Daylight Savings - Fall Back!

Daylight Savings Time! — Fall Back

Have you ever wondered if there was some way to avoid the crankiness the day after the time change? Whether it’s a spring forward or fall back, it’s a mini time change which confuses our internal clock and takes some time to get used to.

Will something bad happen if you don’t do anything? Absolutely not. 

Will there be lasting negative effects if you don’t do anything? Nope. 

Will it make things a little easier on your babe if you transition things? Yes. 

Doing things in gradual steps is always a good option instead of just going cold turkey. That philosophy definitely applies to getting ready for daylight savings. Now this method works, because instead of your baby all of a sudden going to bed 1 hour early and being confused and tired, they gradually go to bed later so they don’t really notice the difference and BAM, everything is back to normal.

This November 7th 2021, we will “fall back” 1 hour (gaining one hour). 7pm will be 6pm new time, so when the 7pm new time rolls around it will actually feel like 8pm. I KNOW IT’S CONFUSING 

So here is the game plan if you want to try it. *I am putting this out early because there are a couple different options and depending which one you want to do, you can start a little earlier in the week.*

Plan #1  “Slow and steady start”

This one is very gradual, so you could start this 1 week ahead of time. If you can’t start for another couple days, no worries this can still be effective if you start at least by Thursday. The plan is:

— you are simply pushing wake time, naps and bedtimes 10 minutes LATER every day. Very small increments each day until you reach your end-goal schedule by the last day- so when we move back 1 hour, the next day’s schedule is no problem :) How much you move each day will depend on how many nights you give yourself. Wake windows we want to stay the same.

If you give yourself the whole week… you move bedtime each night by 10 minutes. Here is an example:

If you give yourself from Wednesday-Sunday instead, you just bump all these times a little bit later each night.

Plan #2 “Go with the flow”

This option is great for people with older children and allows you to forget about the time change and just go with the flow of the new times. This option only works for some families because it requires a certain level of schedule flexibility throughout the day. Your child will wake up an hour earlier and go to bed an hour earlier. Here is an example:

Plan #3 “Split the Difference” 

This is a faster version of option #1 if you don’t have all week to gradually move schedules and only want to work over the weekend!

So Saturday you do your normal schedule, Sunday you wake your babe half an hour later (it’ll look like half an hour earlier). Then if you keep wake windows the same, everything else through the day shifts, with a half an hour later bedtime. Then the next day, you stick to your old schedule times (even though they are an hour earlier). This gives your babe some time to adjust but it’s not as drawn out as option #1.

Conclusion

So now, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t end up doing any of this. Obviously the jet lag effects don’t last super long, we get used to it and so will your child. These are just some options if you feel like trying it out. Message me if you have any questions about any of these options, I am more than happy to guide you through.

Friendly reminder!

Time changes are like any other change that will effect sleep -- they can cause frustrations and tension. Be kind to yourself, and have patience with yourself and your family. Once everyone’s schedule and routines get back into the swing of things it will all fall back into place. I promise.

I hope you have a great rest of your week, and I hope you find this helpful as we get closer to the switch!

-Marina