Surviving Sleep: Daylight Savings Time Tips for New Parents

photo courtesy of lauren winslow photography

surviving sleep: daylight savings time tips for new parents

by dr. rebecca kempton

Babies are creatures of habit, especially when it comes to sleep. They tend to doze off and wake up around the same time every day, so attempting to adjust their internal clocks can lead to fussiness. That’s why it’s a good idea to prepare your child for the advent of Daylight Savings Time in advance of the actual time change. Read on for more helpful tips in making this adjustment.

Rather than learning this lesson the tough way, do yourself and your baby a favor by adjusting to these time changes, using a few of the following tips I share with my clients.

Prepare early

The best way to avoid problems is to incrementally adjust baby’s schedule starting three or four days prior to the time change.

Meals, naps, activities and bedtimes should happen 15 minutes later on the first day, then 30 minutes later on the second day, and so on. So, if your child usually naps at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., start by shifting the naps to 9:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. four days prior to the time change. The next day, shift the schedule to 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. By the last day, your child’s routine should already be one hour ahead of the current time. When those clocks jump forward, it will be like nothing even changed.

When Daylight Savings ends in the autumn, you can apply the same principle by shifting your schedule in the opposite direction. Make each activity occur 15 minutes earlier in the day over the same period of three to four days.

Be consistent

Create a bedtime routine and stick to it. Being consistent with everything you do around sleep is one of the keys to establishing and maintaining a great sleep schedule for your child and your

home. This is true whether you are preparing for a time change or simply winding down any day of the week, month or year.

Establishing a consistent routine is easy to do, and is very relaxing and comforting for babies and children. To get started, make the environment conducive to sleep. This can include dimming the lights, turning on the white noise machine, and closing the curtains. For the actual routine, do a 15-minute series of relaxing activities in the same order every single sleep period. Start with a feeding, either nursing or using a fully-vented bottle, then change your baby into night time clothes to ensure they are awake for the remainder of the routine. The rest of the routine can include things like a gentle massage with lotion, singing songs, reading books, or doing a slow dance to music around the room. Once your baby learns to associate the routines with sleep, they will learn to fall asleep easily and independently, even if the time is shifted.

Go outside

Exposure to light early in the morning is one of the keys to a seamless transition when the clocks move forward one hour in the Spring. Exposing your child to bright light in the morning will alert their brain that it’s time to start the day. So, let the morning light pour in when it’s time to wake up, and get outside to enjoy the early Spring air! Alternately, when it’s time for bed, be sure that your child’s room is dark. This will send signals to the brain

that it’s sleep time.

Once Daylight Savings Time kicks in, consider spending some time with your child in the great outdoors during daylight hours. That can mean hanging out in the backyard or taking a walk to the park. Wherever you decide to go, the fresh air – and especially the sunlight – can influence your child’s circadian rhythms (the natural sleep/ wake cycle) in subtle ways. The human body tends to adjust its internal clock based on the amount of sunlight we receive, so spending time outdoors when the sun is shining can fine-tune our wakefulness. (Bonus tip: this helps reset your internal clock when you are jetlagged, too.)

Don’t panic

If you don’t start early, or if you try to make the shift and it didn’t seem to work, don’t worry. Just continue to stick to your routines, and your child’s inner clock should take the hint within a few days. Kids who are already well rested, adaptable and on consistent sleep schedules will make the adjustment easily within a few days.

Establishing healthy sleep habits is one of the most important things that any parent can do for their child, and it can be both frustrating and exhausting when your efforts don’t seem to pan out or Daylight Savings throws a wrench in plans. Fortunately, these tips can help you succeed.

Dr. Rebecca Kempton, M.D., is a certified infant and toddler sleep specialist and Baby Sleep Pro founder. She is on Dr. Brown’s Medical Expert Panel. Kempton is a board member of the American Sleep Association and the Family Sleep Institute.