Daylight Saving Time and Baby Sleep: How to Adjust

Short Answer

Your baby does not know the clocks changed. Their body clock follows light, feeding, and sleep, so after a one-hour change their naps and bedtime will feel an hour early or late until it catches up. You have three good options: shift sleep times gradually in the days before the change, split the difference for a few days after it, or switch on the day and follow your baby's wake windows. Many babies settle onto the new clock within about a week.

Key Points

• Fall back: Babies often wake an hour earlier by the new clock at first, and bedtime arrives when they are already more tired than usual.
• Spring forward: Bedtime can arrive before your baby feels tired, and mornings may need a gentle wake-up.
• Gradual shift: Move naps, feeds, and bedtime by about 15 minutes a day over the four days before the change.
• Light helps: Daylight is one of the strongest signals for the body clock. Use it, and darkness, on purpose.
• Newborns: There is usually nothing to shift. Keep following cues.

2026–2027 Clock Change Dates

Not everywhere changes. Hawaii and most of Arizona stay on standard time all year, as do most of Saskatchewan and all of Yukon in Canada, and most of Mexico stopped changing clocks in 2022. Southern-hemisphere countries change on different dates. US dates follow federal law; see NIST's daylight saving time page.

What Changes for Your Baby

When clocks fall back, the clock moves back one hour. A baby who usually wakes at 7:00 a.m. may wake at 6:00 a.m. on the new clock, and a 7:00 p.m. bedtime now arrives when their body feels it is 8:00 p.m. That is why the week after fall back often brings early mornings and overtired evenings.

When clocks spring forward, the clock moves ahead one hour. A 7:00 p.m. bedtime now feels like 6:00 p.m., so your baby may not seem tired, and a 7:00 a.m. wake-up feels like 6:00 a.m. Light evenings can make bedtime harder too.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has said that seasonal time changes can disrupt sleep and favors permanent standard time (AASM position statement). Until that happens, the goal is simply to make the change gentle.

Option 1: Shift Gradually Before the Change

Start four days before the clocks change and move everything, including wake-up, naps, feeds, and bedtime, by about 15 minutes a day. By the day of the change, your baby's schedule lines up with the new clock.

Fall back plan (usual day: 7:00 a.m. wake, 7:00 p.m. bedtime)

You cannot make a baby sleep later, so for the fall back plan, focus on what you can move: a later bedtime, later naps, and starting the day calmly at the target time even if your baby woke a little earlier.

Spring forward plan (usual day: 7:00 a.m. wake, 7:00 p.m. bedtime)

For spring forward, gently wake your baby at the target time if needed and open the curtains straight away.

Best for: babies with a fairly predictable wake time and bedtime, and babies who struggle when they get overtired.

Option 2: Split the Difference After the Change

If you did not prepare in advance, meet your baby halfway for about three days.

• Fall back: Put your baby to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual on the new clock, for example 6:30 p.m. instead of 7:00 p.m., and move naps 30 minutes earlier too. After about three days, move to the usual times.
• Spring forward: Put your baby to bed 30 minutes later on the new clock, for example 7:30 p.m., with naps 30 minutes later. After about three days, move to the usual times.

Best for: families who want a simple plan without a four-day lead-up.

Option 3: Switch on the Day

Change to the new clock on Sunday morning and plan naps from when your baby actually wakes, using their usual wake windows and sleepy cues. The first few days may be uneven, but many babies adapt without a special plan.

Best for: flexible babies, toddlers who adapt quickly, and babies who do not have a fixed schedule yet.

Use Light to Help the Body Clock

Light is one of the strongest signals for the body clock, so you can use it to support whichever plan you choose:

• After fall back: Keep the room dark until your target wake-up time, and get outside for daylight later in the morning and in the afternoon. Keep the hour before bedtime calm and dim.
• After spring forward: Open the curtains and get bright light soon after waking. Use room-darkening curtains in the evening, when it is still light outside at bedtime.

Early Wake-Ups After Fall Back

Early mornings are the most common complaint after the clocks go back. A few things help:

• Keep it dark. Room-darkening curtains or blinds stop the earlier sunrise from waking your baby.
• Treat very early wake-ups like night wakings. Keep the lights low, your voice quiet, and the interaction brief if your baby will resettle.
• Do not start the day early. Moving breakfast, the first nap, and the rest of the day earlier can keep the early wake-up in place.
• For toddlers, a simple light that changes color when it is time to get up can help them understand when morning starts.
• Give it a week before deciding the plan has not worked.

If early waking continues well beyond the first week or two, our guide on how to get your baby to sleep through the night covers other common causes.

Naps, Feeds, Daycare, and Medicines

• Naps: Move naps by the same amount as wake-up and bedtime so the day stays balanced.
• Feeds: Shift scheduled bottles and meals along with sleep times. If you feed on demand, simply follow your baby's cues.
• Daycare and caregivers: Daycare will switch to the new clock on the first weekday. The gradual plan helps your baby arrive there already adjusted. Share your plan with anyone else who puts your baby down.
• Medicines: If your child takes a regular medicine at set times, ask your pediatrician or pharmacist how to handle the time change.

How Dozling Can Help

During a clock change, it helps to see whether wake-ups are actually moving. Dozling logs every nap and night sleep with one tap and counts wake windows from when your baby really woke, whatever the clock says. Over the week of the change, your history shows when wake-ups and naps settle onto the new clock, and Sleep Window estimates update from your recent logged sleep. Use it as a planning aid alongside your baby's cues.

Sources

• National Institute of Standards and Technology, daylight saving time
• American Academy of Sleep Medicine, daylight saving time position statement
• American Academy of Pediatrics, a parent's guide to safe sleep