Be Prepared for Spring Daylight Saving Time - Advice for All Ages
Time changes can cause feelings of anxiety for parents with littles. Since the middle of January, parents have been contacting me looking for help to avoid a sleep regression, worrying about how their child will manage and wondering how to prepare.
When Daylight Saving Time (DST) begins Sunday, March 10 at 2 am, the clocks in our ‘smart’ devices will fast-forward one hour so that 2 am becomes 3 am, resulting in the loss of one hour of sleep that night. (Digital clocks and the like will have to be manually changed, typically done the morning after the time change.)
I don’t have to tell parents why the loss of one hour of sleep can be problematic. Infants and young children in particular feel the effects of this loss. But there are some benefits to the spring time change.
If you have a child who is waking earlier in the morning than you would like, you might just catch a break with the spring time change. If your child has been waking up at 5:30 am, the morning following the time change the clock will read 6:30 am at their normal wake time, but will feel like 5:30 am for a few days up to a week after the time change as their bodies adjust. (If you want to lock that new later wake time in place, there are more steps you will need to take. Read on.)
Mornings will be darker initially as well, making sleeping later easier. Just to be sure, it’s always a good idea to black out your child’s room. This will serve you well when the sun begins to rise earlier as summer approaches.
“An extra yawn one morning in the springtime, an extra snooze one night in the autumn… We borrow an hour one night in April; we pay it back with golden interest five months later.”
There are three ways to help your little one transition to the new time: gradually, quicker (over the weekend) and all at once (no transition). The following strategies assume you want to keep your child’s current schedule as is.
Gradual adjustment
If you want to keep your child’s current sleep schedule, you’ll want to make your house darker one hour before bedtime. Depending on your child’s age, you should start this 4-8 days prior to the time change.
Young babies 0-3 months
Newborns don’t have a mature circadian rhythm so they don’t have much of a sleep schedule yet. And they aren’t able to stay awake for long stretches of time. For these reasons, you probably don’t have to do much for the time change. However, you might consider waking your baby in the morning by 7-8 am to help them establish a rhythm. If your baby is 2 months or older, this is a wise strategy for encouraging more nighttime sleep and an earlier bedtime. Don’t try to keep your baby awake for longer stretches in order to get them on the new time.
Babies 4-6 months - 3+ naps
At least 8 days before the time change, make the house darker roughly an hour before bedtime.
After that first night of creating early darkness, move bedtime earlier in 10-15 minute increments, and hold for 2 nights, then shift bedtime earlier another 10-15 minutes again and hold for 2 nights. Continue to make this gradual adjustment until they are going to bed 1 hour earlier.
If baby isn't yet on a predictable nap pattern, the last nap of the day is the only one to be concerned about — a late nap could disrupt baby's ability to fall asleep at an earlier bedtime. Wake your baby from that last nap, ensuring at least 2 hours of wakefulness before the target bedtime.
Babies 7-18 months - 2 naps
At least 4 days before the time change, make the house darker roughly an hour before bedtime.
After that first night of creating early darkness, move bedtime earlier in 10-15 minute increments each night.
If naps are on a predictable pattern, move naps earlier in increments at the same pace as bedtimes are moved.
Toddlers 19-36 months - 1 nap
At least 4 days before the time change, make the house darker roughly an hour before bedtime.
Each night, move bedtime 20-30 minutes earlier. Wake your child from a nap, leaving them with at least 4 hours awake until the new target bedtime.
Make sure to adjust naptime 20-30 minutes earlier at the same pace as you’re adjusting bedtime.
Kids 3+ years - 1-0 naps
For kids 3+ who are only napping sometimes, it's OK to skip a nap or two the weekend of the time change to increase sleep pressure at bedtime. Move bedtime earlier in 30-minute increments, but be aware they won't adjust immediately to the new time. When they do nap, ensure there is at least 5 hours of awake time between nap and bedtime.
Quicker transition - over the weekend
This is what we usually end up doing with our kids because we temporarily forget about the time change, or because it doesn’t work well with school to begin any earlier.
On Friday, adjust the morning and afternoon naps by putting your child down 30 minutes earlier than usual. Do the same with bedtime. For example, if naps were at 9:30 am and 1:30 pm, and bedtime was 7:30 pm, put them down at 9 am for the morning nap, 1 pm for the afternoon nap and 7 pm at bedtime.
Hold that change on Saturday.
By Sunday morning, the clocks will have jumped forward 1 hour. Put your child down for naps and bedtime at their usual time by the clock. This will feel like 1 hour earlier from their normal sleep times, but the previous adjustments mean it shouldn’t be as hard compared to if you didn’t transition at all.
All at once - no transition
This might work if you have an older child.
If your child usually goes to bed at 7:30 pm and wakes at 6:30 am, put them down to bed at 7:30 pm Saturday night. Sunday morning, they might sleep until 7:30 am according to the clock because it will feel like 6:30am.
Sunday night, you can try putting them down at their usual time according to the clock. It will feel like 6:30 pm. And if they slept in until 7:30 am they won’t have as much awake time as before. Keep them active. Encourage lots of time in sunlight and fresh air during the day. Tire them out. Then dim the lights in the house 1 hour before the intended bedtime.
You are likely to have a tired kid for a few days as their body adjusts. Have patience and try to be more understanding of pop-ups and additional nighttime requests that are bound to happen.
Helpful hints for all ages:
Avoid screen time in the 90-120 minutes before bedtime and naps
Keep your baby’s room dark until the target wake time
Expose your child to light upon waking (after 6 am)
If you’re looking to lock in that new later wake time (and I know you are), a few smart strategies might do the trick.
Get lots of sunshine and fresh air in the evening before bed.
If baby is getting enough nighttime sleep, usually between 10.5-12 hours, and you want them waking by 6 am, bedtime should be between 6 pm-7:30 pm. If they aren’t getting enough nighttime sleep and bedtime is too late, dim the lights in the house at the goal bedtime. Slowly shift bedtime earlier by 15 minutes every 2 nights. Watch what happens with the morning wake time.
Keep the room pitch black dark. Make sure no light is getting into the room until the target wake time.
The above steps should work well for babies with independent sleep skills who are sleeping well with a consistent bedtime, appropriate wake time and solid naps, and getting all the sleep they need.
If you are struggling with wacky naps, difficult bedtimes, night wakes, early wakes or anything else, let’s get you sorted so you can be in a better place before the time changes.