This upcoming weekend is the end of Daylight Savings Time where we will be falling back an hour,and all the people who aren’t parents will rejoice in unison as they will get an extra hour of sleep. For the rest of us, the babies and kiddos will be very confused as to why no one is awake at 5:30am and we will be sad as we will be up then, too. Here’s a quick summary of how to adjust your child’s sleeping gradually before the time change happens.

For babies/toddlers who are napping:

Starting on Thursday, put them down for their first nap 15minutes later. Do the same with their second nap (if they’re on a 2 nap schedule) and with bedtime.

On Friday, put them down for their first nap 30 minutes later. Do the same with their second nap, if applicable, and with bedtime.

On Saturday, put them down for their first nap 45mins later, same for the second nap and then bedtime.

By Sunday they will be almost adjusted and on time! Yippee!

Here’s an example of times:

If your child usually wakes for the day at 6:30am, naps at 8:30am, naps at 12:30, and then bedtime at 6:30, your schedule on Thursday would be wake at 6:45am, nap at 8:45am, nap at 12:45pm, bedtime at 6:45pm.

For Older Children who don’t nap:

Just go cold turkey! Let them get up and good to bed on their usual schedule. They will adjust naturally within a few days.

Good Luck everyone! As always, if you need help with getting your child and yourself some sleep please look into our NiteNite Sleep Services. We deal with all ages/stages, and you don’t have to be local to us to use these services as they can be done completely electronically and require no in-person visitation.