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With Daylight Savings just around the corner, we all know colder weather, shorter days and the holidays are on the way! But with all the joys of the holidays come some woes, like adjusting your baby’s sleep schedule to daylight savings time. While the time change can be a struggle for some babies, we’re here to guide you through adjusting your baby’s sleep schedule for daylight savings to make it as easy as possible, so you and your family can continue to get restful nights! Read on for Nanit’s Director of Clinical Research & Baby Sleep Expert Dr. Natalie Barnett’s top 3 tips on how to prepare your baby to fall back:

Take advantage of naps to prepare. You can use the naps on Saturday to help your child adjust to the time change on Sunday. Try moving naps later on Saturday by 15 or 30 minute increments. See the chart below for guidance.

Do something fun. Engage in a fun activity as a family on Saturday to keep them busy. This will help distract them if they are getting a little tired while you slightly lengthen those wake windows.

Pro Tip #1: You still will likely see an early wake up on Sunday morning, since the clocks will have moved back overnight and no-one informed your little one! While the prep work on Saturday should help with that early waking, it might still be a few days before they adjust to the new wake up time.

Consistency is key. On Sunday, try to get onto the new time for naps as best you can.

Pro Tip #2: You might find your little one is really tired at the end of the day and needs to go down for the night earlier. If you can, try to make it to at least 30 mins before their regular bedtime (eg, 6.30pm if their usual bedtime is 7pm).

Some babies adjust to the new time in a day, others are still struggling after a week. All babies are different, but the more prep work you can do and the more consistent you are, the easier this process will be!

Remember to visit our Sleep Schedule Generator if you are looking for guidance on your baby’s schedule – you’ll get a custom schedule based on your baby’s age. Check out the Nanit Community to connect with other parents and get more expert tips for managing the time change.

CONTRIBUTORS

Natalie Barnett, PhD serves as VP of Clinical Research at Nanit. Natalie initiated sleep research collaborations at Nanit and in her current role, Natalie oversees collaborations with researchers at hospitals and universities around the world who use the Nanit camera to better understand pediatric sleep and leads the internal sleep and development research programs at Nanit. Natalie holds a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of New England in Australia and a Postgraduate Certificate in Pediatric Sleep Science from the University of Western Australia. Natalie was an Assistant Professor in the Neurogenetics Unit at NYU School of Medicine prior to joining Nanit. Natalie is also the voice of Nanit's science-backed, personalized sleep tips delivered to users throughout their baby's first few years.

Dr. Maristella Lucchini serves as Senior Clinical Researcher at Nanit. In her role, Maristella works to secure grant funding in collaboration with Nanit's university research partners and supports the development of the company's research collaborations around the world. Previously, Maristella served as an Assistant Research Scientist in the Division of Developmental Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center where she led projects across several cohorts focusing on prenatal and perinatal health. Maristella holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano.

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