Fall Back: Navigating Daylight Saving Time for your Child

circadian rhythm daylight saving time infant preschool sleep tips to fall back toddler

Fall Back Daylight Saving Time Loving Lessons Irene Gouge

Daylight Saving Time can have a noticeable impact on the body's internal clock due to the sudden shifts in time and exposure to light. The effects can include difficulties in falling asleep, reduced sleep quality, and potential health consequences. It's important for individuals to be aware of these effects and to make adjustments in their daily routines to help their bodies adapt to the changes brought about by DST.

Babies' internal clocks begin developing between 3-6 months of age, and parents will notice this often by all the changes that take place during the 4 month sleep regression. The good news is that children are resilient and adaptable, and here are some tips to help you make the transition to fall back smoother.

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Making the transition for Daylight Saving Time

Use light to help you. Starting on Wednesday or Thursday before DST, start to encourage more natural or artificial light at night the hour before bed. In the morning keep it dim and quiet until it’s time to wake up in your home. Turn lights on and offer breakfast or a feeding to say, “now it’s time to start our day!”

Use black out shades, if needed. Some children are light sensitive. If your child is, using darkening shades as a tool can help minimize the light distractions in the early morning.

Decide what approach you will do. Below, you’ll see a couple of approaches in how to make the transition. Making a decision is the first step in being your child’s calm and confident leader.

Write it down. Writing out your plan will help you commit and follow through with the changes you desire in your home. Review your schedule, family rhythms and figure out the best way to approach the bedtime, nap, and meal transitions for your family. The bedtime plan chart below can help you get started.

Be consistent and follow through with your plan. Work as a team to help everyone be accountable for the timing changes.

Follow your routines. The flexible routines you have around eating, sleeping, and playing will help your child know what to expect. Your child is looking for predictable routines, which allows you to tweak the timing of when these occur in your home. This can make for a smoother transition over all.

Keep up your consistent response. Sometimes we may implement a plan to find that our little one still wakes up earlier than we would like. This will be a good time to start using your consistent response you’ve used to coach your child while getting sleep in place in your home. Some families may choose to shuffle their little one in the morning until it is their correct wake time.

Be available. Make time to connect with your little one during the transition. It never fails that children will need a little more TLC from mom or dad when change occurs because they can feel a little disorganized. They often know something is different without knowing what it is.

Practice patience with your child and yourself. Change is hard for everyone so be mindful of your responses during this transition.
Change your mind. Do your mindset work and remind yourself “this too shall pass!” While it's natural to have a brief pity party or complain about the inconveniences caused by Daylight Saving Time, recognize that it's short-lived and not as dramatic as it may seem. Embrace the idea that change is a constant in your parenting journey and, as seasons change, grab your parenting tools to help support you so that you don’t find yourself breathing fear, stress, anger or anxiety. I use the mantra “Breathe LOVE” to help me reframe the hard moments in the day to day. Get the free guide here. What’s your tool or mantra?

No fuss- Just do it- cold turkey Daylight Saving Time approach

Some families may choose a no fuss, just do it, cold turkey approach and adjust to the new time on Sunday. Be sure to throw in a bonus nap if you have a little one so they don’t get overtired by bedtime. On Sunday and thereafter, adjust naps, meals and your routine to the Standard Time. This tends to be the approach most families use, and it works well for some families and everyone’s personality types.

Gradual Approach for Daylight Saving Time

Since it’s normal and common for children younger than 5 to have bedtimes between 6:30 and 8:00pm , the week before Daylight Saving Time you can choose to make a 4 or 6 day plan which shifts the circadian rhythm in 10 or 15 minute increments. Changing habits can be hard, depending on our child’s temperament, so doing a little by little approach can help you and your child ease into it, and you are more likely to be consistent. Use the chart to help guide you in what makes sense for your home. The chart uses 7pm as a typical bedtime. Make adjustments according to your child’s bedtime. You’ll want to adjust meals and nap time too.

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Little by Little

Rest assured that within a week or so the transition will even itself out, and everyone will be back on track with the sleep habits you once had in your home!

If after you’ve tried all these tips and you’re still not satisfied with your current sleep habits in your home, click here to set up a time on my calendar for us to talk.