3 Strategies to Save Your Baby’s Sleep Schedule at the End of Daylight Savings
After working with one of our Sleep Consultants, you finally have your baby or toddler sleeping on a schedule that is ideal for their needs—and your sanity. You’re in a groove and you haven’t felt this rested since before you became a parent!
Then you realize Daylight Saving Time (DST) is ending soon. Now you’re terrified. Will all that hard work be undone with one measly time change?
Have no fear! You are going to navigate this time change with grace, and your little one’s sleep schedule is going to be back on track before you know it.
What is Daylight Saving Time?
Daylight Saving Time (not Daylight Savings, though that’s what most people call it anyway) begins in the spring and ends in the fall. To shift the time that the sun sets during the warmer months (and supposedly save daylight), we “spring ahead,” advancing our clocks by one hour at 2:00 AM. In the autumn, we “fall back” and reverse the change, setting our clocks back one hour at 2:00 AM.
The end of DST means that by the clock, the sun will rise and set an hour earlier. Of course, our bodies (and our children’s bodies) do not get the message as quickly as our clocks do and that can wreak havoc on everyone’s sleep.
Saving Your Child’s Sleep Schedule at the End of Daylight Saving Time
Staying on track at the end of Daylight Saving Time does not need to be complicated. You have a number of options to help your little one get used to going to bed and waking up (what feels like) an hour later.
The Keep-it-Simple Sleep Strategy
If you want to keep things super simple, many sleep consultants recommend you use the weekend when Daylight Saving Time ends to “split the difference.” So, on Saturday morning, wait an extra thirty minutes to go in and get your baby. Shift your entire day a half hour later than normal, including bedtime.
For example:
· If you normally get your baby out of their crib at 6:00 AM, get them up at 6:30 AM.
· If their first nap is usually at 9:00 AM, keep them up until 9:30 AM.
· Lunch at noon? Feed your baby at 12:30 PM.
· And so on…
Then, on Sunday, just carry on following the new time, as if nothing has happened.
The Take-Your-Time Strategy
If you suspect your baby will be more sensitive to the time change, our sleep trainers suggest that you stretch out the adjustment period over a few days. This method involves two parts, one for morning and one for the evening.
Part One: Morning
In the morning, beginning on the Monday before the end of DST, you will want to:
· Extend your baby’s exposure to darkness by one hour each morning. Keep the lights off or low and be sure to use room darkening shades (we highly recommend Blackout EZ Window Coverings) for the first hour.
· Push back your baby’s first feed of the day by ten minutes each day, until you are a full 60 minutes later by the time DST arrives.
For example, if your baby normally wakes up at 6:00 AM and eats at 6:10 AM, you will keep your baby in very low lighting until 7:00 AM and adjust their first feeding time as follows:
On Monday morning, the week prior to the time change, you will go to your baby at 6:00 AM, if they are awake. If they stay asleep or are content, you can delay going in until 6:10 AM, and feed baby at 6:20 AM.
On Tuesday, you will delay feeding until 6:30 AM.
Wednesday, delay feeding until 6:40 AM.
Thursday, feed at 6:50 AM.
Friday, feed at 7:00 AM.
Saturday, if you can, avoid going to your baby until 7:00 AM. You’ll be on track for the time change and feeding at 7:10 AM.
Sunday, the clocks will have fallen back overnight, and you will feed your baby at 6:10 AM.
Part Two: Evening
On Tuesday, prior to the time change, you can start keeping your baby up an extra fifteen minutes each evening. You will want to expose them to more light and stimulation during this time while they adjust.
For example, if your baby normally goes to bed at 7:00 PM, bedtime will look as follows:
Tuesday: 7:15 PM
Wednesday: 7:30 PM
Thursday: 7:45 PM
Friday: 8:00 PM
The Go-with-the-Flow Strategy
For families with a flexible schedule, like those who have a parent at home full time, or those who have in-home child care, doing nothing can be the best strategy for saving your child’s sleep schedule at the end of Daylight Saving Time. If it doesn’t matter what time your baby wakes up and goes to bed, and you just care that they get enough sleep, you can adjust the time your baby goes to bed and wakes up to match the clock. If your baby has been going to bed at 7:00 PM, you can put them to bed at 8:00 PM until Daylight Saving Time begins again. If they currently wake up at 6:00 AM, you will go to them at 7:00 AM instead. With this strategy, you or your nanny will adjust your schedule instead of changing your baby’s sleep schedule.
Approach the time change with a plan, some confidence and a little patience, and you will not have any trouble at all!
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