Clear as Mud

Spring forward, fall back. Some people will love the extra hour of sleep this fall but as a parent most dread it. Some parents struggle with their little ones on a normal day! They are up through out the night and now have to wake up at 5am instead of 6am! Thanks daylight savings. Thanks.

There’s also the parents who have mastered the sleep game and worry all of their hard work will be tossed aside like a 2016 hatchimal.

I’m going to give you some tips to help make this completely unnecessary time of year a bit smoother and pain free.

Get up at your usual time and start the day. Once everyone has had breakfast go and change your clock back one hour.
The best way to make the transition to the new time is to split the difference. For example if your little one usually takes a morning nap round 9:30, you will adjust this to 9:00 am for the 3 days after the time change. It will be a bit of a push for your child because it will actually feel like 10am, but not so much that it will disrupt her overall schedule. Do the same for the others naps.

Let’s say your child usually goes to bed at 7 PM, I recommend putting that child to bed at 6:30 PM for the first 3 days following the time change. (This will FEEL like 7:30 to your child.) And it will take about a week for your child’s body to get used to this.

If you have children over the age of two I would recommend a gro clock or the zazu sleep sheep. Alternatively you can put a digital clock in the room and put a piece of tape over the minute numerals, so that they only see the hour not the minutes (keep it simple). Set the clock forward by half an hour so that at 6:30am it actually reads 7:00am. If your child resounds well to reward explain to them that they will get a special gift if, and only if they stay in their room until their clock reads the wake up time you have chosen.

If you are dealing with a baby, you cannot do that. Do not rush in as soon as you hear your baby waking up, because you do not want to send a message that getting up at 6 a.m. is okay now. So if she normally wakes at 7:00am, but is now up at 6:00, you will wait until ten after on the first day, and then twenty after the next, then 6:30 the next day and, by the end of the week your baby’s schedule should be adjusted to the new time and she should be waking up at her usual hour. On the fourth night, just get in line with the new time. So your baby is back to going to bed when the clock says 7:00 pm, and adjust naps to the correct time on day 4 as well.

Clear as mud?! Don’t worry if your confused, your not alone. I would say the majority of North America stumbles through daylight savings dazed and confused.

If you follow this plan your little ones biological clock should be used to the change after a week or so. And if not, call me!