If you are a parent, you know exactly what I am talking about. I remember being young and enjoying the Fall Daylight Saving Time (DST) where I would get an extra hour of partying and/or sleep. This coming DST is actually the end of the daylight saving time period after the clock was advanced one hour for the summer months and it is technically called “falling back” since we move the clocks back by 1 hour. Look for a post related to that DST next year!
Then came the days of residency, followed by parenthood. You definitely don’t want to be on call on the day that adds an extra hour to your already 24+ hour work day but I still think it pales in comparison of either DST day and how it affects young children. If you happen to be a parent and a resident at the same time, then G-d bless you, I am not sure how you made it.
Every year for the last 5 years, I remember this day is coming and try to plan for it. Inevitably, I forget about it until it is too late to implement any type of “plan” and then I panic about how my children will react. This is usually followed by a couple of weeks of surviving whatever sleep routine the children decide to do until it all goes back to normal due to sheer exhaustion.
This year, I thought I could put it on my content spreadsheet for the blog, thus forcing myself to actually put a plan in place. I get asked about sleep routines and sleep problems a lot as a pediatric neurologist, but this is usually in the context of neurological disorders like seizures, autism spectrum disorder, or chronic migraines.
For this blog post, I wanted to review a little bit of what is out there on the Internet and curate some tips to ease the pain that is DST. This year it falls on November 7, so we still have time to do something! Remember, clocks get set back at 2 AM. Luckily, smartphones will do this on their own.
Tip #1
Most experts agree that you should try to move the bed time by some amount of time anywhere starting 2 weeks to 3 days prior to DST. Dr. Craig Canapari suggests to move your child’s bed time later (for example from 8 to 8:30 PM) for the 3 days prior and then move it back to the regular time once DST is here. If your children are like mine, this may be hard to do (bed time starts at 8:30 PM) but I think we can suck it up for 3 days. Other people suggest moving the time by 10-15 minutes later each day over a longer period of time (every few days over 1-2 weeks) but the idea is the same.
Tip #2
Adjust the rest of your child’s routine, including nap times, snacks, bath times, etc. You can follow the same pattern of adjusting the times by 10-15 minutes increments.
Tip #3
You can also choose to do nothing and adjust to your child’s earlier bed time and wake up time. I have to admit this is what we usually do but I enjoy that my children wake up around 8 AM on the weekend (they have to get woken up during the week for school at 7:30AM) and would like to keep it that way. I imagine it is even more painful if your child already wakes up around 6-6:30 AM but doing nothing is always a possibility! Or you may even be happy about the change if it means your child will go to sleep a little bit earlier than they usually do.
Tip #4
Adjust after the time change. If your child is now going to bed an hour earlier than he or she did before and waking up an hour earlier, then you would start shifting the start of bed time and nap time by 10-15 minutes later every few days until they are back to the desired time. For example, if they go to bed at 6:30 PM now instead of 7:30 PM, you would go to 6:45 PM for a few days, then 7 PM, until you get back to the bed time that works for your family.
Tip #5
I can’t end a blog post without a reminder to also take care of yourself. You will likely be exhausted if your littles are waking up earlier than usual and will feel tired if you now leave work when it is dark out. Bright lights can help adjust your brain to not wanting to go to bed as soon as it gets dark (remember the circadian rhythm?) but then also remember to wind down when you actually want to go to sleep.
Everyone’s child is different. The Internet is full of advice to do something ahead of time, or during the actual weekend when time changes, to wait until afterwards, or to do nothing. That is why I wanted to list all the options. There is no single right answer and you know your child best.
Hope this is helpful. Feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any specific questions about your specific situation. This too shall pass!
