For many parents, daylight savings time feels like the Kobayashi Maru* of sleep. Scientists have essentially ruled out the idea that daylight savings reduces energy use, and it may in fact lead to greater incidence of heart attacks and car accidents. The only undeniable outcome of daylight savings time is that it will muck up your child’s sleep and the fact that we still have it is unquestionable evidence that we’re all being punished for some transgression in a previous life.
(*Please forgive my uber-nerd reference there, my book editor has also reprimanded my use of nerdy references but I’m incorrigible.)
As we’re forced to slog through this bi-annual madness, I’ve put together some guidelines to help you navigate the daylight savings time (DST) gauntlet.
Spring Daylight Savings Time
Spring daylight savings means setting the clocks forward 1 hour, which effectively means you’re asking your child to go to sleep 1 hour earlier than they are used to.
Falling asleep 1 hour earlier than the norm is an almost impossible task. Our bodies are physically wired for wakefulness during the time leading up to sleep (it’s sometimes referred to as the forbidden sleep zone). Asking your child to fall asleep during this time is like asking them to cut your hair: guaranteed to end badly.
Luckily you can take 2 easy steps to avoid problems:
- Spread the time change across 4 days, shifting your child’s sleep earlier by 15 minutes a day. If your current schedule is sleeping 7:00 PM – 6:00 AM, start with 6:45 PM – 5:45 AM. This may mean waking your child up in the morning (I know, I KNOW!), as you need them waking up at the new target time, not their old normal time. Continue shifting sleep 15 minutes a day for 4 days, at which point your child’s post-DST sleep schedule should be the same as their pre-DST sleep schedule (ex. 7:00 PM – 6:00 AM clock time).
- Keep the lights dim in the hour prior to bedtime. This means no outside playtime, exposure to bright screens (TV, iPad, etc.), or bright indoor light for the hour leading into bedtime. Dim lights prior to bedtime will help your child’s hormonal regulatory system adjust to a more sleepy state.
For 90% of kids, spreading the change out and keeping the lighting low will downgrade Spring daylight savings from “terrible” to “mildly annoying.”
For the remaining 10%, Spring DST can actually be pretty great.
Some babies wake up at an uncivilized hour, say 4:00/5:00 AM. Parents of these early-risers can use Spring daylight savings to shift their child’s sleep out to a slightly less horrible time of 5:00/6:00 AM. Essentially you change the clocks forward but keep your child’s sleep schedule where it previously was. So a baby who previously slept from 7:00 PM – 5:00 AM continues to sleep 10 hours a night, however those 10 hours are falling on the post-DST clock time of 8:00 PM – 6:00 AM.
Alternately some babies go to bed quite early (say 6:00 PM) which prevents working parents from spending time with them in the evening. So keeping baby on their current schedule while changing the clocks can carve out an additional hour of baby play time at night!
The key to this strategy is to ensure that your child’s sleep environment is dark (especially in the morning). Light is a very powerful “time to wake” cue and even small amounts of light can keep your child waking up unreasonably early (leading to a 8:00 PM – 5:00 AM night which is the opposite of what you’re going for). Blackout blinds are a worthy investment. If that’s infeasible or insufficient, use masking tape to put aluminum foil up over your child’s windows. Yes this looks trashy but it is guaranteed to keep your child’s bedroom bat-cave dark (woo – more nerdliness!) and prevent sliding back to the previous too-early wake time.
Fall Daylight Savings Time
Fall back is the “good” daylight savings time because everything shifts later, and it is far easier to fall asleep 1 hour after your normal bedtime, than 1 hour prior. So while your child might be slightly overtired or fussy heading into bedtime, they shouldn’t have any major difficulties falling asleep.
Thus some of you may not need to do anything special to adjust to the time change – change the clocks, adjust your child’s bedtime/nap schedule according to the new clock time, and go about your business.
Most older babies (~8+ months) will do just fine adjusting to the new clock time without much hubub. Some kids might wake up early for a few days (essentially waking up at their “normal” morning time) leading to a 1 hour loss of sleep. So if your baby previously slept from 7:00 PM – 6:00 AM, they’re now going to bed at 7:00 PM (clock time, 8:00 PM body time) and sleeping till 5:00 AM (clock time, 6:00 AM body time) for a net loss of 1 hour. It can take a few days to adjust to this shift but most do fairly readily within a week.
If you’ve got a younger baby who can’t handle the extra hour of awake time prior to bedtime OR you’re concerned about the loss of 1 hour of sleep in the AM, you can make the time change more gradual (much as you do in the Spring, but in reverse). Move your child’s sleep schedule ahead 15 minutes a day across 4 days. So bedtime becomes 7:00, 7:15, 7:30, 8:00 PM, which by the post-DST clock is the “new” 7:00 PM. The same happens in the morning – 6:00, 6:15, 6:30, 7:00 AM (try to leave them in bed until your target wake-time if at all possible). In four days, your child has adjusted to the new daylight savings time.
Daylight Savings Time and Naps
Naps are generally more amenable to change so shuffling naps up/back is often less disruptive than the issues with falling asleep at bedtime. But here are some general guidelines that may help:
Child is < 6 months or nap is unpredictable
If your child is still napping based on how long they’ve been awake, because naps are generally unpredictable, then you continue to nap as normal (based on time since last sleep). Your child’s wake time will move based on the time change, and naps will organically shift up/back as a result.
Child is > 6 months or napping predictably
If your child is napping at set times (aka “by the clock) and you’ve decided upon simply changing the clocks and shifting your child’s sleep accordingly at night, then you would do the same thing for naps. Alternatively if you’ve elected to go the “15-minute a day” route, you would apply the same 15-minute shift to your child’s nap schedule.
In either scenario, all sleep (day and night) needs to shift in unison in order to avoid too long/too short periods of wakefulness during the day or prior to bedtime. So whichever strategy you use at bedtime (shifting sleep by 15 minutes or 1 hour) needs to happen for naps also.
Let’s consider an example, suppose it’s Fall daylight savings time and you’ve changed the clocks back 1 hour. Your 10-month-old child used to sleep from 7:00 PM – 6:00 AM and then nap at 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM. You decide to just change the clocks 1 hour to avoid the 4 day/15-minute shenanigans. So you’re putting your child to bed at 7:00 PM clock time (8:00 PM body time), with the hope that she’ll sleep till 6:00 AM clock time (7:00 AM body time). However kids often struggle to shift out their morning wake time so instead she wakes up at 5:15 AM clock time (6:15 AM body time, which may not feel awesome but is a positive step in the right direction).
You might be tempted to put her down for a nap early (say 8:15 AM vs. the target 9:00 AM), as she’ll likely be giving sleepy signs then as it’s close to the time her body is used to sleeping. So let’s assume that you do put her down for a nap at 8:15 AM, this will generally lead to her needing an earlier PM nap as well so the 1:00 PM nap shifts back to 12:15 PM. But now you’re back to her being awake too long prior to bedtime (because naps happened early), which is likely to lead to another early morning (overtired babies sleep poorly), which will lead to another day of too-early-naps, and the cycle continues.
While her body is used to napping at these times (remember we’ve changed the clocks ahead 1 hour), your goal is to help her body adjust to the new time, which means pushing for naps on the post-DST schedule of 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM.
Got any thoughts or questions about daylight savings time? Does anybody know how to change the dashboard clock in my car? Feel free to chime in below!
Next time I’m in VT I would totally change your dashboard clock. I have an innate gift. So as long as you can hold out until like 2021, you’re golden. Also, I’m sure your editor means well, but tell him/her that many of your readers LOVE that you reside in the Nerdery!
Cool Kathleen! So I’ll tell Mary (the editor) that you and I think nerdy references are fine and that I do NOT need to remove them 😉
Actually I hired her so I can totally just ignore her suggestion and have days where I’m like “obscure references are great!” and others where I’m like “this is all a terrible, terrible mistake” so who knows where things will be when the book comes out.
OK so 6 years till dashboard change (why are you coming to VT in 6 years and how is that you already KNOW you’ll be here in 6 years?!?!)
Hi Alexis,
My 11 month-old goes down at 7 and is up at 5 am, consistently. I’ve tried varying his bedtime, but – alas – he always wakes at 5. With Daylight Savings coming, I’m tempted to push him to an 8 pm – 6 am schedule, but 8 pm seems late for him/cuts into my time with my husband. I might try doing a scheduled awakening at 4:30/45 am to see if that works. Do you have any suggestions re: the 5 am wake-up?
THANK YOU!!!
There’s only so much you can do at this age sadly 🙁 Make sure there are no environmental cues (light, noise) that keep him locked into the 5 AM thing. Make sure he’s napping well (hard to do, but do the best you can). You might want to experiment with an EARLIER bedtime (especially if there is a gap longer than 4 hours between last nap and bedtime). And know that when he gets older you’ll likely be able to use a toddler alarm clock to possibly stretch 5 AM out to 5:30/6!
I have a similar problem with my 8.5 month old. I tried a earlier bedtime and it hasn’t really helped. In addition, we have continual crying at bedtime. Last night she cried for about 25 minutes and the night before it was 20 minutes. She was sleep trained at 5.5 months and still is crying every single night before bed. Last night,she started fussing the minute I shut her bedroom door. She knew bedtime was coming. Maybe she wasnt tired enough?! She napped a total of 2.5 hours yesterday and I usually have to cap her 2 naps (1.5 hours per nap) because if she gets too much sleep, then we have split nights. I know, Alexis, you mentioned good naps in your comment but what constitutes a ‘good’ nap? I feel like we are needing more awake time before bed so she is tired enough and *maybe* can push back that early wake time. Also, (I’m derailing, sorry!!) I feel like I am constantly changing and juggling what is ‘best’ for her sleep and it’s all a crapshoot that’s ISNT working. One night will be good, with less crying, then the next,she will be screaming her head off. I can’t figure out what I’m missing and which variable I need to adjust! I try to limit her naps because I want her to sleep at night and consolidate her sleep, but it isn’t happening. At the same time, she needs sleep, so… what’s a mom to do?!
I have a similar problem with my 8.5 month old. I tried a earlier bedtime and it hasn’t really helped. In addition, we have continual crying at bedtime. Last night she cried for about 25 minutes and the night before it was 20 minutes. She was sleep trained at 5.5 months and still is crying every single night before bed. Last night,she started fussing the minute I shut her bedroom door. She knew bedtime was coming. Maybe she wasnt tired enough?! She napped a total of 2.5 hours yesterday and I usually have to cap her 2 naps (1.5 hours per nap) because if she gets too much sleep, then we have split nights. I know, Alexis, you mentioned good naps in your comment but what constitutes a ‘good’ nap? I feel like we are needing more awake time before bed so she is tired enough and *maybe* can push back that early wake time. Also, (I’m derailing, sorry!!) I feel like I am constantly changing and juggling what is ‘best’ for her sleep and it’s all a crapshoot that’s ISNT working. One night will be good, with less crying, then the next,she will be screaming her head off. I can’t figure out what I’m missing and which variable I need to adjust! I try to limit her naps because I want her to sleep at night and consolidate her sleep, but it isn’t happening. At the same time, she needs sleep, so… what’s a mom to do?!
Ha! Love the kobayashi maru reference. Don’t take them out!
Ugh! I so needed this article about now! My 14 month old baby boy won’t sleep past 5:30 since DST and I’ve been at a loss as to what to do. Early mornings were my only time for myself so him waking early has been very stressful. But I’m confused as to exactly how shifting his sleep works…before DST his schedule was wake up at 6:30 and bedtime at 7 pm. So now that our clocks are pushed an hour ahead, do I put him to bed at 6:45 pm DST time? I still want him to sleep at 7 pm though and wake at 6:30 (of course, in unison with the time change), so how is putting him to sleep 15 min early for four days going to help to get him to sleep on the 6:30 am- 7 pm DST time? Won’t that mean he’s going to bed too early?
Help! I think my sleep-deprived 2.5YO child is setting world records for “most whiny child,” which leads mommy to want to set similar records with the good kind of wine. We’re 5ish nights into Daylight Saving Time, and my daughter, who used to fall asleep at 8p on the dot (in bed at 7:30p after lots of sleep cues) is now staying up until 8:45-9pm despite the fact that we’re following the same exact routine as we did pre-DST (and adding your tips from the article, with dim lighting the hour prior and the like). She doesn’t fuss or cry much–she just IS. NOT. SLEEPY. She talks and flips and flops and sings for OVER an hour and just doesn’t fall asleep. I’m a working mom, so I have to wake her up at 6:45a to leave the house, and her daycare runs a tight ship, with consistent naps from 12:30-2:30p every day. She’s not napping well this week at daycare (I’m guessing because she’s overtired), and she hardly seems like the same child because she’s so clingy and whiny during the day. Her daycare teacher has noticed the same behaviors. I’m at a loss. My 14 month old, on the other hand, has adjusted like a champ, so 1 out of 2 ain’t bad? Any advice before I make another trip to Costco for more wine? TIA!
This is what I’ve been looking for. Thanks for the article!
oye. help!
my almost 11 month old was the coolest napper around, until she wasn’t. her naps have diminished in length and she is flat out refusing to nap on some days. She used to nap around 2 hours in the morning (9-11) and 1.5-2 hrs in the afternoon (1:30-3/3:30). Morning naps are waking 10:15-10:30 now and afternoon is a fight, she skipped in a couple times, but is averaging an hour on these puppies. I dont.know.what.to.do! It feels terrible to just let her cry .. but is that the course here? Maybe just a tooth or some growing? any advice?
Have you tried going to just one nap per day?
Hi! My 5-month old was a champion sleeper until last week (we think it’s teething). He used to wake up at 7:30am after going to bed at 7pm with no waking in between…now I’m lucky to get him to sleep past 5:45am, even with Tylenol and Advil and Hyland’s teething gel (plus a few night awakenings in between). So for the DST adjustment, we’re trying the 15-minute increment thing…already started 2 days ago. Problem is, even if I can manage to leave him in the crib until at least 7am, he’s still sleepy and needs to nap after 2-2.5 hours. So by the time we get to the evening, he needs a nap around 1-1.5 hours before bedtime. I let him sleep because overtiredness is my enemy (I think…). Do you have any suggestions? PS His naps go by his tired-cues, not based on a schedule, but are approx every 2-2.5 hours. Lately there have been lots of crap naps but his usual is 1-1.5 hour naps.
Thanks!