Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Sleep

Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler. Need more advice on your childs development? Sign up to our Ages and Stages newsletter here.

Original poster

Clocks go back ... anyone dreading it?

38 replies

Cantgetausername87 · 30/10/2021 09:41

Anyone out there dreading the clocks going back! Ive got a 3month old who has been sleeping well but my mum friends have been warning the clock change can really affect this.
I plan to keep him up and hour later and do feeds an hour later - what is everyone else doing?

OP posts:
GlmPmum · 30/10/2021 09:58

Your 3 month old will be fine, it barely effected us when our DS was that age. DS now almost 3 and I'm not going to benefit from an extras hour sleep before my 12 hour shift tomorrow morning. Instead I'll be up with him from 5am instead of 6am before I leave for work at 730!

nc87653 · 30/10/2021 10:09

I have a 3 year old and a 2 year old. Never had the clocks changing had a huge impact on their sleep/our daily routine.

hibye123 · 30/10/2021 10:11

I have a 5 month old and no plans to do any changes to her routine. I'm just dreading it because it'll start to be dark around 4pm now!

Original poster
Cantgetausername87 · 30/10/2021 10:15

Seems it may not be so bad after all @GlmPmum im sorry to hear about your 12 hour shift with very little sleep!

OP posts:
Topseyt · 30/10/2021 10:20

I've no young children anymore, but I hate the clocks going back anyway. I hate the longer, darker nights and shorter days. It really makes me feel tired and depressed. I'd like to hibernate from about November until around the middle of February.

TheBestSpoon · 30/10/2021 10:21

We have quite a particular DS, but he's always been fine. You're likely to have an earlier morning that usual tomorrow though! If you're worried we generally spread the change over a few days - 15 minutes later bedtime each night until you've done the whole hour, and then it really should be unnoticeable.

meltingappointment · 30/10/2021 10:22

I just changed the clock half an hour at lunchtime on the Saturday and the same again on Sunday.

itsgettingwierd · 30/10/2021 10:23

I am! Purely on a selfish basis!

Up early today for ds swimming (5am!) and up early Monday for the same (4am!)

Up early to,Oreos to drive 2.5 hours for a swimming event (6am!)

I'm quite glad by body will think it's 7am. Even that's early for a Sunday Grin

Original poster
Cantgetausername87 · 30/10/2021 10:24

Yes the dark days are another reason (and probably more rational) to hate the clocks changing x

OP posts:
groundhog2021 · 30/10/2021 10:48

I have a six month old i moved bedtime earlier recently so all I'm going to do is bring in an extra nap to go to bed at 8pm rather than 7pm.

BlueberrySugar · 30/10/2021 10:54

Never effected my DS. It'll be fine.

SinoohXaenaHide · 30/10/2021 10:54

Kids can't tell the time. I always did the hour change across 3 nights. I use a wristwatch and battery alarm clock that will tell the time I want it to tell and we use those for routine.

Friday night adjust all routines by 20 minutes from normal. Saturday night is when the "official" hour change happens but you don't have to do anything according to the world's clock. Watch and alarm clock change by another 20 minutes so the change is two-thirds done. Sunday night the last 20 minute change happens and you are back in synch with the world.

I don't bother with this now DC in teen/tween years and don't really care about the hour shift that much.

Hetyanni · 30/10/2021 10:55

Babies are fine, it's toddlers that are a nightmare. It'll be a 4am start for us tomorrow 😫

SinoohXaenaHide · 30/10/2021 10:55

I mean toddler/baby sized kids above. Obviously older kids can tell the time but are also a lot less disrupted by changes in routine.

GoodnightGrandma · 30/10/2021 10:55

I used to split it and keep them up by 30 mins, then send them to bed 30 mins earlier in spring.

RichTeaRichTea · 30/10/2021 11:00

I agree that with your 3mo it is less likely to be an issue

For one of mine it was always dreadful because he was wakeful through the night and was an early riser so I was already sleep deprived and the couple of weeks of even earlier rising was awful before it settled into the new pattern. One year it didn’t go back until the clocks went forward again. My other child will stay tucked up as long as she is in with me so it is much less of a problem.

Couldhavebeenme3 · 30/10/2021 11:01

I have a health problem at the moment where I'm struggling to sleep due to pain at night (morphine isn't touching it).

I'm really looking forward to my usual 4am start being 3am Sad

RichTeaRichTea · 30/10/2021 11:09

The “it was never a problem for mine, you’ll be fine” have no idea how awful it can be for some people! Hopefully it won’t ever be a problem for you OP

BunnytheFriendlyDragon · 30/10/2021 11:14

I have a four month old and don't really see why it would make much difference.

I tend to follow his cues so can change bedtime if we need to.

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 30/10/2021 11:24

When my DS was little the hour change did bother him. We adopted him at 10 months so I'm not sure whether it made any difference to him at 3 months. Anyway, I changed his bedtime by 10 minutes a day for three days before the hour change and 3 days after and that was fine for him.

Is this the last time the hour changes, or do we have another one to go?

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 30/10/2021 11:31

I've just Googled and apparently the EU aren't implementing the decision not to change the clocks yet, because of Covid. So I guess we have another year or two, it was supposed to have been Spring 2021 for Ireland.

UnalliterativeGeorge · 30/10/2021 11:35

I have the added bonus of it being DD's birthday tomorrow so she is super excited and will be up bright and early. Fingers crossed for 6am and not 5...

blairresignationjam · 30/10/2021 11:54

Yes. My 8 month old barely sleeps as it is. And has the strongest in-built clock. Always ready for the day at 5 am regardless of time he went to bed or the amount of day time naps. This means he'll be up 4am on Monday morning....the same day as my first day back to work after maternity leave Sad

RaininSummer · 30/10/2021 11:56

Hate it. Will only see proper daylight at weekends until the evenings lighten again.

iamtheoneandonlyyy · 30/10/2021 11:57

Got three 6 and under. The clocks going back equals a long day in this house