Sleep and Spring Forward!

Seriously, WHY is DST still a thing?! I truly envy Arizona this time of year. But, nothing we can do about it! Sigh. Daylight Saving Time for Spring Forward is coming up this Sunday March 8th!

Keep in mind that yes there are several ways of doing this and there is no right or wrong. The following is just what I personally feel is easiest. Also, if your child is very well-rested and adjusts easily, you could choose to jump right to the new time cold turkey. Some children are much more sensitive and if that is your child, then you'll want to transition them a little more slowly.

My advice is to “split the difference.”

How does that work? First off, don't worry about changing your clocks on Saturday night. Just get up on Sunday morning like normal and then go around the house changing the clocks. It will FEEL better for everyone this way!

If you have a child that normally goes to bed at 7:00pm, you would put him to bed at 7:30pm on Sunday night, the first night of the time change. Do this for 3 nights, putting him to bed 30 minutes later than normal, then on the 4th night put him to bed at the normal time, 7:00pm or whatever is normal bedtime for your child.

Naps: Same thing. If your child is napping- shift your whole schedule 30 mins later for 3 days and on the 4th night do normal bedtime and on the 5th day do normal nap times.

Infants-If you have a baby that has a predictable bedtime then move bedtime in the following manner until you reach the normal time. So if normal bedtime is 7pm, then the first night you would put him down at 7:45pm, the second night 7:30pm, and so on. In four nights you should be back to 7:00pm. If your baby does not have a predictable bedtime yet then don't worry about it and just get them on the new time as soon as possible.

***If you have an early riser, then this change should actually be great for you! YAY! And it may be best to jump right to the new time!

Your child will take a bit longer to fall asleep at first as it will feel earlier for them but in about a week they should be adjusted to the new time and falling asleep normally. Make sure your child's windows are totally blacked out so they can fall asleep easier and sleep to normal time even though more sun will be coming in the windows!

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Good luck, parents!

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