March 10, 2013 is the official end of Daylight Saving Time. This is when we will all put our clocks ahead one hour. While this technically means we all lose an hour of sleep, for those of you with earlier risers, you may feel happy about this one because your 5:30 am wake up call will come at 6:30 am.
The adjustment for little ones (and adults) during this time change seems to be easier than in the fall when we set the clocks back. There are very few accommodations that need to be made. For babies that are taking 2 naps, you would still want to use the clock and put them down close to 9 and 1. While it may feel early for a couple of days, they will adapt very quickly. Children taking 1 nap will take that nap close to 1:00. There is no need to slowly move this nap from 2:00 to 1:00. Bedtimes should still be at a reasonable time and should be dependent on the quality of the nap your child takes. A good rule of thumb is to go no later than 4 hours after your child wakes from their nap. Although it is tempting to just wait until the sun goes down, early bedtimes are still very helpful, especially to those children who skip a nap or are waking up extremely early in the morning.
If you are concerned that putting your child to bed before dark will cause them difficulty in falling asleep, consider investing in a pair of black out curtains. Not interested in dropping a paycheck at a designer baby store for something brand new? Visit your local fabric store and purchase blackout backing. This can easily be attached to the backs of your existing curtains with adhesive velcro. Just make sure that your curtain rods can handle the extra weight! We did this in my daughter’s room because her bedroom gets lots of afternoon sun and you wouldn’t even know that the sun is setting in those spring and summer months when we put her to bed.
Now is a great time to look at your child’s schedule and see if there are any changes that need to be made. If you have been putting your child down too early for an afternoon nap, it’s a great time to adjust to a 1:00 schedule, as the later morning wake up on the clock will make it easier for them to make it until 1:00. It’s also a good time to work on getting that bedtime in place. Don’t be tempted to use a later bedtime and assume that your child will sleep longer. This may be true for a few days, but as your rhythms during the day adjust to the change, your child’s sleep will revert back to what it was before.
If you think your child has sleep issues that cannot be helped by the time change, it can’t hurt to have a sleep consultant look at your current situation. Feel free to drop me a line anytime!