Spring Ahead: Tips for child sleep and time changes.
This clock adjustment makes me want to fall back and protest like a toddler!
I don’t know about y’all, but I feel like I lose that hour ALL year. When Fall arrives I gloriously set the clock to get it back again.
The good news is that if you have an early riser this can be the time to get that morning wake up to be an hour later. Yay!
Tip #1 – You could push bedtime 15-minutes earlier tonight and 30-minutes earlier on Saturday night. By Sunday your little one’s body has made some incremental adjustments.
Although the incremental change can be helpful it is not essential. The body adjusts within three days to the natural rhythms, as long as you get plenty of sunlight AFTER wake up in the morning. So no matter what the weather is like, you will want to get your family out in day light after you wake up on the following few days after the time change.
Tips on Helping The Whole Family with the Time Change.
- Make sure to get GREAT naps this weekend. Make it a goal to assure those naps happen on time and are long enough. You might even throw in some low key, low stimulation time before dinner and getting an early bedtime for the whole family.
- For grown-ups you will want to stop intake of caffeine earlier in the day. I would recommend stopping by 12 noon.
- Mom and Dad will also want to cut out the alcohol this weekend. Although it helps you relax and fall asleep at the onset of the night, it wreaks havoc on sleep cycles later throughout the night. Let your body adjust to the new time change before you partake in a glass of wine in the evenings.
Whatever the weekend brings as far as sleep disruptions, sticking close to your child’s regular, dependable predictable routine will minimize these the most.
And remember…the body adjusts as long as you give it plenty of light and the opportunity for sleep when your child is sleepy but NOT overtired!