Adjust your child's schedule to the spring time change

Planning to sleep a little longer this Sunday morning?

It’s time to spring the clocks forward for the annual move to daylight savings time. Have no fear! I’ll tell you exactly what to do to adjust your baby or child’s schedule in 3 simple steps. 

1. First, leave your clock alone Saturday night.  Wake up Sunday morning at your usual time, have your coffee, then go around your house and change your clocks that didn’t change automatically. 

2. Gradually move your child’s bedtime and nap times starting Sunday night.
Children who no longer nap: If your child normally goes to bed at 7:00pm, put him/her to bed at 7:30pm on Sunday night.  Do this for 3 nights, then on the 4th night put him to bed at 7:00pm or whatever is normal bedtime for your child.

Toddlers (12 months and older)- Start with naps on Sunday and put your child down for their first nap 30 minutes later than normal on the first night of the time change. If your child usually naps at 9:30am, naptime on Sunday is now 10:00am.  Do the same with the afternoon nap if there normally is one.  For bedtime on Sunday, if your kiddo’s normal bedtime is 7:00pm, you would put him down at 7:30pm.   Do this for 3 nights and then on the 4th night, put him to bed at 7:00pm. Within a week, you’re back to your child’s regular bedtime.

Infants (6-12 months with a predictable bedtime)- If bedtime is normally 7:00pm, move bedtime 15 minutes earlier each night until you reach the normal time.  On Sunday night, you would put baby down at 7:45pm, the second night 7:30pm, and so on.  In four nights you should be back to 7:00pm.   If their bedtime is not predictable (0-6 months old) simply jump to the new time Sunday night.

3. Make sure your child’s room is as dark as possible. Install blackout curtains if you don’t already have them. 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.  Even with the extra hours of daylight, your child sleep needs the same amount of sleep. It may take children and babies a bit more time to fall asleep or not seem to be as tired as usual, which is normal.  It usually takes about a week for children and babies to completely adjust to daylight savings time and some children may take up to 3 weeks to adjust.  Be patient and consistent, and your child will be sleeping in no time!
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If you have any questions about how the time change will affect your child or about your child’s sleep, please send me an email at christine@sleepsolutionsbychristine.com