I’m sharing this helpful information from Dr. Angelique Millette, Family Sleep Consultant, Parent Coach, and creator of The Millette Method™
Dear Parents,
With the time change approaching, I have received many emails and phone calls from parents asking how they can help their babies, and toddlers transition to the new time without upsetting their child’s sleep.
Starting Sunday Nov. 6th, clocks will be set back one hour for daylight savings time. Often called “fall back,” we can count on sunset starting at approximately 5pm and sunrise starting at approximately 6am.
You can help your child by starting to adjust their internal clock/circadian rhythm ahead of the time change on Sunday. Starting the Tuesday night before daylight savings time, begin to put your child down 10 minutes later for bed. You can do this by comforting, singing, reading a book, and starting the bedtime ritual/routine 10 minutes later. Do this for the rest of the week, so when the time change does happen, your child will have slowly adjusted to the new time.
If your child’s bedtime is 7pm, it will look like this:
Tues 7:10pm bedtime
Wed. 7:20pm bedtime
Thurs. 7:30pm bedtime
Fri. 7:40pm bedtime
Sat. 7:50pm bedtime
Sun. 7pm bedtime (new time- old time will be 8pm)
You may notice that your little one may start yawning at 5 or 6pm. Alternatively, you may notice that your little one is waking up earlier, at 6am or earlier. You can take the time to darken up your child’s room with darkening drapes, or shades, to help them to sleep a little later.
Also, you can take this time to make some schedule/routine adjustments, for example if your child is a “night owl,” you may decide to keep their bedtime the same without using the “10-minute later” time adjustment. So, if your baby goes to bed at 9pm, their new bedtime will be 8pm. Do be sure to darken your child’s room to reduce morning light. You can use any of the various Millette Method™ sleep methods to delay going to your child later and later each morning.
It takes about a week for a child to adjust to the new time. Your little one may be a bit cranky, or seem more tired than usual. I recommend trying to stick to the typical daytime schedule with a small window of adjustment for naps. You can be somewhat flexible and offer a nap 5-30 min earlier. Exposure to sunlight will help with the time change adjustment so plan on outdoors playtime every day in the weeks following the time change. I recommend morning and afternoon time outdoors when possible to help with the circadian rhythm adjustment.
If you are struggling with early morning waking in the weeks after the time change, please reach out to our office for additional options for support. Sleep Well!
Dr. Angelique Millette
Family Sleep Consultant, Parent Coach, and creator of The Millette Method™
