Dave Gibson of The Sleep Site shares his advice for easing children through the change in routine.
For those of us with young children, the promised 'extra hour in bed' when the clocks go back this Sunday, 25 October, is unlikely to come to fruition. Even worse, the 7am weekend wake-up cuddle has now become 6am! Not a great option when you have had a tough week at work.
Here are some tips to help get children through the transition as smoothly as possible.
1. Migrate their sleep pattern slowly
Try changing bedtime over the course of a week, or a weekend, depending on age and temperament. This eases your child's body clock into the new time zone rather than asking it to jump one hour in one go. For babies and toddlers (who are still napping), change their bedtime by 10 minutes per day over 6 days. This means by Sunday you will already be on the right schedule. For young children, it's often easiest to change the bedtime in 15-minute increments over a long weekend. This means it won't interfere with waking up for school.
2. Have longer bath times
Make bath time a little longer to help stretch out the time in the evening. You are basically trying to add 10 minutes to each day in the week as you go along. This will also help relax your child.
3. Get them up later in the morning
As your child is going to bed 10 minutes later each day, they should be woken up 10 minutes later too. Use blackout blinds for the morning so the light is blocked out and children are not woken up earlier than planned.
4. Change their other daily routines
Adjust all routines step by step. If the bedtime changes are gradual, say 10 minutes a day over 6 days, then change the other activities by 10 minutes as well, including mealtimes, nap times and bath time.
5. Change your routine too
Adjust your own schedule in the same way you change your children's. It will make the routine move more easily for everyone.
6. Use props for older children
For older children, consider using props to help support the change in routine. Some parents use clocks with a sun and a moon and tell the child that they must stay in bed as long as the moon is out.
7. Relaxation exercises can help
If your child has difficulty going to sleep, try relaxation exercises. A simple routine is to teach them to breathe from their diaphragm by placing their hand on their belly as they breathe in and out. This will help them relax more easily.
Other exercises include tensing and relaxing each muscle and limb of the body from toe to head. This is typically something I teach older children. They start by curling their toes up and holding for a count of 5 as they breathe in. Then they relax their toes as they breathe out. Then they move up the body to the foot, then the lower leg, then the hip and buttock muscles. By tensing for a count of 5, they can then feel the body relax bit by bit after. The aim here is to bring your child's focus into their body, and away from their often over-active minds.
If things don't work perfectly, don't worry, as most disruptions tend to be temporary. Most infants and children get back on schedule within 3 to 7 days.
Dave Gibson provides educational wellbeing workshops in North London and online across a wide range of areas including stress, sleep, posture, diet and exercise. Find out more at thesleepsite.co.uk
