Try to be patient with yourself and your child. As with anything to do with our children's sleep, the key to success is consistency.
Remember Daylights Savings Time before you became a
parent? It used to be a much anticipated day when you could take advantage of
that extra hour, but now as parents of young children, it's just one more thing
you have to navigate. Children never seem to get the memo about “Fall Back” and
sleeping in!
When the clock turns back one hour, what used to be 7
a.m. is now 6 a.m. It becomes darker sooner in the evening and lighter sooner
in the morning. If you have an early morning riser already, you can expect it
to be even earlier once you turn the clocks back! Children who have good sleep
hygiene and are generally easy going when it comes to schedules may adjust
fairly easily in just a day or two. Other children who are more sensitive to
change in schedules may have more trouble adjusting. Regardless of how your
child might react, here are some tips from Jenn Kelner, a Family Sleep
Institute Certified Child Sleep Consultant and owner of
BabyZzz, and childsleep expert Amy Lage, graduate of the Family Sleep Institute and
founder of Well Rested Baby, to help your child adjust to the end of Daylight
Savings Time and to get through the time change with minimal sleep loss.
1. Plan ahead
You can prepare a few days ahead of time by moving your
child's entire daytime schedule ahead in 15 minute increments. Start now by
offering breakfast 15 minutes later than normal, then naptime 15 minutes later
and so on until the entire daytime schedule has been shifted. If your child
normally goes to bed at 7p.m., they should be going to bed at 7:15 p.m. Do the
same thing the next day but move their schedule ahead another 15 minutes. The
gradual shift should help their internal clocks adjust, making it less likely
that they will lose an hour of sleep on Sunday, and hopefully sleep in!
2. Keep their bedroom dark
Make sure your child's bedroom is really dark and
consider using some room darkening curtains so that the new early morning light
doesn't wake your little one. Keeping the room dark encourages the production
of melatonin, which helps them stay sleepy.
3. Avoid rushing in
If your child does wake earlier than you would like, try
to leave them to amuse themselves until the normal wake up time to give their
internal clocks a chance to reset. By leaving them a little longer than normal,
you also give them the opportunity to go back to sleep.
4. Expose them to plenty of daylight
Try to expose your child to plenty of light, especially
in the morning. This helps reset their internal clock making it easier to
adjust to the new time.
5. Earlier bedtime to catch up
If your child has lost some sleep due to the time change,
plan for an earlier bedtime over the next few days to catch up.
Try not to worry if your children aren't adjusting as
well. Be patient and consistent and before you know it your children will be
back on track.
The Tip Take-Away:
However you decide to handle Daylight Savings, try to be
patient with yourself and your child and keep in mind that it will take some
time for your child's sleep schedule to regularize. As with anything to do with
our children's sleep, the key to success is consistency.