The clock change survival guide

It's not you. It's the clocks.

At 2am on Sunday 25 October the clocks go back an hour. Nobody tells your three-year-old. So the 6:30 waker turns up at 5:30, bedtime feels an hour late to them and an hour early to you, and the routine you've spent months getting right wobbles for about a week.

Build your planWhat to do, and when
What's actually going on

Their body clock doesn't read the news.

Small children read the room rather than the clock — the light going, the house going quiet, the routine starting. Move the clock and those cues stop agreeing with it, so for a few days everything lands in the wrong place: early waking, a bedtime that feels late to them, naps that don't fit.

They also can't push through it the way you can. No second coffee, no pep talk. When they're tired they're tired, and at 5:30am they are wide awake.

It settles in three to seven days. What shortens it: daylight in the morning, dim light in the evening, and keeping the routine in the same order every night, even while the times move.

37% of parents say their children struggle to adapt when the clocks changeAviva / Censuswide, 2025
3–7 days how long most children take to settle, if the routine stays steady.
10–15 min a day is plenty. Spread the hour out rather than moving it in one go.
Step one — your plan

Spread the hour out, so Sunday doesn't have to do all the work.

Move wake-up and bedtime a little later each day in the run-up — and naps along with them, if your child still naps — and by Sunday their body is already most of the way there. Put your usual times in and we'll do the arithmetic.

MomentDay 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Sunday, new time
Wake up06:4206:5407:0607:1807:3006:30
Start bedtime18:4218:5419:0619:1819:3018:30
Sleep time19:1219:2419:3619:4820:0019:00

Times in the day columns are on the old clock. The last column is the same moment in your child's day, on the new time.

Take your plan with you

Your times, the checklist and what to do when it goes sideways.

We'll email you the odd bedtime thing. Nothing else, ever.

Nobody hits these times exactly. Ten minutes either way is fine — it's the direction of travel doing the work. If it falls apart on day three, pick it up from wherever you are.

Step two — the week itself

Surviving the week

The week before

Move it slowly

  • Shift wake-up, bedtime and any naps later by ten or fifteen minutes a day — the builder above works out the times.
  • Get outside in the morning. Daylight is the strongest signal you have.
  • Keep the order of the routine identical, even as the times move. The order is what they recognise.
  • Dim the lights for the last hour. Amber and warm light wavelengths have minimal impact on melatonin — supporting the body's natural sleep onset.
The day itself

Hold the new times

  • Use the new times from the moment you get up. Going back to the old times for one day undoes the week.
  • If they're awake at 5:30, keep the room dark and the company dull until the time you want the day to start.
  • Naps at the new times. Don't add an extra one unless they're completely flattened.
  • A light cue like Kip's is one way to make the new time visible to a child who can't read a clock.
The week after

Ride it out

  • Expect a few early mornings. Three to seven days is normal.
  • If they're over-tired, an earlier bedtime for a couple of nights is fine.
  • Resist changing things daily. Chopping and changing makes it take longer.
  • Some mornings will still start at 5:40. That's the week, not your parenting.
Meanwhile

We'd rather this page didn't need to exist.

Twice a year, millions of families move their children's whole routine by an hour overnight. We're campaigning it to stop changing. Tell us what the change does in your house.

Leave the clocks alone
Straight answers

The questions we get asked every October

The clocks change tomorrow and I've done nothing.

Then don't start a five-day plan tonight. Let them stay up twenty or thirty minutes later than usual, and from Sunday morning run everything on the new clock. Children adjust either way — the gradual version just softens the landing.

How long until my child adjusts?

Most children settle in four to seven nights, as long as the routine keeps the same shape. Two- and three-year-olds usually take longer than school-age children, and a few need closer to a fortnight. None of that is a problem.

Should I wake them at the new time?

Yes, and get some daylight into them soon after. Letting them sleep on reinforces the old rhythm and stretches the whole thing out by days.

What if they're up at 5am every morning?

Keep the room dark and the morning boring until the time you want the day to start. It is deeply dull, and it works — the tiredness needs a few days to rebalance.

Do I have to bother with the gradual shift?

No. Plenty of families take the hour on the chin and are fine by Wednesday. The gradual version is gentler on children who don't handle change well, and on anyone who cannot face a 5am start.

Does a sleep trainer clock help?

It can. A child who can't read a clock can read a colour, so a light cue gives them something to check at 5am other than you. It's one way to hold the line, not the whole answer.

When does this happen again?

The UK clocks go forward at 1am on Sunday 28 March 2027, which is the same job in reverse. The builder above does both — switch it to spring.

Also in the kit

Other things that help this week

How to protect your bedtime routine when the clocks changeGuide

How to protect your bedtime routine when the clocks change

Practical ways to keep bedtime steady through the week the clocks change.

Read the guide →A clock that does the explainingKip the Kitty

A clock that does the explaining

A four-phase clock like Kip is one way to show a small child when it's time to sleep and when it's okay to get up, whatever the kitchen clock says.

Shop the clock →A story, a sound or a song for each part of bedtimeThe Zeepy app

A story, a sound or a song for each part of bedtime

Start with a free trial. There's even a story for this week: Kip and the Extra Hour.

Get the app →
Listen to our Clock Change Story
StorySettle
33:09

Kip and the Extra Hour

For when a clock change or a worry your child can't quite name has them searching for answers. Kip hunts under cushions and behind biscuit jars for…

0:0033:09
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