In a life without kids, the end of daylight savings time is a great night. When the clocks get turned back, you get an extra hour to sleep on Sunday morning. Oh, how the perspective changes when you become a parent! Many view that particular night as the undoing of everything that is right in their world of sleep.
For the baby that is waking at 7, it now means a 6 am wake-up call. And if you happen to have an early riser already, that first morning can be a bit of a bear. Kids can get so tired because of the end of daylight savings time, that I often hear parents complaining about their children falling asleep in their high chairs because they are so tired. Rest assured I can help make this a smooth transition for your entire family. Within a few days, you will all be on normal schedules again.
Here are a few tips to follow:
- Relax! Even though you will be losing some sleep for a few days, it is not the end of the world. Your child will respond to changes in time better if you don’t freak out about it. Children, even young babies, can sense parental stress. When you are confident, children will respond much better. Remind yourself that this will pass and that it doesn’t need to be the ruin of good sleep patterns.
- If your child is still napping, you will want to bump back those naps by about 30 minutes. For example, if your child normally naps at 9:00 and 1:00, you will want to go with 8:30 and 12:30. You will also probably need to make bedtime earlier by about a half hour. Because those naps will be ending slightly earlier on the new clock, we want to make sure children stay well-rested and aren’t overtired when they go to bed. An early bedtime is the way to go. Some young babies (those taking two naps a day) may even need a super early bedtime of around 5:00. Don’t panic about this—it won’t be forever! As the wake up time shifts back to normal (over the course of a week or so), you can then move the nap and bedtime back to its original time.
- If your child is not napping at all, they can still benefit from an early bedtime during this time change, especially if they are waking up earlier than normal. Moving bedtime 30 minutes earlier will give them an opportunity to overcome any sleep debt that may be accumulating and it will keep them better rested.
- Parents and young adults can also take advantage of an earlier bedtime to avoid becoming overtired! It is so common for parents to ignore their own sleep needs. Take this opportunity to get to bed early and improve your own sleep habits. You deserve it!
Although the time change is annoying to parents, and it feels like it throws a good schedule out the window, things will return to normal in about a week. Sometimes it may take a little longer with younger babies, but you can make sure that they stay well-rested by being consistent and using that early bedtime to your advantage! This will all pass until we have to do it all over again next year!