How to sleep better after daylight saving time ends: a day-by-day plan

On Halloween night this year, most of North America gets an extra hour. To sleep better after daylight saving time ends, move your bedtime about 15 minutes later each night for a few nights before the change, keep your wake-up time steady on the new clock afterwards, and get daylight in the afternoon rather than only first thing.

An hour sounds like nothing, and for many people it is. But if you're an early riser, a light sleeper, or you share a home with small children or a hungry cat, the week after the clocks go back can feel oddly out of step. Here's a gentle plan for that week, day by day.

Why the clocks going back can upset your sleep

Your body runs on its own clock, set mostly by light and by when you eat, sleep and wake. The clock on the wall changes in a second. Your body clock takes a few days to follow.

So for a while after the change, your body is an hour ahead of the clock. You feel sleepy earlier in the evening, and you wake earlier in the morning. That's why the "extra hour" often turns into an hour of lying awake at 5am instead.

The good news is that this is the easier of the two changes. Gaining an hour is usually gentler on the body than losing one in spring. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has even argued for keeping standard time all year, because it fits our body clocks better.

Who notices the change most?

Plenty of people barely feel it. These are the ones who usually do:

• Early risers, who were already waking at first light and now wake even earlier by the clock.
• Parents of babies and young children, whose routines run to the minute and don't care what the clock says.
• Pet owners, especially of dogs and cats who expect breakfast at the same time every day.
• Light sleepers, and anyone already short on sleep.
• People who work shifts, where one more change on top of a moving schedule can tip the balance.

If you're in one of these groups, the plan below is worth the small effort. If you're not, even doing the first night and the morning after will help.

A day-by-day plan for the week the clocks go back

The idea is simple: nudge your evening a little later over a few nights, so your body is already close to the new time when the clocks change. These dates are for the US and Canada. In the UK and Ireland, start a week earlier, on Wednesday 21 October, so that the Saturday is 24 October.

By Saturday night, your body is going to bed at almost the same body time as usual. When the clocks go back, 11:30pm becomes 10:30pm, and you wake on Sunday close to your normal time on the new clock. Nothing dramatic, just a smooth landing.

Can't start early? Then skip straight to Sunday. Getting up at your usual time on the new clock, and keeping to it every day, does most of the work on its own.

What to do on the night the clocks go back

In 2026 the US change falls on Halloween night, which makes for a late, sugary, noisy evening in lots of homes. A few small things help.

• Check the clocks that don't update themselves, like the oven, the car and any old alarm clock, before bed.
• Go easy on caffeine and big sweet snacks late in the evening, however tempting the bowl by the door.
• If you're out late, enjoy the extra hour as a bonus, not as permission to stay up two.
• Leave the room dark and cool, with the curtains properly closed, so early light doesn't wake you on Sunday.

If your mind is still buzzing when you get into bed, give it something soft and steady to follow, like slow breathing or a quiet sound. Our guide to a bedtime routine for adults has a simple wind-down you can use all week.

The first week after the change

This is where your body clock actually shifts, and light is the most useful tool you have.

Get daylight later in the day

Morning light tends to pull your body clock earlier, and evening light tends to push it later. After the clocks go back, you want a little push later, so a walk in the late afternoon, or sitting by a bright window, is more helpful than usual. The days are getting shorter in the north, so catch it while it lasts.

Keep mornings dim if you wake early

If you wake before your alarm, keep the lights low and the phone face down. Bright light at 5am tells your body that 5am is morning, which is the opposite of what you want this week.

Eat and move on the new clock

Meals are a signal to your body clock too. Have breakfast, lunch and dinner at your usual times by the new clock, even if you're hungry early for the first day or two.

Keep naps short

A long nap in the early evening, when the new clock makes you drowsy, can make bedtime harder. If you need one, keep it to 20 minutes or so, and not too late in the day.

Families with relatives in Jamaica will notice one more thing. Jamaica doesn't change its clocks, so from Sunday 1 November, New York and Kingston share the same time again, and a video call home no longer needs any maths.

What if you keep waking an hour early?

This is the most common complaint after the clocks go back, and it usually fades within a week. Meanwhile, try not to fight it. Lie quietly, keep your eyes closed, and don't reach for the clock. Counting how long you've been awake only makes getting back to sleep harder.

A steady, low sound can help, because it masks the small noises of early morning, like birds, traffic and the heating clicking on. If you're awake and tense for what feels like twenty minutes, get up, sit somewhere dim and do something quiet until you feel sleepy again. Our guide on falling back asleep at 3am works just as well at 5am.

If early waking carries on for weeks rather than days, or you feel very tired during the day, it's worth talking to a doctor.

A sound and a timer for the new bedtime

A familiar sound at bedtime is a helpful signal during any change of routine. If you use MoonEase, move your bedtime reminder along with your bedtime during the week of the change, and let a 15 or 30 minute sleep timer fade the sound out on its own once you're asleep. If you'd like a plain, steady sound instead, try white, pink or brown noise in our free noise player, or read about rain sounds for sleep.

This guide is general information, not medical advice. If poor sleep goes on for weeks, or you snore loudly, stop breathing during sleep or struggle to stay awake in the day, please see a doctor.

Clock change sleep questions

When do the clocks go back in 2026?

In the US and most of Canada, clocks go back one hour at 2am on Sunday 1 November 2026. In the UK and Ireland they go back at 2am on Sunday 25 October 2026, along with most of Europe. Jamaica doesn't change its clocks at all.

How long does it take to adjust after the clocks go back?

Most people settle within a few days to a week. Moving your bedtime a little later in the nights before the change, and getting daylight in the afternoon afterwards, can make it quicker and gentler.

Why do I wake up so early after the clocks go back?

Your body clock is still running on the old time for a few days, so 6am on the clock feels like 7am to your body. Keep the bedroom dark in the early morning, stay in bed quietly if you wake a little early, and get daylight later in the day to help your clock catch up.

Should I use the extra hour to sleep in?

Enjoying it is fine, but keep it to that one morning. After that, get up at your usual time on the new clock every day, weekends included. A steady wake-up time is what settles your body clock fastest.

Do children and pets need time to adjust?

Yes, often more than adults, because their routines are so regular. Moving bedtimes, naps and meals about 15 minutes later each day, starting a few days before the change, usually makes it much smoother.

More sleep guides

• 

  A bedtime routine for adults

  A short, forgiving wind-down for the last hour of the day, step by step.

• 

  How to fall back asleep at 3am

  Calm first steps for the small hours, and when to get up for a while.

• 

  Sleep sounds all night, or on a timer?

  When to leave a sound playing, when to let it fade, and how long to set the timer.

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