BabyBites

Sleep Transitions for Daylight Savings

By: Deborah Pedrick, familysleep.com

“OMG! The time change is coming! What are we going to do?”

This is the message that Iʼm getting on my voice mail and in emails as well as from moms and dads all across the country. Okay letʼs take a deep breath…… and remember that we go through this every year. It comes and goes and we get through it just fine. You really donʼt need to worry about it. This is what you need to do:

Napping children:

• Naps: Start the naps 1/2 hour earlier than the normal nap time. For example, if your childʼs original nap time was 8:30 am, then make it 8:00 am instead.
• Bedtime: Since the naps are starting earlier and probably ending earlier, then you will also need to make the bedtime earlier. A 5:00 pm bedtime might be necessary especially for the younger babies taking two naps a day.
• Transition complete: As the wake time inches closer to the original, the nap times will also start occurring at the normal times once again.

Children who are not napping:

• Bedtime: make it a little bit earlier, maybe a 1/2 hour if they too are getting up earlier. Once the wake time gets back to normal, so can the bedtime.

Overall it takes about a week for the older kids and a little more for the younger ones to come together. The only advice for the moms and dads; get yourselves earlier to bed as well.