CBeebies Bedtime Hour changes from 26th October 2014

Throughout CBeebies' 10 year history, we have learnt a few lessons about the scheduling of the Bedtime Hour. Firstly, that it's a really useful tool to help you establish a night time routine for your little ones. You can set key points for your children around the programmes to get ready for bed, or use it as wind down time before they go to sleep. Secondly, that children (and parents and carers!) form very strong attachments to particular programmes between 6pm and 7pm so it's important to try and keep programming consistent. Because we understand this, we don't change the line-up of the Bedtime Hour all that often.

So why change it at all? The truth is not all children like the same programmes. We have a very broad audience we have to appeal to, from newborn babies right up until 6 year olds who may have been at school for two years. The young ones might enjoy Waybuloo at Bedtime, whereas older children may prefer 64 Zoo Lane. With a sixty-minute schedule we can't please all children all the time, so we alter the programme line-up every so often so that as much of the audience as possible get the opportunity to see their Bedtime favourites at some point. This time (from Sunday 26th October 2014), The Adventures of Abney & Teal returns to the Bedtime Hour every day, with 64 Zoo Lane now scheduled between Sundays and Thursdays. Longer episodes of Waybuloo will return to lunchtimes (so fans of the show will still be able to see the Piplings everyday) with the shorter Waybuloo episodes now featured in Bedtime on Fridays and Saturdays. Keep an eye on the TV guide or your planner for details, and don’t forget, you can always catch up on programmes you’ve missed on the BBC iPlayer.

As mentioned above, we really don't make these changes lightly. We are aware of the function of the Bedtime Hour in getting children ready for bed which is why we try and implement this change around when the clocks change, or at weekends, where it can be less disruptive. We also always try to alert you beforehand so you can start to prepare your child and try to make the transition as smooth as possible.

We hope this outlines our carefully thought out reasons for the change and that your little ones enjoy the new Bedtime line-up.

What’s your little one’s bedtime favourite? Join the conversation on CBeebies Grown-ups Facebook and Twitter pages.