The days are getting longer and daylight savings is back… this time though we are springing forward and getting to enjoy some extra daylight at the end of the day. Hallelujah! BUT you have kids… and they don’t bend quite that easily so how do you tackle it? First things first, double check those blackout blinds, we’re going to inch towards daylight bedtimes again. I love the daylight but it’s harder to convince kids it’s bedtime when the sun is shining. So, if needed, tin foil the windows in their bedroom to make it REAL dark in there.
Bedtime Saturday Night:
It’s bedtime, switch the clocks, as many as you find/remember, I think we all find that one clock a week later that we forgot about. You can even tell the kids, if they are older, wow we let you stay up late, better hurry to get to sleep. You’ll wake up in the morning and everyone had a big sleep in, celebrate the false sleep in and move on with your day.
Nap time or Bedtime Sunday:
Your kids are still napping age and it’s the first nap of the day, time to split the difference. If you have a child with a VERY set nap/bedtime you may need to flex it only by 15 minutes each day/night and it’ll take you 4 days to get back on track. Does your child nap at 1pm everyday? Today it’s 1:45, tomorrow it’s 1:30 and so on until you are back to a 1pm nap time. Is your child a little more flexible with timing? Make it a 30 minute adjustment and then tomorrow right back on track with normal times. Same thing goes if they aren't nappers anymore, just apply all of the above to your bedtime strategy, this may include adjusting meal times the same way through the day to get you to a later bedtime.
Option to Start Early:
Do you have a kid who functions best with a very set time BUT you need to back on track for work/daycare/school on Monday? Start Friday night to get a head start. Sure the rest of the world still runs on normal time Saturday but who says your house has to? Bump bedtime by 20 minutes Friday, another 20 on Saturday and by Sunday night, voila you’re running on real time.
Patience:
Look it’s not perfect, we used to always chuckle as kids because time change would mess my Grandma’s internal clock up for at least a week with every time change and we ALL heard about it. Some bounce into place quickly and some take a little longer but stick with your plan and your times and they will get there eventually. If this means a little extra snuggles/screen time/bribery for a couple days while you have tired kids just roll with it. Have no fear the baby sleep will get back on track, and if you need some sleep solutions you know where to find me, your local, friendly sleep coach.
