When you were 25, the “fall-back” time change meant an extra hour to stay out at night, or an extra hour to sleep in on a Sunday. Pure bliss. But when you have a baby, the excruciating 5 a.m. wake-ups you were dealing with before daylight saving time are suddenly unbearable, with your kid up for the day at 4 a.m. Something’s gotta give.
If you didn’t plan ahead and gradually adjust your schedule last week, don’t panic?there are a few things you can do starting on Day 1 if you didn’t prepare at all.
Now, let?s get their sleep (and yours!) back on track. Here are some tried-and-true strategies I use with clients.
Start low and slow
Putting your child to bed later than they’re used to may result in some undesirable bedtime behaviour, like tantrums and meltdowns or wired kids who are bouncing off the walls. Remember, although it says 7 p.m. on the clock, it still feels like they’re going to bed at 8 p.m., so you may want to inch slowly towards their newly-adjusted bedtime. You can start by choosing something in the middle: put your kiddo to bed at around 6:30 p.m. on the clock (which will feel like 7:30 to them) for the first three or four days, and then gradually work toward a 7 p.m. bedtime if you find they?re handling the change well. Don?t forget to adjust your nap schedule, too
The same goes for their nap schedule. If your baby’s first nap is typically around 9:30 a.m., you may want to offer 9 a.m. naps temporarily. ...