Helping Babies and Children Adapt to Daylight Saving

As an adult it can take a few days to get used to the new times once the clocks change in the winter. The mornings have long since needed to be a little lighter, but this means that the evenings are much darker from about 5pm. Whilst grown-ups can adjust pretty quickly to the hour shift in time, it can throw children out of sync for much longer, confused that they are up past dark of an evening. A lot of kids will just fall asleep earlier, and then be unable to switch off when it is their actual bedtime. Here are some tips to help make sorting your family’s body clocks much easier.

Tea-time

You may want to bring your children’s dinner time forward an hour or so. With the darker evenings they are likely to feel sleepier earlier, and are less likely to want to eat a proper meal when tired. By moving it forward a little you can make sure they have a full tummy ready for a proper night’s sleep. After tea-time make sure that they don’t fall asleep too soon - this will throw your whole routine out the window, as they then won’t settle when it’s bed time.

Sleep

If your little ones have had a nap during the day, or have fallen asleep before their bedtime, then you may find it a little difficult to settle them when bedtime rolls around. Try a traditional bath, story and bed routine to relax them, and make sure they have everything they need to settle. As it is now so dark of an evening, you might like to offer your little one a nightlight or leave their door ajar so their room is not so black. For babies you might like to try a baby mobile to soothe, and let them know that it is definitely time to snooze. They should soon be drifting off, transfixed by the motion.

Mornings

The mornings after the clocks change are much lighter, and, depending on your morning routine, this could mean your little ones are awake earlier than they need to be. Investing in blackout blinds is a must - if not for the winter, then certainly for the light evenings of the summer. This way the sun does not dictate when your child wakes, giving you a fighting chance of maintaining a routine through changing seasons. If your kids are a little older, then explain that they must wait until you say to get up and that the sunrise doesn’t mean it’s time to rise and shine!

Daylight saving time can cause bigger routine problems than simply loosing or gaining an hour. Work out ways you can keep things as close to schedule as possible during the transition period to give your family a fighting chance of keeping sleep and awake time as they should be.

Disclaimer: Post in collaboration with Kira Browdy

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mararie/