Nice to see you, fall. Cuddled up in a cozy blanket ready for an extra hour of … oh wait, you must have kids. The idea of daylight savings + children may seem like oil and water, but I’m here to provide an easy 4 step process to make it through the week! Let’s get to it; how to manage daylight savings with your children and babies.
- Split the Difference
- Fully Adjust on Day 4
- Allow a Week to Transition
- Caffeine
1. Splitting the Difference
Don’t touch your clocks Saturday night before the change. Allow yourself and your children to wake up at the same time you normally would because at this point, it will psychologically mess with you that your children are getting up an hour early.
So for example, if your child normally takes a nap around 9:30 am every day, you will adjust their nap by putting them down at 9:00am (which is really going to feel like 10:00am) for the three days following the time change. Yes, you will be stretching your little one’s sleep by 30 minutes, but it won’t be enough to completely destroy their schedule. Same plan goes for the afternoon nap as well.
As far as bedtime goes, if your child goes to bed at 7:30 pm every night, plan on putting them to bed at 7:00pm (which will really feel like 8:00pm). This is where you snag your extra ‘me time.’
2. Fully Adjust on Day 4
Once you have made the transition of moving nap time and bedtime by 30 minutes for 3 days, day 4 is when you go back to your regularly scheduled routines. Naptimes are adjusted back to what they previously were and bedtimes are back to regular as well.
Sometimes it takes a little more stimulation to get your child to squeeze out that extra half hour when adjusting so this might be the week to introduce a new toy or to bundle up and head outside!
3. Allow a Week to Transition
It is going to take about a week for your child to fully transition to the time change so allow yourself and your kids a little grace. It takes everyone about a week to fully adjust to any new sleep schedule like this.
4. Caffeine
Especially Sunday morning, make a nice cup of joe, tea or fizz stick drink to start your day. Your mindset will allow you to make it through the week with a more predictable schedule. Be sure to enjoy the extra 30 minutes at night to treat yourself for a job well done.
Extras
When working through daylight savings with toddlers, an alarm clock can be especially helpful. A few great options for alarm clocks are the ready to rise hippo clock or the Hatch Sound Machine as they both turn green at a pre-set time. You would simply set the clock back 30 minutes. So for example, at 6:30 am it turns green when it would normally turn green at 7:00am. Letting them get up a little earlier than normal is only temporary as they will get acclimated by the end of the week.
Of course with babies during this time change, the approach is slightly different, but patience is your friend. If they normally wake up at 7:00am, but really it is 6:00am on Sunday, wait 10 minutes before getting baby. No need to rush in. The next day, wait until 20 minutes (6:20am) to get baby. Increase your wait time each day by adding on 10 additional minutes and you should be back to your regularly scheduled wake up time by the end of the week!
Remember on the 4th night to get in line with the new fully adjusted times.
Important takeaway is to continue with your consistent routine as this is a very important week for children to expect predictability. You can always get a jump start to this transition by putting your kiddo to bed a few minutes early leading up to Sunday AM.
If you’re looking for a more personalized approach for your child’s sleep, do not hesitate to reach out to liz@clementineparent.com