03/11/2022
One of parents’ least favorite times is upon us - daylight savings! Here are some tips for navigating the next few days (and of course there’s always extra strong coffee!)
For babies you can try gradually shifting bedtime 15 - 20 minutes earlier every night in the build up to Sunday night. This allows a more natural adjustment to the new change and isn’t as jarring as suddenly shifting by an hour.
Remember, that with the clocks going forward, it’s going to be darker in the mornings and lighter at night. If your baby is currently going to sleep right around sunset (6.30-7.00 in Austin) be mindful that after Sunday they’ll be going to bed when it’s light. If this is something that impacts your baby, think about putting up some thicker blinds or a blanket to help block out some light. You can also make sure they are in dimmer light during the 20-30 minutes before they go to bed to help their body recognize that it’s evening.
They will also potentially be waking up when it’s dark if they currently get up before sunrise (around 6.30-7.00 in Austin). Think about giving them longer in the mornings to wake up and trying to have some flexibility in your routine, if possible. If that’s not possible, then having the house well lit once they are up will help their body realize it’s morning.
You can absolutely try this gradual shifting of bedtime with older children too. They are often more flexible with their bedtimes as they don’t have daytime naps which deplete their melatonin, and they can better understand what’s happening with the time change. Older children usually have far more structured start times to their day, so naturally are able to adjust quite quickly. You can still use darkness at night and lights in the morning to help their body adjust more easily.
One thing to also consider with this natural disruption to your baby’s sleep routine is whether there are any changes you are wanting to make to their bedtime routine/sleep habits. Using the two clock changes during the year as a chance to do a quick sleep audit can be a useful way of ensuring everybody is sleeping the way you’d like. Sometimes it can be easier to make changes during this week when their sleep is already going to be disrupted a bit. So if you were looking to stop swaddling, stop using a pacifier, start to keep the door shut or lose the white noise, this could be a good time to do it, as you’ll just have one round of disrupted sleep to deal with rather than two!
Finally, it is absolutely ok to just do nothing and see how your baby does. Some babies and children are really flexible with their bedtimes and are able to shift easily. There is no right or wrong way to approach this!
And if nothing else, there is always coffee.
