Adjusting your sleep schedule can be tough, and helping your kids do the
same (whether for daylight saving time, back-to-school, or any other life
changes) can feel even more challenging. But with the right approach, it’s
possible to make these transitions easier for you and your children.
Establishing a healthy sleep routine
A well-established sleep routine can make adjusting to time changes and
back-to-school schedules much easier. According to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), children need the following amounts of sleep:
• Three-to-five-year-olds need 10 to 13 hours of sleep, including naps
• Six-to-ten-year-olds need nine to 12 hours of sleep.
• 13-to-17-year-olds need eight to 10 hours of sleep.
The quality of their sleep is just as important as the number of hours your
child gets. To help them sleep better:
• Keep a
consistent wake-up, mealtime, and bedtime schedule (even on weekends).
• Have a routine
that they follow to help them get ready for bed.
• Encourage
physical activity after school, but not after dinner.
• Limit caffeine intake
(based
on your child’s age) and don’t allow them to have sugary foods and
drinks close to bedtime.
• Reduce screen time at least an hour before bed.
• Keep their room dark and cool at night and let in plenty of natural light in
the morning.
Making gradual adjustments
Whether you’re adjusting for daylight saving time or the start of the school
year,
gradual changes work best.
Adjusting for time changes
For babies and toddlers, move bedtime forward or backward by 15 minutes
every other night starting eight days before the time change. This strategy
gives them a little more than a week to adjust.
For older children, move their bedtime by 15 minutes each day
starting on the Wednesday
before the time change to help them more easily adjust. Shifting mealtimes
and evening routines along with their sleep schedule can also help with the
transition.
Managing light and darkness
Even if you adjust sleep schedules gradually, changes in daylight can still
be disruptive.
When Daylight Savings Time begins in the spring, it may still be dark out
when your child wakes up. To help adjust for this, turn on the lights in
their room and let as much sunlight in as soon as your child wakes up. You
also can buy a sunlight alarm clock or a
sun nursery lamp
to simulate natural morning sunlight. And if the weather allows, spending
time outside in the morning with your kids can help reset their internal
clock.
When Daylight Saving Time ends in the fall, it will get dark earlier. That
may cause your child to feel sleepy too soon. To help them stay awake until
it’s time for bed, keep your house well lit. To prevent early morning
wake-ups due to the sun coming up earlier, use blackout curtains. If they do
wake up too early, delay breakfast until their normal mealtime to help
reinforce their schedule.
Transitioning back to a school-year schedule
The same strategies that help kids adjust to daylight saving time can also
make the transition back to school easier.
If they’ve been staying up late during summer break, start adjusting their
sleep schedule one to two weeks before school starts. Also make sure they’re
not doing
anything that involves a lot of physical activity
for two hours before their bedtime.
For the first few weeks after your child goes back to school, avoid letting
them sleep in on weekends. That will just make returning to their fall
schedule harder for them.
Remember…
Whether you’re adjusting your child’s sleep for daylight saving time or the
start of the school year, don’t feel guilty about it. Children adapt
quickly, and these small adjustments will only help them to feel better in
the long run.
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