- If you can, it's ideal to start the Daylight Savings transition on Saturday. This gives families the benefit of an extra day of adjusting before the work and/or school week begins.
- If you can't start on Saturday (or have a very flexible sleeper) simply skip down to Step #4.
1. We recommend that our clients start the Daylight Savings transition on Saturday so they have the benefit of an extra day of fine tuning before the work week begins.
2. On Saturday, use your child's nap and bedtimes to help him or her "pre-adjust" to Sunday's time change. Tweak the regular sleep schedule in 15 or 30 minute increments. Note: Adjust in 15 minute increments if you have two or three naps and in 30 min increments if your baby takes one nap. For instance, a 1:00-3:00 p.m. nap and 7:00 p.m. bedtime would turn into a 12:30-2:30 p.m. nap and a 6:00 or 6:15 p.m. bedtime. Doing this homework ahead of time will give your child a head start on Sunday.
3. Try your best to get your child ready for these "new" nap times and bedtime on Saturday by getting plenty of fresh air. If possible, introduce some fun, novel activities. This will help tire your child out a bit more than usual. Also, make sure to stick to your usual pre-nap routine, if you have one.
4. By Sunday morning, the clocks will have adjusted overnight so wake your child up at his or her normal time and put your child down at his or her normal naptime(s). This may be a challenge the first day or so since it will feel an hour early to their little bodies.
5. Continue to get outside and have even more fun, active play planned for your family on Sunday.
6. On Sunday evening, try your best to help your child be dressed and ready for bed at his or her normal bedtime. Again, stick to your usual bedtime routine as if nothing has changed. If your child is not showing signs of being tired, it's okay to make bedtime 15-30 minutes late (according to the new clock) and continue to refine the schedule the next day.
7. Remember that all children are different. Some may make the jump in time change seamlessly, and others may take a few days to a full week to fully adjust. Just be patient and it will all "spring" in to place.
Saying goodbye to the summer is hard enough. So, when it comes to daylight savings weekend, we prefer to keep things simple. Here are a few of our tips for helping your children adjust to the "fall back" in time this weekend.
- If you can, it's ideal to start the Daylight Savings transition on Saturday. This gives families the benefit of an extra day of adjusting before the work and/or school week begins.
- If you can't start on Saturday (or have a very flexible sleeper) simply skip down to Step #3.
1. During the day on Saturday, use your child's nap times and bedtimes to help him or her "pre-adjust" to the new schedule. We generally suggest moving things up in 15 or 30 minute increments. For instance, on Saturday, your child's normal 1:00 p.m. nap and 7:00 p.m. bedtime would turn into a 1:15 nap and a 7:30 or 7:45 bedtime. Doing this homework ahead of time will give your child a head start on Sunday.
2. Try your best to get your child ready for these new nap times and bedtime on Saturday by getting plenty of fresh air. If possible, introduce some fun, novel activities. This will help tire your child out a bit more than usual. Also, make sure to stick to your usual pre-nap routine, if you have one.
3. On Sunday morning, the time will have shifted back overnight, and your child may wake up earlier than their adjusted normal wakeup time. Try to encourage your child to sleep their normal length of time. But given how late you were able to put them down the night before, the wake-up may still be a little early. Just for this day, allow your child to get up early in the morning. However, if your little one sleeps that extra hour and makes it to the adjusted wake-up time naturally, you're all set. Congratulations, you win the parental lotto!
4. If your child wakes up early and cannot get back to sleep, try your best to put your little one down as close as possible to their new adjusted nap time(s) throughout the day.
5. Whether your child is still easing toward the "normal" schedule or has made the adjustment easily, expect Sunday to still be a challenge since it will feel an hour later to their bodies. Continuing the family fun and planning exciting activities ahead of time will help keep things moving and make this day much easier for all of you.
6. On Sunday evening, try your best to help your child make it to their normal bedtime. If they are utterly exhausted, it's okay to let him or her fall asleep 15-20 minutes early. Use your best judgment. Please remember that all children are different. Some make the jump in time change seamlessly, and others take a few days to fully adjust. Just be patient and it will all fall back into place.
– Conner Herman and Kira Ryan are New York City moms and the founders of Dream Team Baby, which provides customized infant and toddler sleep consultations. They are also CEIM certified infant massage educators.
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