Daylight Savings Time: How to Adjust Your Child’s Sleep
A change in Daylight Savings Time can cause plenty of disruptions to our normal schedules - especially if you are a parent. Many people find themselves blindsided by the change and are subsequently late to work or miss an appointment. But, more often, many parents forget to consider how the change will affect their child's sleep routine and suddenly find themselves struggling to achieve quality sleep for everyone in their home.
How to remember when Daylight Savings changes:
In the Fall season we ‘fall back' by an hour and in the Spring we ‘spring forward' by an hour. These seasonal cues are a great way to remember when and how Daylight Savings Time changes.
Regardless of this seemly small one hour change in time, it can be a giant blow to the established Circadian Rhythm (body clock) — and a child's anticipated wake, meal, play, and sleep routines can be majorly affected. Each child is different, as are their sleep needs. Some children are simply not effected by the Daylight Savings change, while others definitely feel the disruption to their normal routine.
Here are a few tips for a smooth Daylight Savings transition that can be applied to children of all ages:
Adjust Gradually
Fall Back:
One week before the ‘fall back’, shift everything in your child's routine, delaying it by 10 minutes. Essentially, your whole day is adjusted 10 minutes later on the clock. This applies to nap timings, meals or feeds, and bedtime. If you are a parent who follows wake windows, those wake lengths between naps would stay the same.
Each day, increase the delay by 10 minutes more, until the routine has shifted by one full hour. If your child tends to be particularly sensitive to changes in routine, you can begin adjusting your schedule a few days earlier to help them more gradually acclimate.
For example, if your child has a morning wake time of 7am, they will wake at 6am after the “fall back”. So, in the week prior, your morning wake times would be:
Day 1 - 7:10am
Day 2 - 7:20am
Day 3 - 7:30am
Day 4 - 7:40am
Day 5 - 7:50am
Day 6 - 8:00am
Day 7/DST - 7:00am
Spring Forward:
Similarly, one week before the ‘spring forward’, shift everything in your child’s routine to be 10 minutes earlier on the clock. This applies to wake-up, nap timings, meals or feeds, and bedtime. If you are a parent who follows wake windows, those wake lengths between naps would stay the same.
Each day, increase the time by 10 minutes earlier, until the routine has shifted by one full hour. Again, If your child tends to be particularly sensitive to changes in routine, you can begin adjusting your schedule a few days earlier to help them more gradually acclimate.
For example, if your child has a morning wake time of 7am, they will wake at 8am after the “spring forward”. So, in the week prior, your morning wake times would be:
Day 1 - 6:50am
Day 2 - 6:40am
Day 3 - 6:30am
Day 4 - 6:20am
Day 5 - 6:10am
Day 6/DST - 7:00am
Stay Consistent
This can be a tricky time — and many parents find themselves making ‘temporary' changes to their strategies in the hope that it will get them and their child past whatever speed bump or difficulty they may be experiencing. All the while, keeping their fingers crossed that their child will simply fall back into a better routine or sleeping in their own cot naturally.
This, however, is often not the case, and parents frequently find themselves facing a whole new set of hurdles in an attempt to get their child back on track. Sleep struggles are most often improved when parents remain consistent. So, if you do decide to start contact napping — wonderful! I simply recommend parents be sure, before they begin, that any change they make is something they enjoy and is sustainable for everyone going forward.
Prioritize the First Nap
If you are the parent of a younger child who is taking 2 or more naps in a day, it is important to remember to prioritize that first daytime nap.
The first nap of the day is generally the ‘easiest' and most reliable nap for most children. That nap also tends to set the tone for the rest of the day. If the nap is delayed or missed, excess sleep pressure builds and causes over-tiredness. Over-tiredness causes the body to respond with an increased release of cortisol and adrenaline — both very stimulating and wakeful hormones. This release of hormones makes it difficult for sleep to happen. Once a child does eventually fall asleep, there is a chance that they won't sleep quite as long. This cycle tends to perpetuate throughout the day.
Bedtime Routine
Daylight Savings or no — I always recommend that every parent have a calming and consistent nap and bedtime routine. Consistent daily habits have a large effect on our circadian rhythms and the pre-nap/pre-bedtime routines are a critical part of that.
It is important that your nap and bedtime routines are simple enough that they can be done for each nap and bedtime and that they can be done by anyone who might be helping your little one to sleep.
I prefer to break the bedtime routine down into two parts:
Part 1) Things that must be done outside of the sleep space, such as: bath brushing teeth, etc.
Part 2) Things that must be done inside of the sleep space, such as: massage, pjs, sleep sack, book, song, or bed
This can be a game changer when it comes to helping your child wind-down for naps or bedtime. Breaking the routine into those two parts will help protect your child's wind-down period before sleep and will support the body's release of melatonin needed for sleep. Simply put, it is important that once you've entered the calming, dimly lit, sleep space, you can stay there. This helps avoid having to re-enter the lively, brighter spaces of your home and kick-starting the system of a little one who may have already been getting sleepy.
Light and Dark
Daylight is a major influencer of the circadian rhythm. Daylight cues our body to maintain wakeful hormone levels, whereas a dark or very dimly lit space, will encourage the body to produce the melatonin needed for sleep. Blackout curtains or blackout window films can be a wonderful tool to help your child's body settle easier when it is time to sleep, regardless of the light outside. Equally, this can be a great tool in protecting against early morning wake-ups caused by early daylight exposure.
Just as important as a dark room during sleep, lots of exposure to daylight during awake times is critical to the circadian rhythm. Be sure to open the blinds or bundle up and head outside to play! Good exposure to daylight supports the body's release of melatonin in the evening.
Prepare For Cold
During these chillier Autumn and Winter months, parents undoubtedly see an uptick in early morning wake-ups. You've already optimized the daytime routine or tried feeding at a different time — but, for some reason your little one is still waking! Truthfully, it could simply be the change in temperature.
In the evenings, because of our circadian rhythm, our bodies naturally become warmer. In the mornings, the body becomes colder. This change in temperature is a very common cause of early morning wakings and can often be avoided by dressing your little one for success! It is also important to remember that young babies can become overheated easily. So, be sure to check that your child is not too hot at bedtime and in the early hours of the night when the body is naturally warmer.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the ideal temperature for a baby's sleep space is 68-72ºF (20-22ºC) to protect against SIDS. This is also the ideal temperature for the release of melatonin.
Tips For Specific Ages:
0-4 Months:
At this age, your baby's sleep needs are still changing rapidly. It is important to pay close attention to their cues of sleep or hunger and respond promptly. They will acclimate to the change of time with comfort and consistency. This is an important time to guide your baby's developing circadian rhythm with Sleep Shaping (this is not ‘Sleep Training').
5-18 Months:
At this age, babies tend to have more structure and consistency in their routines. It is still important to be attentive to their cues, but it can be helpful to have a general or flexible timing of important circadian impacters throughout the day, such as: feedings, meals, nap and bedtime. This is definitely an age to have a solid bedtime routine established.
2-4 Years:
At this age, your child may or may not have a daytime nap. So, it is important to be prepared for an early bedtime as needed. Fortunately, toddlers tend to adjust to this change with more ease than young babies. Parents can often help their child adjust quickly to a change in Daylight Savings by altering their child's routine by 15 minutes every couple days. Though, if your toddler is very sensitive to changes in routine, you can try adjusting 10 minutes daily over the period of 1 week or longer for a more gradual acclimation.
Older Children:
Older children and teenagers are far more resilient to changes in routine than babies or toddlers. Parents often find that they may not need to change the schedule ahead of time at all. Though some still opt for a more gradual shift, altering the routine by 30 minutes a few days in advance.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: How long does it take for a baby or toddler to adjust to a Daylight Savings Time change?
Answer: As with any change to routine, adjusting to or from Daylight Savings is a process. Some infants and toddlers do very well with incremental daily adjustments and adapt rather quickly, while others struggle more and may need more time. If your child is struggling, take a breath, give them and yourself some grace. Change is hard for everyone. Your child may need a more gradual approach with changes happening every 2 days rather than daily adjustments.
Q: Do I have to adjust my baby or toddlers schedule or routine in advance?
Answer: The short answer is — no. You do not have to adjust your baby or child’s routine in advance. Some parents make little to no preparation for Daylight Savings changes and fare well. But, one hour can make a massive difference in a young baby or toddlers routine. When a child is suddenly being put into bed an hour earlier, their body is still functioning based on their pre-daylight savings circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm strongly promotes wakefulness right before bed, so — in short, you would be putting them in bed during the time their body is naturally fueling them to be awake.
Adjusting the routine a few days in advance can save everyone from a lot of tears, over-tiredness, difficult naps, and night or early morning wakings. I’m sure most parents would opt to avoid all of that entirely in exchange for a little preparation and planning.
Q: What if I missed the Daylight Savings change?
Answer: If you missed preparing for the Daylight Savings change — that’s okay! You can still use the tips in this post to get back on track! If your schedule allows, you can follow the gradual adjustment to help your little one transition more slowly. But, understandably, not everyone can accommodate that in their schedule. So, if you find yourself having to adjust overnight, you can use the rest of the tips in this post to guide you and your child to better sleep.
Q: What if my baby is struggling with sleep apart from the time change?
Answer: If your child is having difficulties with sleep, the best first step is to assess their routine. Most of what occurs throughout the night is affected by things that happen during the daytime and vice versa. It is important to be sure that your child is getting the amount of sleep that is right for their age and development. Beyond that, there are many details that significantly impact sleep.
As a Holistic Sleep Coach, there are a wide variety of contextual details that I take into account when customizing a sleep plan to support a family:
- Age, developmental stage of the child, and what is considered normal based on evidence
- The family context, including siblings, the wider family, parental health, and community
- Emotional, mental and physical health, anxiety and stress
- Nutrition, allergies, intolerances, feeding difficulties, and nutritional deficit
- Exercise, developmental play, daily routines, and sleep hygiene
- Sleep biology, cycles, and circadian rhythm
If you would like some support for a baby or child who is struggling with a change in Daylight Savings Time or is having other difficulties with sleep, you can contact me here to schedule a Discovery Call!
References
Kate McGraw, Ph.D., Robert Hoffmann, Ph.D., Chris Harker, Ph.D., John H. Herman, Ph.D., “The Development of Circadian Rhythms in a Human Infant”, Sleep, Volume 22, Issue 3, May 1999, Pages 303–310, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/22.3.303
Tsai, S.-Y., Lee, C.-C., Tsai, H.-Y., & Tung, Y.-C. (2022). “Bedtime routines and objectively assessed sleep in infants". Journal of Advanced Nursing, 78, 154– 164. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14968
Jodi A. Mindell, Christina I. Lee, Erin S. Leichman, Katie N. Rotella, “Massage-based bedtime routine: impact on sleep and mood in infants and mothers”, Sleep Medicine, Volume 41, 2018, Pages 51-57, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2017.09.010
Veronique Bach, Frederic Telliez, Karen Chardon, Pierre Tourneux, Virginie Cardot, Jean-Pierre Libert, Chapter 14 - “Thermoregulation in wakefulness and sleep in humans”, Handbook of Clinical Neurology, Elsevier, Volume 98, 2011, Pages 215-227, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-52006-7.00014-9
