Spring is in the air, which means beautiful flowers blooming, sweet birds chirping, and warm weather and sunshine to get outside and enjoy!
Unfortunately, spring is also a sign of Daylight Savings Time quickly approaching. This term is almost like a four-letter word to anyone with children, and parents tend to dread those time changes because it always messes with your little one’s sleep schedules.
Handling Daylight Savings Time doesn’t have to be a nightmare for parents. In some cases, it can actually be beneficial to helping your early riser sleep just a little bit longer.
Check out these tips for handling Daylight Savings Time with your little one this spring.
Adjust Your Schedule for the Change
One of the best ways to approach that “spring forward” time change is to move your entire schedule forward that hour. Leave your schedule exactly the same but move everything forward one hour to accommodate the change in time with Daylight Savings.
Here is an example for you. If you let the baby wake up as usual, it should be about one hour later than what was normal before the time change. So, if your baby sleeps from 7 pm to 6 am, you will transition that schedule one hour forward. The new bedtime will be 8 pm and the new wake time will be 7 am. It works like a charm and is a simple adjustment.
Everything else in your day will run on the same schedule but moved to one hour later. So, if your wake window is about 3 hours, then the awake time starts at 7 am instead of 6 am. The change will push naptime one hour later as well and this cycle continues throughout the day.
The key here is that your schedule remains the same but is happening one hour later in the day than it did prior to the time change.
Now, I understand that this may not work for you. Maybe you have to be up and out the door by 7 am or sometimes too close to have 7 am as the wake-up time for the day. Or maybe changing that time you put the baby down completely ruins their sleep patterns. If either of those applies to you, maybe check out the next option!
Make Gradual Adjustments
You know the time change is approaching before it hits. We start seeing calendar reminders and memes on Facebook. It happens every single year around the same time, so we can plan for it!
The week before Daylight Savings Time, start making minor adjustments to the schedule so you will be in the right place when it happens. It can be challenging but remember you are doing it to make the transition easier for the time change.
The week before, start waking the baby 10 minutes earlier each day and putting the baby to bed 10 minutes earlier each day as well. The gradual change will get you where you need to be by Daylight Savings and won’t completely throw your schedule.
Now, we have one more option!
Weekend Adjustment
Finally, you can use the weekend to adjust. The morning of the time change, wake the baby about 30 minutes early. According to the clock, it’s actually 30 minutes later, but it feels like it’s earlier since the time changed.
Instead of waking at 6 am, you will wake them at 6:30 am according to the clock. You will adjust that 30 minutes throughout the entire day for your schedule. At bedtime, put the baby to bed 30 minutes earlier as well.
From here, you can adjust over the next week as needed.
Singapore Infant Sleep Coach
No matter which plan you use, there will be an adjustment process. Make sure you use appropriate light exposure and stick to your normal routine as much as possible. While there will be some changes, this is the easiest way to transition when Daylight Savings Time tries to wreak havoc on your schedules. Be patient and work through the process.
Every child has their own personality. These factors are taken into consideration when determining the right approach for you and your children. Louise at Petite Dreamers will make sure she is not wasting chasing methods that are not a good fit for your family. She will be available for you and ready to respond to any questions you have about the process. Contact her today for a FREE 15-minute discovery call.