DAYLIGHT SAVINGS

Daylight savings time arrives this weekend. Most parents don’t mind it so much in the fall when they gain an extra hour, but we dread the spring when we hear we are going to lose an hour of sleep!  I get a TON of questions asking the best way to manage time changes and children’s sleep.

If I had my way, there would be no daylight savings time. I believe it really affects the sleep patterns of not only children but adults too. In fact, statistically, there is an 8% increase in traffic accidents the Monday after daylight savings time kicks in. It has an effect on all of us and can increase our ‘sleep debt’ – especially in children, who tend to be much more structured with going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning. That is usually why people notice it the most in young children.

So what is the best way to handle it?  My advice is to “split the difference”, but what exactly does this mean?

“Spring Forward” – body is initially one hour behind clock time

If, for example, your child usually takes a morning nap around 9:30am, change this to 10:00am (which will feel like 9am to your little one) for the three days following the time change. 

The same goes for the afternoon nap, and bedtime. Let’s say your child usually goes to bed at 7 p.m. I recommend putting them to bed at 7:30pm (which will FEEL like 6:30pm to your child). Again, do this for the first three days following the time change.

On day and night 4, move to the correct time on the clock again. It will take about a week for your child’s body to get used to this. We all take roughly one week to adjust to any kind of change in sleeping habits.

This all means that your baby is going to bed a little earlier or sooner than the normal wait between sleeps, but it’s not so much so that it’s going to interfere with her schedule too much. It may take her a bit more time to fall asleep since she may not be as tired, but in a week’s time she will be back on track again.

“Fall Back” – body is initially one hour ahead of clock time

My recommendation to all parents is just to leave the clocks alone the night of the change so it’s not a psychologically upsetting event to see your little one up an hour earlier. Just get up at your usual time and start the day. After your cup of coffee and a bit of breakfast, then you can go around changing the clocks. It will feel much better this way, trust me!

Again, for the first three days if, for example, your little one usually takes a morning nap around 9:30am, you will adjust this to 9:00am (which will feel like 10am for your child) for the three days after the time change. It will be a bit of a push for your child (as it will be 30 minutes later than usual), but again not so much as to really damage her schedule. Do the same for the afternoon nap.

Let’s say your child usually goes to bed at 7pm, I recommend putting him to bed at 6:30pm for the first three days following the time change (this will FEEL like 7:30pm to your child).

If you have children over the age of two, you can put a digital clock in the room and put a piece of tape over the minutes, so that they can see if it is 6 o’clock or 7 o’clock, but they cannot see the minutes, which often confuses toddlers. Just set the clock forward half an hour so that at 6:30 it says 7:00 and let them get up a little earlier than normal, knowing that, by the end of the week, they will be back on track and sleep until their normal wakeup time.

If you are dealing with a baby, you cannot do that. Instead, do not rush in as soon as you hear your baby waking up, because you do not want to send a message that getting up at 6am is okay now. So if she normally wakes at 7am, but is now up at 6am, you will wait till 6:10am the first day, then 6:20am the next, and then 6:30am the next day and, by the end of the week, your baby’s schedule should be adjusted to the new time and waking up at their usual hour.

On the fourth night, just get in line with the new time so your baby is back to going to bed when the clock says 7:00pm. Adjust naps to the correct time on day 4 as well.

So there you have it, follow these simple steps and your little one's schedule will be back on track in no time.  You got this!