Your Daylight Savings Time Survival Kit: Conquer The Upcoming Week!
Maybe you’ve just gotten your sleep routine down with your baby - and then Daylight Savings Time reared its ugly head and everyone’s internal clock is off. Don’t stress - the upcoming week is one of transition and can be made just a bit easier with our tips for returning to your normal (or finding a normal) sleep routine:
Keep Nighttime Sleep Environments Dark
Creating a conducive sleep environment is crucial to helping your baby become sleepy. One of the greatest ways to achieve this with the later sunset is by creating a dark, encouraging environment. Invest in black out curtains for your windows to keep the room nice and dark. Other than white noise, keep noises and excitement at bedtime to a minimum.
Stick to Bedtime Routines
While you may be tempted to push bedtime back due to the time change, try to vary it as little as possible. No, your baby might not be as sleepy the first night or so, but keeping to a routine during the day and night, along with incorporating a bedtime routine that includes the same pattern of activity encourages cues to your infant that it’s time to settle down for the night. The routine might take a bit longer the first few nights of the upcoming week, but consistency will have your little one restful sooner rather than later.
Avoid Letting Your Little One Become Overtired
As tempting as it was to skip naps today with my own toddlers sleeping ‘in’ a bit with the time change, I persisted in our nap times. The more tired a child is prior to bedtime, the harder it is for their internal clock to adjust. If your baby takes a nap at 1:00 routinely, attempt nap time at the ‘new’ 1:00. While your child may not nap the first few days, the routine of approaching rest will make bedtime easier.
Get Sleep Yourself
As tempting as it may be to stay up and catch up on Netflix, try to avoid staying up late the first few nights this week to avoid becoming overtired yourself. It’s always harder to parent when you’re exhausted, and losing an hour? It sucks. Be kind to yourself and use this opportunity to rest and look forward to the longer daylight hours!
The good news about Daylight Savings Time? We don’t have to deal with this crap until Fall again! By that time, hopefully, we’ll all be adjusted - and hopefully you can save these tips for that fall back period when the nights become darker and bright eyed and bushy tailed children wake up earlier!