What the clock change does to your mornings

Your child’s body keeps its own time, so a child who wakes at 7:00 will still wake at what used to be 7:00. After the clocks go back in the fall, the new clock calls that 6:00, and an OK-to-wake light set for 7:00 keeps saying “stay in bed” for a whole hour.

In the spring it runs the other way: the clocks jump forward, so a 7:00 light comes on when your child’s body thinks it is 6:00. You may find yourself waking them up for the first few days.

Move the light 15 minutes a day before the change

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests nudging naps and bedtime a few minutes a day in the direction the clocks will change, ideally starting about a week before, and says children usually adjust within about a week.

The steps below are our way of doing that on an OK-to-wake clock, not the AAP’s: move the wake-up light, and the bedtime light if you use one, 15 minutes a day for the four days before the change. The AAP does not set a step size or a number of days, so if your child does better with smaller steps over a longer run, the planner below does that too.

For a 7:00 wake-up and 7:00 pm bedtime with the US change on Sunday, November 1, 2026:

  • Wednesday, October 28: wake-up light 7:15, bedtime light 7:15 pm.
  • Thursday, October 29: 7:30 and 7:30 pm.
  • Friday, October 30: 7:45 and 7:45 pm.
  • Saturday, October 31: 8:00 and 8:00 pm.
  • Sunday, November 1 (clocks went back overnight): back to 7:00 and 7:00 pm on the new time.

Make the plan for your own times

The clock-change planner works this out for your wake-up and bedtime, your country’s change date and the step you prefer: 10 or 15 minutes, every day or every other day, or one change on the day. It prints as a one-page table for the fridge, so whoever puts your child to bed sets the same times.

In the UK and Europe the clocks go back a week earlier, on Sunday, October 25, 2026, so start the steps on the Wednesday before.

If you would rather change it all on the day

You can also leave the light at its usual time and change the clock’s time on the morning of the change. Expect a week or so of early mornings while your child adjusts, and keep the “not yet” rule the same: quiet things to do in the room until the light changes.

A clock with an “almost time” glow makes the wait easier. MELLA can glow yellow 5, 15 or 30 minutes before its green light, and ZAZU Sam glows orange for 30 minutes before wake-up.

When the clocks go forward in spring

Do the same in reverse: move the wake-up and bedtime lights 15 minutes earlier each day for the four days before the change, then set them back to the usual times on the morning the clocks go forward. In the US that is Sunday, March 14, 2027; in the UK and Europe, Sunday, March 28, 2027.

For a 7:00 wake-up and 7:00 pm bedtime with the US change on Sunday, March 14, 2027 (in the UK and Europe the same steps run two weeks later, from Wednesday, March 24):

  • Wednesday, March 10: wake-up light 6:45, bedtime light 6:45 pm.
  • Thursday, March 11: 6:30 and 6:30 pm.
  • Friday, March 12: 6:15 and 6:15 pm.
  • Saturday, March 13: 6:00 and 6:00 pm.
  • Sunday, March 14 (clocks went forward overnight): back to 7:00 and 7:00 pm on the new time.

Don’t forget the clock’s own time

A clock you set with buttons keeps the old time until you change it, so its light would come on an hour off. On the morning of the change, set its clock time as well as checking the light times. If your clock runs from an app, check that the time on its display matches your phone.

Each clock’s page links to its manual; the not-working guide covers a light that comes on at the wrong time.

Clock-change dates for 2026 and 2027

  • United States and Canada: clocks go back Sunday, November 1, 2026, and forward Sunday, March 14, 2027 (the first Sunday in November and the second Sunday in March). Most of Arizona, Hawaii, Yukon and most of Saskatchewan do not change, and most of British Columbia stopped changing its clocks in March 2026, so it does not go back on November 1. The Kootenay towns that use mountain time, such as Cranbrook, still change.
  • United Kingdom and the European Union: back Sunday, October 25, 2026, and forward Sunday, March 28, 2027 (the last Sundays in October and March).
  • Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, the ACT, Tasmania and South Australia): back Sunday, April 4, 2027, and forward Sunday, October 3, 2027. Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not change.

Sources

Details can differ between versions and countries. Dates show when we last checked something that changes, like stock or a recall. Every source we use