Helping Your Children Adjust to Daylight Saving Time with Dr. Angelique Millette
/Daylight Saving Time 2024 is
2am on Sunday, November 3
Daylight Savings Time is on Sunday, November 3rd 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, November 3. 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 29 - 7:10pm bedtime
‣ Wednesday, October 30 - 7:20pm bedtime
‣ Thursday, October 31 - 7:30pm bedtime
‣ Friday, November 1 - 7:40pm bedtime
‣ Saturday, November 2 - 7:50pm bedtime
‣ Sunday, November 3 - 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.
Leading pediatric sleep consultant Dr Angelique Millette answers the Top 10 Baby Sleep Training Questions every new parent asks.
Dr. Angelique Millette is a parent-child coach, pediatric sleep consultant, and family sleep researcher. Dr. Millette’s diverse background includes training in child play, art, and nature therapies, child development and sleep, and work as a child psychologist. Dr. Millette’s commitment to children and parents spans twenty-five years and she continues to develop programs to meet families “where they are at.” Her approach allows her to work with diverse communities both nationally and internationally. Dr. Millette has developed The Millette MethodTM a multi-disciplinary approach to family sleep and child behavior. The Millette MethodTM does not follow one specific sleep or behavioral method, but rather uses a “tool-box” of different methods and approaches and takes into account various factors including child temperament and history, culture, family social support, access to nature/play, parental overwhelm, history of trauma, and parent/child mental health and wellness. Dr. Millette has worked with more than 15,000 families, and presents professional workshops to non-profits, government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, universities, and parents groups across the country and internationally. Dr. Millette also consults with juvenile products manufacturers in their development of innovative sleep and child development designs.
If you are struggling with early morning waking in the weeks after the time change, please reach out to our office for additional options for support.
