Daylight savings- it's coming!
Yes, this daylight savings change means that summer is on
it's way! On the last Sunday of September the clocks will be going FORWARDS
which means we get more sunshine hours in our day.
In terms of sleep, for that day when the clocks change it
means that we will lose 1 hour of sleep for and will be doing things one hour
'later' that day. This can be a little tricky to navigate for our little ones.
The clocks will be going forwards one hour at 2am, so that instantly
becomes 3am.
For those who wake up super early, it can help because your
normal 5.30am wake up will now be 6.30am however it does mean that the rest of
the day can be out. Breakfast time hunger that normally hits at 7am will now be
8am and may not fit into the daily routine; tiredness for bedtime at 7pm will
now be tiredness at 8pm etc.
So how do we smooth out the routine and timing so things
fall into place easily? You can approach day light savings in one of three
different ways (or a combination of the approaches).
- proactively- starting before the clocks change,
- reactively- making changes after the clocks go forwards, or
- meeting it in the middle.
When you choose an approach to take you’ll need to consider
how this affects other aspects of your family life like day care and school
pick up/drop offs, getting to work on time and other commitments through the
week. I.e., it will be hard to try rearranging nap or meal times 10
minutes earlier if day care have a set routine that they use for all children.
Here are examples of the three approaches working on a ‘normal’ routine of: wake up 7am, morning tea 9.30am, lunch 11am, nap 12.30pm, wake 2.30pm, dinner 5pm, bath 6pm, bed 7pm
The proactive approach:
In the week or so leading up to the daylight savings change, begin shifting your normal routine 10-15 minutes EARLIER each day. You’ll need to do this to every aspect of the daily routine, so start with wake up times but also alter meal times, nap times and bedtime. This will help your child (and your own) circadian rhythm begin to shift onto the new time.
For example: if your child currently wakes at 7am:
Monday- (one week before daylight savings)- wake at 6.50am,
morning tea 9.20am, lunch 10.50am, nap 12.20pm, wake 2.20pm, dinner 4.50pm,
bath 5.50pm, bedtime 6.50pm
Tuesday- wake at 6.40am, morning tea 9.10am, lunch 10.40am,
nap 12.10pm, wake 2.10pm, dinner 4.40pm, bath 5.40pm, bedtime 6.40pm
Wednesday- wake at 6.30am, morning tea 9.10am, lunch 10.30am,
nap 12pm, wake 2pm, dinner 4.30pm, bath 5.30pm, bedtime 6.30pm
Thursday- wake at 6.20am, morning tea 9am, lunch 10.20am,
nap 11.50am, wake 1.50pm, dinner 4.20pm, bath 5.20pm, bedtime 6.20pm
Friday- wake at 6.10am, morning tea 8.50am, lunch 10.10am,
nap 11.40am, wake 1.40pm, dinner 4.10pm, bath 5.10pm, bedtime 6.10pm
Saturday- wake at 6am, morning tea 8.40am, lunch 10am, nap 11.30am,
wake 1.30pm, dinner 4pm, bath 5pm, bedtime 6pm
Sunday (clocks have gone forwards)- wake at new 7am, morning
tea 9.30am, lunch 11am, nap 12.30pm, wake 2.30pm, dinner 5pm, bath 6pm, bedtime
7pm
The Reactive Approach:
In the week after the clocks have gone forwards you will start to adjust the routine forwards by 10-15 minute LATER each day so by the end of the first week things are back to their normal timing.
For example, if your child is currently waking at 7am the
clock change will now wake them at 8am.
Sunday (first day of daylight savings)- wake at 8am, morning
tea 10.30am, lunch 1.30pm, wake 3.30pm, dinner 6pm, bath 7pm, bedtime 8pm
Monday- 7.50am, morning tea 10.20am, lunch 11.50am, nap
1.20pm, wake 3.20pm, dinner 5.50pm, bath 6.50pm, bedtime 7.50pm
Tuesday- wake 7.40am, morning tea 10.10am, lunch 11.40am,
nap 1.10pm, wake 3.10pm, dinner 5.40pm, bath 6.40pm, bedtime 7.40pm
Wednesday- wake 7.30am, morning tea 10am, lunch 11.30am, nap
1pm, wake 3pm, dinner 5.30pm, bath 6.30pm, bedtime 7.30pm
Thursday- wake 7.20am, morning tea 9.50am, lunch 11.20am,
nap 12.50pm, wake 2.50pm, dinner 5.20pm, bath 6.20pm, bedtime 7.20pm
Friday- wake 7.10am, morning tea 9.40am, lunch 11.10am, nap
12.40pm, wake 2.40pm, dinner 5.10pm, bath 6.10pm, bedtime 7.10pm
Saturday- wake 7am, morning tea 9.30am, lunch 11am, nap
12.30pm, wake 2.30pm, dinner 5pm, bath 6pm, bedtime 7pm
Meeting it in the middle:
With this approach you can wake up on Sunday morning after the clocks have gone forwards and move your earlier routine by ~30 minutes for 3-4 days. Keeping it this way for a couple of days will help the body clocks adjust and then you can shift things again by the end of the week.
For example:
Sunday (first day of daylight savings): wake 7.30am new time
(6.30am old time), morning tea 9am, lunch 10.30am, nap 11.30am, wake 2pm,
dinner 4.30pm, bath 5.30pm, bedtime 6.30pm
Wednesday (back to normal timing): wake 7am, morning tea 9.30am,
lunch 11am, nap 12.30pm, wake 2.30pm, dinner 5pm, bath 6pm, bedtime 7pm
Actually there is a 4th approach- JUST LET THINGS BE!
If you don’t feel up to adjusting, tweaking and changing routines and times then just let things be. Wake up on Sunday morning to the new time and run the day off the normal clock times. It may take a few days for your body clocks to adjust to being hungry and tired at different times but it will eventually work itself out and this can be less stressful for those families who just don’t work with clock watching and strict routines.
If your current routine isn’t working for your child and family, consider how the change in clocks can work in your favour. If your little one is waking earlier than you’d like then use this to your advantage- use the reactive approach so their 5.30am wakes now become 6.30am wakes and then adjust their meal times and nap times to fall into a better routine for everyone. If you find that your normal bedtimes are too late and you’d ideally like the earlier then use a proactive approach, begin moving bedtime earlier and adjust the meal, nap times and wake up times to suit better.
Get in touch if you have specific questions about your child
and family routines and how you can use day light savings to make things work
better for you all. Once you have a plan in place then I promise the change in
clocks + children won’t be that scary.