10 Tips to Help Your Children Adjust To Daylight Savings Time

So here we are ... Changing the time again... 

Sometimes it seems like just when you get your children’s sleep schedules adjusted to the time change - it changes again.  

This time we are Springing Forward.

This time we are moving an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening.

But we are losing an hour of sleep in the morning - and having to keep our kids awake an hour longer in the evening.

Even though that part is hard, some parents like having that extra hour of daylight for children to get to play outside in the evening after work or school.

All in all - any schedule change can be really difficult for our children - especially little ones.

So, here are 10 TIPS to make time change a little easier.

#1   If you don’t have room darkening shades, go get some today! If you are waiting for some to come in use black garbage bags and painters tape over your windows. That works I promise. 

Our sleep wake cycles are regulated by our sleep hormones and day and night, (except in little babies), so it will be much more difficult for your chlldren to go to sleep if it is still light outside.

#2  Go ahead and get your child up at their regular wake up time By the CLOCK (not body time) on Sunday. Open the blinds, turn on the lights, go ahead and have breakfast.

It will be really difficult to go to sleep at night if you let them sleep in.

#3  Keep their nap times, meals  and daily schedule at their regular times. Start getting on the new schedule.

#4  Get lots of outside play and daylight to help the body clock regulate

#5  Move bedtime up earlier in small increments

Your child’s regular bedtime is going to be an hour later than usual. If your child usually goes to bed at 7:30, that will now be 8:30. You don’t want to just move bedtime that late. Or wait for your child to get tired to go to bed- If you don’t have a regular bedtime  (now is a good time to establish bedtime routines if you haven’t already!)

Try splitting the difference tonight, and maybe making bedtime 7:00.

Remember overtired children are really hard to get to sleep.

Then each night move bedtime earlier by 15 minutes until you reach your desired bedtime.

You will know that you have reached the right bedtime when your child can make it to bedtime without a melt down or being out of sorts and is able to wake up in the morning easily.

If your mornings are unpleasant, keep moving bedtime earlier.

#6 Make sure you keep your bedtime routine.

Try to keep the routine nice and calming to help your child  - (who may be irritable and fussy) - to wind down. You may need to add a few more steps and take some extra time to help your child get adjusted to the new bedtime.

#7  If your  toddler or preschooler is  having trouble with bedtime, or wake up times, you may want to get a toddler clock.

These have an indicator of when the child needs to go to bed and when it is time to wake up. For example, if the bunny is  asleep and the moon is out, the child must stay in the bed. But if the bunny is up and the sun is out, it is time to get up.

Here is a really cute one that is very helpful 

#8  Keep activities at a minimum for the next week so that the family can adjust.

#9 Be patient as everyone will have a hard time adjusting for the next week to 10 days.

Mid week is pretty rough. Make sure naps are regular.

#10 If you don’t have a good sleep routine, this is a good time to start one. 

This may be a really rough time for your children without a routine to fall back on.  And if you are already struggling with sleep issues, you may really struggle now. So,  starting to put some good sleep habits in place now will definitely help you. 

I have written a  Quick Start Guide to Getting More Sleep Tonight that will give you 10 Tips to have your baby (or child) sleeping better tonight. You can get access to that here.

I hope that you find this helpful. Be patient and use these tips over the next few weeks and your child will adjust to the new schedule soon. 

If you find this video and article helpful, please share it with your friends. And if you have any questions, please hop on over to the Facebook community and start a conversation. You will find lots of help and encouragement there from me and some very sympathetic and supportive moms.