Beginning of Daylight Savings!

In New Zealand, 2023 Daylight Saving begins at 2.45am on Sunday 24th September – this is less than a month away!

If you are a parent who is struggling with early wake ups, then fear not! This will actually be helpful for you, as your 5.30am wakeup will become 6.30am.

Here are my 8 top tips for dealing with daylight savings.

1. Give your baby or toddler time to adjust. To get over a 1 hour change like this allow 2-3 weeks for everything to be right back to normal. That might mean you have to work quite hard on nap re-settling for a couple of weeks if your baby is younger in order for their body clocks to adjust. Even us adults feel a bit weird with this change over.
2. If your baby or toddler is already waking early, you won’t need to adjust their wakeup time each morning, you’ll just need to adjust their naps and bedtime.
3. Don’t just put your baby or toddler to bed early the night before daylight savings ends, they will likely struggle to fall asleep without having done a gradual transition.
4. Spend at least 4 days adjusting your babies awake, nap, and feed times, either before or after daylight savings ends, don’t try to do it in one day. If you have a very sensitive child you might even spend 8 – 12 days doing this - adjust the table below to make the changes every 2-3 days.
5. Newborns don’t have a mature circadian rhythm so will not notice the change over to the new times, so don’t panic and you can start to think about a nap routine between 6-12 weeks if this is something which suits your parenting style. You can download some free nap routines here: 
6. Toddlers will adjust easily with the use of a sleep trainer clock if you adjust it in 15 minute increments and have a nice consistent routine at bed time in place. Check out our amazing Ooly toddler clock and our guide to introducing a sleep trainer clock effectively!
7. With winter over, our babies and toddlers’ rooms may not be getting quite as cold overnight, but it’s not time to change out of their winter sleeping bag just yet. It is safest to have a clear cot for babies and rely on a sleeping bag like our SmartSnugg sleepers. If your baby or toddler often sleeps on their tummy with their hands and arms under their body this is a sign they are cold. Try a merino layer under their sleeping bag and aim to keep the room at 18-20 degrees. 
8. If your baby or toddler's room is not super dark they may struggle to fall asleep at bedtime with the change of clock meaning it is now lighter in the evenings.  Consider blacking out their windows to help with easier settling.

Email me if you have any more questions!

Cara Popping

Certified Infant and Child Sleep Consultant