Surviving Fall Daylight Savings Time
Well, we have some good news and some bad news...
The good news is that the Fall Daylight Savings time sleep change is much easier to manage with little ones than the tortuous spring time change.
In the fall, we "fall back" and it's much easier to fall asleep later than it is to go to bed early.
The bad news is that your kiddos will probably wake up an hour earlier come morning and may even become over-tired in the evening.
Fortunately, there are some things you can do to make the transition easier.
1.Stick to your routine
Babies and children generally thrive on routine so keep things the same and bedtime should flow smoothly. If you don't have a pre-sleep routine, now is a perfect time to start. We love a bath, story, sleep routine but experiment to find what works best for your family.
2. Move Bedtime Forward at little each day
If you expect you may have an over-tired child in the evening, you can try moving bedtime forward by 10 minutes each day starting a week before time change. Example: 6 days before the switch, bedtime moves to 7:10, the next night it is 7:20, then 7:30 the next evening and finally you’ll end up at 8:00pm the night of change. This slow and steady approach can help ease your little into the change and help them adjust to sleeping a bit later in the mornings, as well.
3. Mind the Environment
Speaking of mornings, try to keep things dark and quiet and leave them in the bed until it is time to get them up (this means room-darkening curtains for many). Within a few days, their little bodies (and sleep cycles) will eventually adjust and they will be back to their normal selves.