What Daylight Savings Mean To A Parent!
Yay! An extra hour in bed,,,,,if you don't have children! Spring is here and Summer is to follow. Flowers are blooming and new life and colour are everywhere. Let's jump for joy.....say people who have no children or older children! Daylight savings starts each Spring
season. It is time to “spring forward”
the clocks. It can be a dreaded time
for parents of young children because with this, comes an adjustment that does
not happen immediately. This is because
children tend to be more structured in their bedtime and wake up around the
same time each morning. That is why people can usually see a greater affect
on children when the time changes.
So let's make this as easy as possible parents. Here are some things you can do to
help make the transition to the new time go a little smoother. My recommendation is to leave your clock
alone Saturday night. Wake up Sunday
morning, have breakfast, then go around your house and change your clocks. Psychologically, it will feel much better for
everyone if you wait until Sunday morning to change the time.
Children-My best advice for children to help
them with the change is to split the difference with the old time and the new
time. How does that work? If you have a child that does not nap and
normally goes to bed at 7:00pm, you would put him to bed at 7:30pm on Sunday
night, the first night of the time change.
Do this for 3 nights, putting him to bed 30 minutes later than normal,
then on the 4th night put him to bed at the normal time, 7:00pm or
whatever the normal bedtime is for your child.
Toddlers-If you have a toddler aged one and
older, on Sunday the first day of the time change, you would put him for his first
nap 30 minutes later than normal. So if
he naps at 9:30am usually, you would put him down at 10:00am. You would do the same with the afternoon nap
if he takes one. For
bedtime, if his normal bedtime is 7:00pm, you would put him down at 7:30pm. Do this for 3 nights after the time change
and then on the 4th night, put him to bed at 7:00pm and on 5th
day move naptimes back to normal time.
So if your child naps at 9:30am, put him down at 9:30am and so on with
the rest of the day.
Infants-If you have a baby and her bedtime has
become predictable (usually over 6 months old) meaning she is always going to
bed around the same time each night. For
example if bedtime is normally 7:00pm move bedtime 15 minutes earlier each
night until you reach the normal time.
So the first night you would put her down at 7:45pm, the second night
7:30pm, and so on. In four nights you should
be back to 7:00pm. If their bed is not
predictable (0-6 months old) simply jump to the new time Sunday night as if you
were traveling to a new time zone.
Another little snippet of advice that is helpful is to darken your child’s room. Your child may wake up too early with the
sun rising so early now in the morning and may struggle to fall asleep while it
is still light outside so darkening the room can be very helpful. Even though there is extra hours of daylight children
still need the same amount of sleep.
And finally- relax. It may take children and babies a bit more time
to fall asleep, this is normal, since the time is different initially they
won’t be as tired. It usually takes
about a week for children and babies to completely adjust to the new time, some
children it can take up to a month. Be
patient and consistent, it will happen.
Happy Spring Everyone!
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