NSFT sleep expert shares top tips to help children sleep better as the clocks go back
On Sunday 26 October, clocks in the UK will go back one hour, marking our return to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). While we may enjoy an extra hour in bed, the change can bring challenges for young people trying to maintain good-quality sleep.
Although the clocks only shift by an hour, our body clock takes time to adjust. With evenings getting darker earlier and colder weather setting in, there's less opportunity for outdoor activity and exposure to natural light. This can affect both physical and mental wellbeing and make it harder to get a good night's sleep.
Adam Graham, Senior Cognitive Behavioural Therapist with The Better Sleep Programme at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, has shared his five top tips to help young people get their sleep back on track.
- Getting to sleep at a new time
One trick to soften the impact of the clocks changing is by adjusting your bedtime a few days before it happens so that you get used to getting up and going to bed a little later each day. A good guide is to adjust your bedtime so it is 15 minutes later each day - but make sure you adjust your wake-up time to give you the same amount of sleep.
For example, if you normally go to bed at 10pm you can move this to 10:15pm on Thursday night, 10:30pm on Friday, 10:45pm on Saturday and 11pm on Sunday.
You might need to get everything ready for the day ahead the night before if you will have less time in the morning to get ready for the day.
- Daylight
Once you're out of bed, try and get as much natural light as possible. Even when it's cloudy and dull outside, natural light is important for synchronising your body clock.
Open your curtains as soon as you get up. Get outside for your morning coffee or tea if you can, sitting by a window is the next best thing. Try to take advantage of natural light throughout the day - it will make you less sensitive to your sleep being disrupted by artificial light in home in the evening.
- Make getting up rewarding
It can be hard to get out of bed in the winter when it's cold and dark. Plan in your favourite breakfast and something that motivates you to get up and start your day. It could be chatting with family over the breakfast table, having a hot chocolate to kick start your day, completing a crossword, or catching up with your friends and family on social media.
- Activity
Try to keep active throughout the day. Not only is this important for building sleep pressure so that you can fall asleep, but it can also boost your mood. Take some time to plan how you are going to keep active - even if it is cold and dark, your days need to provide a mix of physical and mental activity. Scheduling in activity can be powerful for motivation. Try to be more physically active in the morning and afternoon so you can prioritise winding down in the evening.
- Readying your brain for sleep
You should start the process of readying your brain for sleep around two to three hours before bedtime. Plan in calming and soothing activities and try to keep the lighting in the home dim.
The Better Sleep Programme has a range of techniques which can help people to get their sleep back on track. You can find out more about our programme by following this link: Teenage Sleep
You can find out more about why we feel sleepy in the winter by watching Oxford Sparks' video on YouTube: Why do I feel sleepy in winter?