Fall back 1 hour on November 3rd at 2 am!
The time change is coming on November 3rd! Every parent of a young child seems to dread this time of year. Why? We work so hard to get our kiddos sleeping well and then, BAM! We get an hour less of sleep than we did before. It seems so unfair! Every year I have parents who contact me in a panic about how they should handle the fall time change. While there is nothing I can do to keep the time change from happening, I can share some tips on how to make it easier on your family.
1. Keep calm! Expect that your child may wake early for a couple days. I’m not saying that you have to like it, but if you accept this, it may not feel as hard. Keeping your child well-rested in the days leading up to the time change can make a big difference for all.
2. Make a plan based on your child’s temperament. Is your baby or toddler an easy- going kid? Do they transition well when you travel? Are they well-rested? If the answer is yes, you may want to just try to move your child to the new time as quickly as possible on November 3rd and not do much else. You may need to make their naps or bedtime slightly earlier for a day or two, but in general, these easy going kids will adapt to the time change within a few days to a week at most. Use a clock for older children to signal when it is time to wake and come out of bed. Even if they wake early for a few days, they can still rest, which is better than starting your day too early. Consider not going in to start the day with your younger babies until at least 6:00. They may protest a little bit, but you do not want to get into the habit of them waking earlier and earlier for you each morning.
If you haven’t been blessed with an easy going kiddo, or if you just don’t want to leave things up to chance, you can prepare by putting your child to bed 15 minutes later every night for about four days ahead of time with the hope that they will then have no trouble come November 3rd and will wake at their new normal wake up time. Schedule their naps the same way and beforeyou know it, everything will have shifted one hour and your child will be on the new time.
3. Keep everything else the same. Meals and activities should be kept on the same schedule and will aid in the adjustment to the new time. Your child follows many cues from the routines you have in place during the day. By moving these routines to the new times, your child will have very little trouble knowing what to expect next in their day.
4. Outside light/inside light—Exposure to outside air and sunlight later in the day is a great way to promote sleep. In the days after the time change, keep your home lit with bright light later in the day in order to help reset your child’s body clock (also known as circadian rhythm). Additionally, keeping your home dim in the early morning hours for the first few days after the time change can also help in readjusting our clocks so that we will sleep longer.
5. Be realistic. If your child had sleep issues before the time change, just implementing these strategies may not be enough to help your child through. If you have been dealing with night waking or early wake ups, they are not going to be changed with working on the time change. That does not mean that all is lost! Daylight Saving Time is a great time to recheck and make adjustments to what you are doing when you are putting your child to bed. Does your toddler need to be patted or shushed to sleep several times a night? Is your newborn falling asleep while eating and then waking up 45 minutes later? Working with a sleep consultant to address these issues can help get your family on a better path to a good night’s sleep that will last long after we fall back.