For people without small children, the clocks going back apparently means an extra hour in bed. For parents, it often means staring at the monitor at 5am while somebody announces that morning has started.
In 2026, the clocks go back on Sunday 25 October. At 2am, the time changes to 1am. Phones normally update themselves, but toddlers are less obliging.
With Darcey and Freya, I’ve learned that there isn’t one perfect way to handle the clock change. Some children barely notice it. Others seem to sense a 60-minute shift with the accuracy of an atomic clock. What helps us most is having a simple plan, without turning the week into a military sleep operation.
Why the autumn clock change can feel difficult
When the clocks go back, a child who usually wakes at 6am may wake at what the clock now calls 5am. Their body has not suddenly received the memo.
The same thing can happen at bedtime. Seven o’clock may look correct on the clock, but to their body it can feel like 8pm. That can mean an overtired child by the end of the day, particularly if naps have also moved.
The reassuring part is that children do adjust. The aim is simply to make the transition a little gentler, not to produce a perfectly timed sleeper.
Option one: move the routine gradually
If your child is very sensitive to changes or already wakes early, you can move bedtime, naps and morning by around 15 minutes a day in the run-up to Sunday.
For a usual 7pm bedtime, that could look like this:
- Thursday: bedtime at 7.15pm
- Friday: bedtime at 7.30pm
- Saturday: bedtime at 7.45pm
- Sunday: bedtime at 7pm by the new clock
You can shift the rest of the day in the same direction: meals, nap and bath a little later too. I find this makes more sense than changing bedtime on its own, because children tend to notice the rhythm of the whole day.
It does not have to be exact. If nursery, work or school runs make a four-day plan unrealistic, even one or two small shifts may soften the jump.
Option two: change nothing and ride it out
This is also a completely reasonable strategy.
If your child is generally flexible, you may prefer to put them to bed at the normal clock time on Sunday and accept that mornings could be early for a few days. Not every family needs to prepare a week in advance, and not every unsettled night needs fixing.
The NHS recommends a predictable wind-down of around 30 minutes before the time a child usually falls asleep. Keeping the familiar order, perhaps bath, pyjamas, milk, story and bed, can be more reassuring than concentrating on the precise minute they go down.
Use light to make the new time feel real
Morning light helps signal that the day has begun, while a darker, quieter evening supports winding down. After the clock change, I try to open the curtains and get outside during the morning, even if it is only for a short walk.
In the evening, dimming the lights and switching off screens before bed can help keep the routine calm. NHS children’s health guidance advises turning screens off an hour before bedtime and choosing quieter activities such as reading, colouring or playing with Lego.
If you need an easy reason to get everyone outdoors, our rainy-day outdoor play ideas are deliberately low-effort.
Do not forget naps, meals and the grandparents
Bedtime gets most of the attention, but naps and meals act as time cues too. If you are shifting gradually, move those as well rather than leaving a large gap before bed.
It also helps to tell anyone else looking after your child what you are doing. If Nan has them on Friday or nursery has them during the week, a quick message avoids everybody working to a different plan. It does not need a spreadsheet, just “we’re trying lunch and nap 15 minutes later today” is enough.
What I would avoid
I would not keep an exhausted toddler awake for a full extra hour on Saturday and expect it to solve Sunday. In my experience, overtiredness tends to create more bedtime drama, not less.
I would also avoid changing everything at once. The clock change is probably not the ideal weekend to drop a nap, move bedrooms or begin a completely new bedtime routine. If you are already thinking about a move from cot to bed, my cot-to-bed experience may help, but I would give the clock change a little breathing room first.
If Sunday still starts at 5am
Keep the room dark and the response calm for as long as feels sensible, then start the day. Try to work towards the new routine over the next few days rather than expecting an instant reset.
Most importantly, do not read one early morning as proof that you have handled it badly. Children’s sleep changes for all sorts of reasons, and sometimes the best plan is simply an earlier coffee and a quieter afternoon.
The clocks will settle. They always do, even if nobody in a house with small children gets that promised extra hour.
Steph x
Useful UK guidance: GOV.UK clock-change dates, NHS advice on sleep and young children and NHS children’s health bedtime-routine guidance.
