"Fall Back" for Daylight Saving Time: 3.5 ways to make the time change as smooth as possible.
SHOW NOTES
If there's only one thing we can all agree on as parents, I'd say that it's Daylight Saving Time is the worst time of year.
And it happens TWICE.
Collective sigh... ugh.
I've heard talks of getting rid of it, but until then, let's not let it steal our glorious sleep!
There are a few ways to go about adjusting to this new time, which takes about a week for everybody to get used to - including yours, Mama, so don't forget to adjust your schedule, too. 😉
I'll give you three (and a half!) of the most common ways to adjust the schedule and share what we've done in our house and what we'll be doing this year.
I'm even giving you a way out of this!
#1 Daylight Saving Time: Prior Adjustment
One way to adjust to the new time is to start shifting your schedule before Daylight Saving Time begins.
How it works:
Starting on the Sunday prior to Daylight Saving Time, adjust your schedule forward 15 minutes.
Keep the same time on Monday.
Then Tuesday, adjust the schedule forward another 15 minutes.
Keep that time Wednesday.
Continue this pattern until your schedule is adjusted to the new time come Sunday, the first day of Daylight Saving Time.
So, for example, with a 7am-7pm schedule, your week prior to Daylight Saving Time will look something like this:
#2 Daylight Saving Time: Post Adjustment
Next up, wait until the Sunday of Daylight Saving Time.
This is what we normally do at our house.
How it works:
On the weekend of Daylight Saving Time, instead of adjusting the clocks Saturday before going to bed, wait until Sunday after you wake up. This helps prevent the gut-wrenching, anxiety-inducing emotions that waking "an hour early" can cause. (But, don't worry, if you have a smartphone, it'll be accurate and remind you to get ready for church on time!)
Then, start the schedule adjustment at nap one, putting them down 30 minutes earlier.
Keep in mind, your expectations of sleep do not change with the time change.
This means if your child normally needs 3 hours of daytime sleep and you always cap their long nap at 2 hours, do the same thing on this day.
Continue to put your child to bed 30 minutes earlier for each nap and bedtime for 3-4 days, then move them fully to their (new) normal times.
#3 Daylight Saving Time: Don't Do Anything
What?! Yes, please!! Sign me up!
Hold on...
Before you decide you don't want to do anything, see if you meet one of these criteria:
Criteria 1: Your baby is 0-5 months old
At this age your baby still has a flexible routine of morning wake up, naps, and bedtime being within an hour range day-to-day, more than a solid schedule. Because of this, Daylight Saving Time won't have much effect on their days.
So, take a breath, Mama, and don't do a thing.
Criteria 2: You want your child to go to bed an hour earlier
Raise your hand if your summer bedtime inched its way later and later... 🙋♀️
The evenings are just so beautiful in the summer and the kids are only young once - it's ok!
But, now is the perfect time to get back to the earlier bedtime and schedule. Kids really do thrive on it! (It's going to be dark earlier anyway, might as well be sleeping!)
With that said, this is what we'll be doing in our house this year!
Fun Fact: We have our deepest, most restorative sleep (non-REM) earlier in the night and gradually shift from non-REM sleep to dream-infused REM sleep as the night approaches daybreak. There's no time of night that a switch is flipped from non-REM to REM, but the closer to daybreak, the less non-REM sleep and more REM sleep we have. There are benefits to REM sleep as well, but without sufficient non-REM sleep, we're left feeling groggy (and often grouchy) the next day. Sooo, an early bedtime is especially great for children (and their parents) because (1) that's when they get their deepest, most restorative sleep to help them grow and mature as they should; (2) it will be helpful in warding off the grumps the next day, and (3) it also happens to be when they're most tired.*
#3.5 Daylight Saving Time: Don't Do Everything
If you didn't fully meet either criterion above, but you do want to move your child's bedtime earlier, just not a whole hour...
...now's the perfect time to scoot it back to the time you want.
Early morning wake-ups
If after two weeks of the new time your child is still waking early, it's time to do some investigating.
There are likely other causes to this and together we can sort it out!
You can go HERE to schedule a free 15-minute call with me. We'll determine the best way to help your child (and you!) get the best sleep possible!
Conclusion
Daylight Saving Time sucks. 😩
We still have to do it. 🙄
But, there are a few ways to get out of it... even partially. 😃
I'm here if you need me! 💕