This is the time change when those without children can skite about getting an extra hour of sleep. Who are we kidding?! Our kids don’t read the memo about an extra hour and now, instead of waking at 6:30am we are looking at a 5:30am start. Their little internal body clocks don’t change with the clock on the wall and whilst us adults can process the change and stay in bed until our normal wake-up time, our kids can’t do this! This change causes our little ones to wake much earlier than usual which throws off naps and bedtime and we can end up in a relentless cycle of overtiredness. Not fun.
So is there anything we can do to make it easier for our kids?! Yes! If your little ones are sensitive to change then it will help if we gradually shift their schedule and be proactive the week prior to daylight savings:
1) Don't get them up straight away
Now I know when I say to wake your baby up 15mins later and adjust things slowly, doesn’t mean they won’t already have woken up but I’d encourage you to not get them up and give them that feed right away when they wake up. Try to leave them in their dark quiet room until the set wake-up time for the day. Light, food, and social interaction are what set our body's internal clock so we want to try and avoid these things until the new start time.
2) Shift the entire day
When gradually changing their start time to the day we need to also shift their entire day including naps and meal times. So if they are usually on a 9am nap and you are adjusting things the week before gradually, then on Monday and Tuesday you would push them out to 9:15am. Yes, you’ll have to pull out all the stops to distract them to keep them awake that little bit longer but they’ll be just fine!
3) Keep it boring and dark!
Our circadian rhythm is set by light, so try not to go in bright and early, turn on the lights and let them play. Resist the urge to turn on the TV early too as nothing motivates our toddlers more to wake up early than allowing that screen time first thing! If you haven’t already blackened out the room – I’d urge you to get this sorted now! I’m all about making it easier on our little ones and darkness does this!
Remember this adjustment is about shifting your little one's circadian rhythm and this can be tough and may make for some really early mornings. If these continue, then my 'Ultimate guide to Early Wakeups' is the guide for you if you are feeling frustrated with early starts!
If daylight savings seems like just one of your many sleep-woes, then get in touch with Just Love Sleep (or book a consult below) as I’d love to help you all sleep well and experience how amazing having good sleep for your family truly is.
