We dread this every year! The "Spring Forward" is not as bad as "Fall Back", but either way, it inevitably disrupts schedules and sleep patterns. Here are some tips to help your child transition a little easier this year.
Pediatric Sleep Specialist Whitney Roban, Ph.D offers tips to help your child transition. Daylight savings time is approaching fast – this Sunday, March 11, in fact. While losing an hour doesn’t seem like a lotto most of us, to a child, this means a whole new routine, especially when it comes to sleep. Whitney Roban, Ph.D of Sleep-Eez Kidz has some tips to help make the daylight savings time transition super easy so every can enjoy spring!
Allow your child's internal clock to adjust to the time change over a period of several days instead of overnight. To do this you will need to move the bedtime earlier in 15 minute increments for the4 days preceding daylight savings. For example, let's assume your child has a 7:00 bedtime. On March 8th you will put your child to be at 6:45. On March 9th bedtime will be 6:30. On March 10th it will be 6:15. On March 11th bedtime will be 6:00. March 11th is daylight savings and that evening your child's internal clock will be set to a 6:00 bedtime which on this day will now be 7:00pm. You have slowly and successfully transitioned your child to his "new"bedtime.
Do not discuss the time change nor the change in bedtime with your child. Just stay firm and consistent, knowing that you are doing what is necessary and best for your child in relation to sleep. If you have an older child that can tell time and will resist the earlier bedtime,then change the clocks so that your clocks read the usual bed time. It is too difficult a concept to explain to a child and you do not want to waste precious sleep time arguing over bed time. Remember that you are the parent and must stay confident and in control of your child's sleep.
Keep your bedtime routine consistent. Do not make it longer because your child does not appear tired. It may take your child a few extra minutes to fall asleep as you adjust the bedtime. That is okay.Allow your child's mind and body to relax and fall asleep peacefully. Putting a child to bed when they are not already overtired makes falling asleep much easier for the child.
Most children do not get the required amount of daily uninterrupted sleep. Do not be scared of an early bedtime for your child. The more sleep your child gets, the better. The days preceding daylight savings allows parents the opportunity to provide more sleep for the family.The earlier bedtime will not make your child wake up earlier in the morning. In fact, the opposite is true. The more sleep our bodies get, the more sleep our bodies want!
About Whitney Roban, Ph.D: Pediatric sleep specialist, founder of Sleep-Eez Kidz, and mom. Whitney Roban lives and works by one philosophy: parenting is one of the hardest jobs, made impossible when a family doesn’t sleep. Her mission is to give the gift of sleep to families through her information dissemination and emotional support based system. For more information on Whitney and Sleep-Eez Kidz visit www.SleepEezKidz.com, Facebook.com/SleepEezKidz or follow her on Twitter@SleepEezKidz.
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