Has your child recovered from Daylight Saving Time? Have you?
Before Daylight Saving Time ended Sunday morning, Levi would sleep until 6:30 AM or so, but every morning this week he’s been waking up at 5:30 AM. I’ve had to sneak into his room to retrieve the pacifiers that fell on the floor and reposition him on his tummy so he’ll fall asleep for another hour. I’m grateful I get to go back to bed, but I’d rather I didn’t have to get up at all!
How long does it typically take a toddler to transition back to Standard Time?
Besides messing up Levi’s sleep schedule, I hate Daylight Saving Time because it means the start of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). I’m not sure I’ve ever been clinically diagnosed with SAD, but I definitely suffer from many of the symptoms during the winter months: loss of energy, social withdrawal and difficulty concentrating. My mom bought me a light therapy lamp
But really, how could you not feel depressed when it’s nearly pitch black outside at 6pm? And it’s not only dark, it’s cold! Ugh, if my entire family didn’t live on the East Coast, I’d move to some place like San Diego in a heartbeat. I think I’d be a much happier person overall if fall and winter were just eliminated from my existence all together!
How are you handling the time change?
{photos of Levi taken this past weekend when all three of us were sick with a stomach virus}
I feel your pain! My 3 year old and 16 mon. old have been up by 5:45am the past week. Like Levi they would typically wake up at 6:30am (they’ve never been ones to sleep in), but any time before 6am is just rough! I’ve been dealing with the time change two ways so far – 1. taking the time to set up my coffee pot the night before so all I have to do in the morning is just switch it on 😉 and 2. putting the girls to bed a good 30-45 min. earlier than normal (like by 6pm!) so my husband and I can enjoy a little extra time to ourselves at night. I should be going to bed earlier too, but I haven’t managed to do that very well. Anyway – hope all the kiddos get back on a ‘normal’ schedule soon. My question is – when do kids start sleeping in until 8am??
Thanks for your comment, Haeley! I’m like you–I stay up way too late, usually for no good reason. I could get an additional hour of sleep if I didn’t watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report!
My rule is that I will not start my day before 7am. So even if Levi wakes up at 6:30, he has to stay in his crib until 7. Now, if he’s screaming and wailing I may get him a few minutes earlier, but that’s just because it’s not relaxing for me to stay in bed while he’s screaming through the monitor!
We’ve treated all of the time changes in Spencer’s mere 2 year the same – no adjustments to bedtime, always following the clock (so when the clock says 7:30 pm, he’s in bed). We’ve been really lucky in that it only has taken him one day each time to adjust. Of course he woke up an hour earlier on Sunday morning (6:00 am), but he was able to hold out until regular nap time (12:30 pm), and then he was on his regular routine from there. Spencer will fill Levi in on it all when we have our big slumber party in December!!!
Yay! I wonder if the boys will stay up all night chatting and playing with toys…
I’ve kept Levi on the same “follow the clock” schedule, too. I thought about pushing his bedtime back to see if that would make him sleep later, but I already know the answer would be NO.
Hope you are all feeling better now. I still haven’t adjusted well to the time change. I keep waking up naturally an hour early, but for some reason, I’m still going to sleep at the same time. I hope I can adjust quickly because it’s been very annoying! And then crash at work in the afternoon is hitting as strongly as ever.
We’ve all gotten over the stomach bug, but we’re still soooo tired!
I can very much relate–both with sleepless nights and kids and SAD..I’ve heard it takes about a week for their sleeping to adjust. I’ve already seen improvements with our kids but still hoping they eventually wake up closer to 7am! I’ve been trying light therapy too. Don’t know if it helps but I pretend it does 🙂
It’s encouraging to hear that the light therapy is working for you, Julia! How long do you keep it on? Do you use it in the morning or throughout the day?
I use it for 15 or 30 minutes in the morning while I catch up on email. I don’t use it on the days that our sunny..but sometimes those are few and far between!
Walden seemed to prep for DST ahead of the switch, pushing back his nap and bedtimes over a couple of weeks so that they fell back to “normal” when the clock changed. Me, on the other hand… I can’t get used to it being dark at 4:30. Dinner was ready by 4:45 the second day after the switch!