The clocks go back on 25 October: how to shift your baby's sleep (three ways)

On Sunday 25 October 2026 the clocks go back one hour across the EU and the UK: at 03:00 in most of Europe they become 02:00 again, and at 02:00 in the UK and Ireland they become 01:00. In most of the United States and Canada the same thing happens a week later, on Sunday 1 November at 02:00. For adults without children it is the best night of the year: an extra hour in bed.

Babies do not read clocks. Their body clock runs on light, feeds and habit, so on Sunday morning the baby who woke at 06:00 last week wakes at 06:00 by her body, which the kitchen clock now calls 05:00. Every nap, feed and bedtime after that arrives an hour "early" too. That is the whole problem, and the good news is that it is only one hour. Most children adjust more or less on their own if the normal day and night routine is kept, as the Dutch youth health service GGD Kennemerland puts it in its parent leaflet on the clock change. What follows is how to make those few days easier, with three ways to do it and the exact times for this year's change.

What actually moves

Not just bedtime. The whole day shifts by an hour: the first wake, the morning nap, the feeds, the afternoon nap, the bath and the bottle before bed. If you only move bedtime, the rest of the day pulls her back to the old rhythm. So whichever method you choose below, move the day as a block, in the same small steps.

One exception. If your baby is young enough to feed on demand, there is nothing to shift: feed her when she is hungry, whatever the clock says, and let the rest follow. And if your baby was born early or has a feeding plan from your care team, keep to that plan; the clock change doesn't override it.

Three ways to move to winter time

All three are used by parents and recommended in some form by child health services and parenting guides in the Netherlands and the UK. None is "correct". Pick the one that fits your baby, and your week.

The exact times for 2026

First, the week at a glance. Each dial is a clock face that fills by a quarter for every 15 minutes her bedtime has moved. A full dial means it has moved the whole hour and matches the new clock.

And here is what a usual 19:00 bedtime looks like with the two step-by-step methods. Move naps and feeds by the same amount on the same days.

Shift before (Europe and the UK)

Shift after (Europe and the UK)

In the US or Canada? Same tables, one week later: start a "shift before" on Wednesday 28 October, the clocks go back on Sunday 1 November, and a "shift after" lands on Wednesday 4 November.

Light does most of the work

A body clock is set mainly by light, which is why the change feels so abrupt: the mornings suddenly get lighter and the evenings darker. In autumn her clock needs to move an hour later, and early light pulls it the other way, so the trick is to keep the early morning dark and the day bright for longer.

• Dark early mornings. Lighter mornings are what turn a 06:00 waker into a 05:00 waker. Blackout blinds or heavier curtains in the room where she sleeps help, as both The Sleep Charity and the GGD suggest. Keep the room dark until the time you want her day to start, then open the curtains wide.
• Daylight later in the day. A walk with the pram in the afternoon, and a home that stays brightly lit a little longer into the evening, nudge her body clock later, which is the direction it needs to go (Alaska Sleep Clinic).
• A calm, dim last stretch. When the bedtime routine starts, close the curtains and switch to a low lamp, and keep it quiet, as the GGD suggests.

Nothing about the clock change changes how she should sleep: same cot, same clear sleep space, same routine. If you want a reminder of the basics, the Lullaby Trust's safer sleep advice is a good one-page read.

Getting through the 5am week

Whichever method you choose, there will probably be a few early starts. Some things that make them shorter:

• Treat 05:00 as night. Keep the room dark, your voice low and the lights off. If she is hungry, feed her the way you would at 03:00: calmly, in the dark, and back down if she'll go.
• Don't start the day early. Moving the first nap earlier to make up for an early wake pulls the whole day back to the old rhythm. Stretch the first wake window a little instead, if she manages it happily.
• Take turns. Agree who takes which early morning before Sunday, not at 05:00 on Sunday. A week of early starts is fine shared, and miserable alone.
• Write the plan down. If a partner, grandparent or daycare does some of the bedtimes, everyone needs to use the same times this week. A shared note or a shared log stops one well-meant "she seemed tired so we put her down at six" from resetting your progress.

How long does it take?

For most babies, a few days to about a week. If it is still not settling after that, the GGD's advice is to look at the rest of the sleep picture (light, noise, the bedtime routine) rather than at the clock. And if you are worried about your baby's sleep for any reason, the consultatiebureau, your health visitor or your doctor is the right person to ask.

One way to know whether it is settling, rather than guessing at 05:00: write down when she wakes, naps and goes to bed for the few days before the change and the week after. You will see the shift land, usually sooner than it feels. Any notebook does this; so does a baby tracker.

Will Europe ever stop changing the clocks?

Not yet. The European Parliament voted in 2019 to end seasonal clock changes, but the EU's member state governments have never agreed on it, so the 2000 directive still applies. Spain pushed again in October 2025, with support from Finland and Poland, but even a quick deal would not take effect before 2027 or 2028 (Sortiraparis, October 2026). So bookmark this page: the clocks go forward again on Sunday 28 March 2027 (14 March in the US and Canada), and the same three methods work in reverse. So does the light: in spring, bright mornings and dim evenings help her body clock move earlier.

one hour, a few days, and then it's just winter ✎