You can start tomorrow - yup you read that right.
It’s that dreaded time of the year again. On Sunday, 3rd of April, Daylight Saving will end (Syd, AU). As adults, it takes us a few days to a week or so to adjust particularly with losing 1 hour. With Kids, however, it can take 1-2 weeks. When Daylight Saving ends, little ones tend to wake up at their old times, which is an hour earlier. This can be 6am or 5am for some, and if this is you then keep reading as I have some strategies that you can use to transition your little one to the new time as seamlessly as possible to maintain your current wake-up time.
If you are reading this well in advance then there are some options. Choose what will work best for your child based on their age, temperament and flexibility of your family schedule.
Regardless of the approach you choose, having an established routine/schedule will make it easier to adjust. It’s common for children to still wake up earlier initially. However, try to not let them start the day until their regular wake-up time. This can usually last for a few days or longer until their body adjusts. Gro-clocks are great for older children to help them understand when they can get up to start the day.
Gradual Approach:
This works well for younger children/or for little ones that are more sensitive to schedule changes or children that are waking up too early anyway.
First step is to push the first nap of the day 15 minutes later. Subsequently moving all naps and bedtime 15 minutes later. This also means moving all milk feeds/solids to 15 minutes later as well. It's important to keep you little on this same awake window (15 min later) for the rest of the day to help shift the day. If your little one is extra sensitive then keep him/her on this different time change for 1 or 2 days before making any further changes.
Then the next day shift the first nap by another 15 minutes, and so on, until you have shifted by 1 hour. You can start this change as early as tomorrow or next week depending on how slowly you want to make the shift. If you prefer to start next week then start on Wednesday. For example, if your little one's wake up time is 7am, then keep him/her in cot/bed till 7.15am with a 7.15pm bedtime. Day 2-Thur (7.30am start pushing the whole day by 30 mins), day 3-Fri (7.45am), day 4-Sat (8am). So by Sunday your little one will be ideally on a 7am wake up (new time).
“On the day” Approach:
This works for older children/or for little ones that tend to adjust to changes fairly easily.
This approach means shifting the entire schedule by 60 minutes. So nap times will be 1 hour later and feeding milk/solids as well as bedtime.
Then the next day the first nap will be on your child’s regular schedule for naps, meals, and bedtimes according to the new time.
This approach does mean that your child is awake for an extra hour that day. Watch your child, as sometimes they can get overtired easily and may need to go down 15 mins earlier than their normal time, but as close to their schedule time is best. Allow for a few days to a week for your child to adjust to this new time and monitor for over-tiredness.
If you do find that your child is struggling with “on the day” approach, you can still take the gradual approach from the day forward, just means that it will take a little longer.
For more support and guidance, please contact me via whatsApp on 0490 022 371 or babysleepfairy@gmail.com
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