the clocks change, children are effectively being asked to stay awake an hour later than their bodies are used to. A 7 pm bedtime now feels like 8 pm. Add in a 6 am wake-up that still feels like 7 am, and they may already be running on empty by late afternoon.
Adults can usually push through that tired feeling for a while. Young children simply do not have the same ability to regulate themselves when they are exhausted. Instead, tiredness can show up as tears, tantrums, silliness, hyperactivity, or suddenly refusing to cooperate just when you are trying to get them into bed.
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The external cues have changed
Children rely much more heavily on what is happening around them to understand when it is time to sleep. Adults can glance at the time on their phone and think, “It’s only 6 pm.” A young child is more likely to notice that it is already dark outside, the curtains are closed, and the house is starting to feel quieter. In autumn, those evening cues arrive earlier, which can make them feel ready for bed well before bedtime actually rolls around.
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They’ve genuinely had less sleep
If your child manages to stay awake until their “new” bedtime but still wakes when their body clock tells them, they have actually had less sleep than usual. A few mornings like that can quickly add up, making overtiredness more likely and evenings harder to manage.
Preparing for the October clock change
If you want to get ahead of the disruption, one option is to start shifting your child’s bedtime gradually in the days leading up to the clock change. Some parents prefer to make small adjustments in advance, while others simply deal with the new time when it arrives. Both approaches are perfectly reasonable, and children will adjust either way. But if you would like to soften the transition a little, a gradual shift can help.
Try the gradual shift approach
If bedtime is normally 7 pm, start nudging it 10 minutes later each day during the week before the clock change. By Saturday night, your child will be going to sleep at 8 pm, which becomes the new 7 pm when the clocks go back on Sunday.
Normal bedtime: 7:00 pm
- Mon: 7:10 pm (+10 min)
- Tue: 7:20 pm (+20 min)
- Wed: 7:30 pm (+30 min)
- Thu: 7:40 pm (+40 min)
- Fri: 7:50 pm (+50 min)
- Sat: 8:00 pm (+60 min)
- Sun: 7:00 pm — new time!
Reading this the night before?
That’s alright! It’s not too late to try a modified gradual shift. Pushing bedtime back by 20 to 30 minutes the evening before can still help make the following day feel a little less abrupt.
Anchor bedtime around familiar cues
When it gets dark long before bedtime, the light outside stops being a reliable cue for when sleep should happen. Instead, choose something else your child can rely on to show them where they are in the evening routine. A sleep training clock can help by giving them a simple visual signal they can recognise without needing to read the time.
Lengthen the pre-sleep “settle” stage
Since your child may already be feeling sleepier in the evenings, it can help to make the wind-down stage a little longer than normal. The trick is to keep them calm without letting them drift off too soon. Choose something gentle but still engaging, like colouring, looking at books, or doing a simple puzzle.
If you use a Zeepy sleep training clock, the lilac “settle” stage will mark this part of the routine. You can pair it with one of the gentle stories in the Zeepy App, giving your child something soothing to listen to while they stay quietly occupied until bedtime. That can help take the edge off the tiredness without moving bedtime so early that their body stays stuck on the old schedule.
On the night, keep bedtime predictable
On the first few evenings after the clocks change, do your best to keep things as familiar as possible.
- Stick to the usual bedtime sequence you normally follow, such as bath, pyjamas, books, and bed
- Avoid introducing lots of other changes to the routine at the same time
- Give your child a little longer to settle if they seem overtired, but choose calm activities that will not send them to sleep too early
- In the morning, reward them for waiting until the right time to get up
A sleep training clock can make this easier by giving children a clear visual routine to follow. Zeepy’s Kip clock has a four-stage light sequence that guides them through settling, sleeping, waiting, and waking up. In the morning, if they wait for Kip the Kitty to wake up and for the blue light to appear, you can reinforce the habit with a reward activity in the Zeepy App.
Give their body clock time to catch up
Keep the usual cues in place and try to stay consistent while things settle.
If you’d like some extra support during the transition, Zeepy’s bedtime clocks can help with both the evening and morning routines, along with stories, sounds, and meditations in the Zeepy App.
