Just like that, the end of daylight savings is upon us! March 14th at 2:00 AM our clocks will push forward one hour. This is when I get excited because I know Spring is upon us and Summer is not too far off! Hooray for more sun and more play!
This leads me to the question of the day; with the time shift coming soon, how do we need to adjust our baby/toddler’s schedule for sleep?
I’ll be honest, time zones and time change mess with my brain in a way that I don’t like, but I am going to be as simple as possible so that you can understand what to do!
When do I Start Adjusting?
Honestly, to make it less complicated I would start the morning of DST. Decide before going to sleep when you want your baby/toddler to start their day and what you want your schedule to look like. The great part about the spring portion of DST is that it’s less complicated than the fall when we have to set our clocks back. This side of DST is much easier to adjust to or sometimes works in a lot of families’ favor for children that wake up earlier than desired.
When do You Wake Your Child up on the Morning of DST?
This is where you can kind of dictate how you want your schedule to look from this point on. If you want to stay on a schedule of let’s say a 7-7 schedule, wake your baby up at 7:00 A.M. the morning of DST. Recognize that this will be an hour earlier for them the usual. If you want to start having a later wake-up time let them sleep and wake them up at 8:00 AM which will feel like a normal wake-up time for them. My professional opinion is to not let your child(ren) sleep past 8:00 AM, keeping with at the latest an 8-8 schedule. For those of you who have an early bird, this time change may help you get back on a more reasonable schedule. For instance, your baby that currently wakes a 6:00 AM now will naturally wake at 7:00 AM. For many, this time change can help you get back on track.
What About the Extra Hour of Daylight? How do I Put my Child Down While it’s Still Daylight Outside?
Please consider blackout curtains! For those of you who do not have blackout curtains, I recommend you get some before the time change. I know right now it’s dark in your baby’s room at 6:30 pm, but it won’t be that way for long. It will still be bright and sunny at 7:00 pm, which can be very confusing to your baby/toddler. They will be confused about whether they should go to sleep or not.
Let’s make it easy for them and just block all the light out! Here is a link to my favorite black-out curtains!
Happy Spring!
The time change to spring forward is much easier and less stressful for parents than the fall-back, and it can help families get back on schedule. Don’t get too worked up about it and just adjust as needed on the day of. If anything, be excited!! This time change means Spring is near! More sunshine to play outside with your kiddos! I don’t know about y’all, but I can’t wait!
Rest Well,
Taylor
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