Daylight Savings Time 2021
Ready or Not We Will Be Springing Our Clocks Forward on Sunday March 14th!
Are you ready for Daylight Savings Time?
We all know the benefits of consistency in your child’s daily sleep routine and how changes in that routine, no matter how minor, can wreak havoc on their schedule.
The good news is that the spring-time change tends to be easier than the fall change even though it involves losing one hour of sleep. The other good news is that it will be darker in the morning allowing for longer sleep.
The bad news is that getting them to go to sleep one hour earlier can be challenging especially when it is still light outside.
Tip: Exposure to natural light will help your child adjust to the time change. Providing an extra 30 minutes of natural sunlight in the morning will help to reset your child’s internal clock and speed up their ability to acclimate to the change.
Here are Baby Snooze Coach’s Tips to Help Your Child Adjust to Daylight Savings Time:
Option 1: Gradually Adjust Your Child’s Bedtime:
Begin adjusting your child’s bedtime about one week before the DST change. If your child’s bedtime is 7 PM, after the change in time this will become 8 PM, which has the ability to mess with their entire routine.
About one week before, we suggest moving their bedtime up by 15 minutes every 2-3 days. For a child who has a 7 PM bedtime you would move their bedtime to 6:45 PM for 2-3 days, then to 6:30 PM for 2-3 days, then 6:15 PM etc.… The end goal is that when daylight savings time hits on Sunday night, they will be ready to go to sleep at the new time (7 PM DST) without even realizing the change. Use the same method for children who have a regular nap schedule. If their first nap is at 9 AM, leading up to the time change you would put them down at 8:45 AM for 3 days, then 8:30 AM for 3 days, followed by 8:15 AM. You can also attempt to adjust their schedule in 30-minute intervals rather than 15 minutes. For babies not on a regular nap schedule, we would suggest putting them down for a nap 15 minutes early based on the suggested wake window for their age.
Just as you move your child’s bedtime and naps up, you may want to also move meals up by the same amount of time.
Option 2: Continue on With Their Schedule-Eventually They Will Adjust on Their Own:
This works well for older children who do not tend to get overtired easily. Most parents can rest assured that their child will gradually adjust in the one to two weeks after the time change, in the same way one adjusts when you travel to another time zone. You can facilitate this by encouraging a lot of outside activity in the natural light and making sure their room is dark with no light peeking through particularly at bedtime.
With infants you should avoid them getting overtired, be aware of their wake windows and look for sleepy cues. While older children might have an easier time adjusting, you might find that they are not tired at their regular bedtime. You might want to adjust their bedtime by 30 minutes later after the time change and provide more active play during the day in order to build up sleep pressure.
When all else fails, stick with your consistent bedtime routine and know that within a few weeks your child will adjust on their own.
We Cannot Overstate the Importance of a Solid Bedtime Routine
If you do not have a solid bedtime routine, now is the time to get one into place. It is important for children to anticipate bedtime by a having the same pre bed ritual every night. A good routine might last about 20-30 minutes (shorter routines are appropriate for younger infants) and include a bath, pajamas, bottle, book(s), song, turn on white noise, lights out. This could be preceded by 15-20 minutes of quiet play with specific toys kept especially for before bedtime.
If Your Child’s Room Is Not Completely Dark Now is the Time
Any bit of light peeking through a window can have an impact on how long your child naps and their ability to fall asleep when it is still light outside. Black out window coverings can make a big difference. We recommend EZ Blackout Shades. In addition, by the middle of summer, it will become lighter in the morning and blackout shades will help prevent those early morning wake ups and is well worth the cost of the blinds!