On Sunday, don’t forget to change your clocks back by one hour for daylight saving time. We know, it totally stinks and it’s going to mean a week of crappy sleep for you and your kids ahead but stick with us because we’ve got some great advice to help you wean your kids off of summer daylight time and on to winter daylight time.
Start changing your habits today
Get your kids to bed early tonight by twenty minutes. Don’t expect them to go right to sleep but do expect to sit and read an extra story and have some quiet downtime. By starting to go to bed at an earlier time now you can get your kids ready for the right bedtime at your house within a few days of time, hopefully making next week easier when it comes to the morning school rush. Tomorrow night shoot for 40 minutes and then Sunday night try for a full hour early.
In the spring, aim for starting a full week ahead of time so that you can wean your kids by smaller increments like, say, 15 minutes instead of 20.
Brace yourself for earlier than planned mornings
There is no way around it, kids will wake up early for a few days and it’s not really their fault. After all, they’ve been trained to sleep and wake at a certain time and now that the clocks are being set back it will mess up their natural sleep patterns. Ask your kids to stay in bed but allow them to read a book or even play with a quiet game. By reinforcing that the start of the day time has shifted a bit, they will quickly relearn when to wake up.
Remember, they really will eventually sleep
Although it may feel like a ridiculous and unnecessary ritual that parents have to go through twice a year, just know that as frustrating as it may feel, your kids really will get back on track before you know it.
For more tips on sleeping habits and problems in babies and kids, check out these other helpful articles like figuring out how sleep kids really need, finding foolproof ways to get everyone to sleep soundly, and even ways to maximize your baby’s sleep experience.
