Boo Hoo – the End of Daylight Savings    ---      FALL BACK ONE HOUR

November 6, 2015

In the fall, the clocks ‘fall’ back an hour. What used to be 7:00pm is now 6:00pm and baby/child is tired and ready to sleep earlier than ‘normal’. While you may not be successful in helping your child make it to bedtime, the real problem comes in the morning because most children will wake early. Their normal 7:00am wake-up time now becomes 6:00am. Prepare to nap them a little earlier and allow them to ‘chill’ in the crib after waking from naps a bit longer.

Your best approach is to not worry about the plan and just go with what the clock is saying. If your child’s bedtime has been 7:00pm prior to turning your clocks back, still put your child down to sleep at the new clock time of 7:00pm. The reason you can ignore the time change is because a lot of our social cues like meals, bathing, leaving and returning from work and school, are all adjusted with the time change. Social cues help regulate a child’s sleep schedule. It is entirely possible that your baby will be tired before the 7:00 pm bedtime and you should absolutely read baby’s cues and put him down a little earlier if very fussy or obviously very tired. Remain strict adhering to usual bedtimes, wake times and nap times. This approach works best for good sleepers or those who have mellow personalities. What I would suggest, however, is that a little catnap for about 30 minutes offered anywhere between 4pm and 5pm may help take the ‘edge’ off before the normal bedtime.

Some parents find it is best to try to make gradual adjustments by making a slow transition starting on Thursday night (November 3) before the time change, moving your child's bedtime earlier by 15 minutes each night. By Sunday night you will be right back on schedule.

1.    Starting Thursday, November 3, move your baby/ toddler bedtime back 15 minutes each night. Your baby’s whole daily schedule moves back those 15 minutes the day after. This way, you will have shifted your baby’s schedule ahead by one hour by the time you have to move your clock back one hour. Therefore, your baby would be going to sleep at his usual time right away, based on the Standard Time.

2.    See the chart below for guidance. Note that this chart assumes baby’s current bedtime is 7pm and waking time is 7am.

3.    For an even smoother transition, you can start moving your baby’s bedtime back 10 minutes on Tuesday, November 1, 2014.

Adults as well as babies and children can take a few days to a week or even longer to adjust to the time change. And, this is perfectly normal. Be patient with yourself and your children until your biological rhythms catch up with the clock. Being diligent with your schedule will help your child, and you, to make that adjustment more quickly. If you find the adjustment challenging, consider the following suggestion: the day after the daylight savings time ends, Monday, November 7, 2016, your baby may wake up one hour earlier than usual (based on the clock). If this is the case, you will want to make your child’s naptime and bedtime 45 minutes earlier than his regular schedule the first day; 30 minutes earlier the second day; and 15 minutes earlier the third day.

The whole daily schedule adjusts to those changes accordingly. By doing this, your baby would be going to sleep and waking up at his regular times, based on the Standard Time, by Friday November 11^th. 

Pam "Mimi" Small

Newborn/Infant Care Consultant

Sleep Consultant 0-5 Years    

www.CalmBabyRN.com

Transition Steps	Current Time (Daylight Savings Time)	New Time (Standard Time)
Thursday, November 3	Move back your baby's 7pm bedtime to 7:15pm	7:15pm	6:15pm
Friday, November 4	Move back your baby’s daily schedule, starting at wake-up time 7:15am	7:15am	6:15am
	Move back your baby’s bedtime to 7:30pm	7:30pm	6:30pm
Saturday, November 5	Move back your baby’s daily schedule, starting at wake-up time 7:30am	7:30am	6:30am
	Move back your baby’s bedtime to 7:45pm	7:45pm	6:45pm
Sunday, November 6 (Fall Back Night)	Move back your baby’s daily schedule, starting at wake-up time 7:45am	7:45am	6:45am
	Move back your baby’s bedtime to 8:00pm	8:00pm	7:00pm
Monday, November 7 (Standard Time in Place	Regular waking time 7:00am	8:00am(Doesn’t apply!)	7:00am