Sleep Patterns affected by Travel and Daylight Savings Time Changes
by Dr. Brown
Change of time in the Spring and Fall can be a challenge for parents. Fall is harder and we get more calls then, mostly for children who were borderline sleepers and now are waking really early.
In the Fall we set our clocks back one hour losing “Daylight Saving Time”. Unfortunately, the children do not have switches to reset their “Solar Clocks” and they may take a few extra days to get used to it. The problem in the Fall comes in the early morning. A child who woke up at 6 AM now wakes at 5 AM. The early waking that was borderline for a parent becomes unbearable. However, the child now goes to bed one hour early.
In the Spring, they sleep one hour later in the morning so the 6 AM waker now wakes at 7 AM and I have not had a parent call about this. In the Spring they go to bed one hour later also and this can be a problem for some families too if their child was a very late to go to bed kind of kid.
You can see that the Fall generates the problem with the morning sleep in kids and the Spring has problems with the evening sleep patterns in kids.
The remedy is to reset the child’s clock by feeding and napping as close to the regular schedule as possible in the new time zone. If lunch was at noon, keep it at noon. If nap time was at 1 PM, keep it at 1 PM. In a few days the child will readjust to the new time. Some parents will anticipate the change in time, Spring and Fall, and begin to change the child’s sleep by 15 minutes a day for two days on either side of the official Sunday change. This works well too.
Fall suggestions:
On Friday, two days before the time changes to “fall back”, advance the child’s naps and meal times and bedtime by 15 minutes. If morning nap was at 10:00 make it 10:15 AM. If lunch was at 12:00 make it 12:15 PM. Nap, dinner, and bedtime also go 15 minutes later. Saturday schedule continues with morning nap at 10:30 AM, lunch at 12:30 PM, and afternoon nap, dinner and bedtime also go another 15 minutes later. Now you are half way there even before the clocks change that night. Sunday schedule move to morning nap at 9:45 AM( this is new time), lunch at 11:45 AM. Monday schedule is morning nap at 10:00 AM, lunch at Noon, afternoon nap, dinner and bedtime all reset back to the old schedule but on the new time!
Spring suggestions:
On Friday, two days before the time changes to “spring forward ”, subtract 15 minutes from the child’s naps and meal times and bedtime. You might also wake the child 15 minutes earlier Friday morning to begin the reset procedure. If morning nap was at 10:00 make it 9:45 AM. If lunch was at 12:00 make it 11:45 AM. Nap, dinner and bedtime also go 15 minutes earlier.Saturday schedule continues with morning nap at 9:30 AM, lunch at 11:30 AM, and afternoon nap, dinner and bedtime also go begin 15 minutes earlier. Wake your child 30 minutes earlier than the old schedule in the morning too. Now you are half way there even before the clocks change that night. Sunday schedule wake 15 minutes earlier than the old schedule (but on the new time) and move to morning nap to 10:15 AM( this is new time), lunch at 12:15 PM.Monday schedule is morning nap at 10:00 AM, lunch at Noon, afternoon nap, dinner and bedtime all reset back to the old schedule but on the new time!
Traveling with children to a different time zone:
This problem occurs when you go to a different time zone also, like traveling to New York or California. If you plan to be there a week, follow the same advice as above. If you are only going for a weekend you might simply keep the child’s schedule on Chicago time for eating and nap and bedtime and then the child will not have to adjust in a few days when they return either. Keeping regular nap and bedtime patterns on vacation makes for a more predictable mood in your child whom therefore may be more pleasant to be around when they are not crabby beyond belief!
Change of time in the Spring and Fall can be a challenge for parents. Fall is harder and we get more calls then, mostly for children who were borderline sleepers and now are waking really early.
In the Fall we set our clocks back one hour losing “Daylight Saving Time”. Unfortunately, the children do not have switches to reset their “Solar Clocks” and they may take a few extra days to get used to it. The problem in the Fall comes in the early morning. A child who woke up at 6 AM now wakes at 5 AM. The early waking that was borderline for a parent becomes unbearable. However, the child now goes to bed one hour early.
In the Spring, they sleep one hour later in the morning so the 6 AM waker now wakes at 7 AM and I have not had a parent call about this. In the Spring they go to bed one hour later also and this can be a problem for some families too if their child was a very late to go to bed kind of kid.
You can see that the Fall generates the problem with the morning sleep in kids and the Spring has problems with the evening sleep patterns in kids.
The remedy is to reset the child’s clock by feeding and napping as close to the regular schedule as possible in the new time zone. If lunch was at noon, keep it at noon. If nap time was at 1 PM, keep it at 1 PM. In a few days the child will readjust to the new time. Some parents will anticipate the change in time, Spring and Fall, and begin to change the child’s sleep by 15 minutes a day for two days on either side of the official Sunday change. This works well too.
Fall suggestions:
On Friday, two days before the time changes to “fall back”, advance the child’s naps and meal times and bedtime by 15 minutes. If morning nap was at 10:00 make it 10:15 AM. If lunch was at 12:00 make it 12:15 PM. Nap, dinner, and bedtime also go 15 minutes later. Saturday schedule continues with morning nap at 10:30 AM, lunch at 12:30 PM, and afternoon nap, dinner and bedtime also go another 15 minutes later. Now you are half way there even before the clocks change that night. Sunday schedule move to morning nap at 9:45 AM( this is new time), lunch at 11:45 AM. Monday schedule is morning nap at 10:00 AM, lunch at Noon, afternoon nap, dinner and bedtime all reset back to the old schedule but on the new time!
Spring suggestions:
On Friday, two days before the time changes to “spring forward ”, subtract 15 minutes from the child’s naps and meal times and bedtime. You might also wake the child 15 minutes earlier Friday morning to begin the reset procedure. If morning nap was at 10:00 make it 9:45 AM. If lunch was at 12:00 make it 11:45 AM. Nap, dinner and bedtime also go 15 minutes earlier.Saturday schedule continues with morning nap at 9:30 AM, lunch at 11:30 AM, and afternoon nap, dinner and bedtime also go begin 15 minutes earlier. Wake your child 30 minutes earlier than the old schedule in the morning too. Now you are half way there even before the clocks change that night. Sunday schedule wake 15 minutes earlier than the old schedule (but on the new time) and move to morning nap to 10:15 AM( this is new time), lunch at 12:15 PM.Monday schedule is morning nap at 10:00 AM, lunch at Noon, afternoon nap, dinner and bedtime all reset back to the old schedule but on the new time!
Traveling with children to a different time zone:
This problem occurs when you go to a different time zone also, like traveling to New York or California. If you plan to be there a week, follow the same advice as above. If you are only going for a weekend you might simply keep the child’s schedule on Chicago time for eating and nap and bedtime and then the child will not have to adjust in a few days when they return either. Keeping regular nap and bedtime patterns on vacation makes for a more predictable mood in your child whom therefore may be more pleasant to be around when they are not crabby beyond belief!