PODCAST: Helping Your Children Adjust to Daylight Saving Time with Dr. Angelique Millette

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Daylight Saving Time 2020 is
2am on Sunday, November 1

Daylight Savings Time is on Sunday, November 1st which means it’s time to “fall back” an hour. Parents know what a huge ordeal this is for young ones and how just one hour impacts sleep. But before you get too stressed out, I have help sleep expert, Dr. Angelique Millette, joining me today to talk about tips and tricks for adjusting your child to the fall time change.

Sunset will be approximately 5pm when some families are just getting home from work and the opportunity to go outside ends when it’s dark. Sunrise will be approximately 6am when early morning light may disrupt a sleeping child.

You can help your child by starting to adjust their internal clock/circadian rhythm ahead of the time change on Sunday, October 25. Starting Tuesday put your child to bed 10 minutes later. You can do this by comforting, singing, reading a book, and starting the bedtime ritual/routine 10 minutes later. Do this for the rest of the week, so when the time change does happen, your child will adjusted to the new time.

If your child’s bedtime is 7pm, it will look like this:
‣ Tuesday, October 27 - 7:10pm bedtime
‣ Wednesday, October 28 - 7:20pm bedtime
‣ Thursday, October 29 - 7:30pm bedtime
‣ Friday, October 30 - 7:40pm bedtime
‣ Saturday, October 31 - 7:50pm bedtime
‣ Sunday, November 1 - 7pm bedtime (new time - old time will be 8pm)

Daylight Savings Checklist:

  • Put the above plans in your calendar so you don’t forget when their new bedtime will be.

  • Darken your child’s room with darkening drapes, or shades, to reduce early morning light.

  • Stick to your typical daytime schedule with a incremental adjustment for naps. You can be somewhat flexible and offer a nap 5-30 min earlier.

  • Exposure to sunlight will help with the time change adjustment so plan on outdoor playtime every day in the weeks following the time change to help adjust their circadian rhythm.

In 2 weeks, join Dr. Millette for a follow up podcast to discuss Early Morning Waking, solution based strategies if you’re still having 4am wake ups, Mama Trama and more. You don’t want to miss that one. If you have any questions. please leave a comment below.