Maybe it is just me but the time change is rough. I get the reason for it and actually liked it before kids. But now it feels like someone just came up with another way to make parenting more difficult. However, this year I’m not messing around. I have researched so much that I feel like I have some form of a plan (but ask me on November 7th). Here’s the plan and how I plan to use it:

Little Changes.

I’m not going to try and get them to strike up a solid routine with a whole hour difference on their little internal clocks. I am going to only bite off about 15 minutes at a time. Starting on November 3rd, I’m only going to “fall back” 15 minutes, increasing this by 15 minutes each day until November 6th which will end with the full hour change. Note however, that my kids can’t tell time yet, so I won’t be changing any of the clocks until the actual time change. This way I’m not expecting a huge change from them.

Lights Out.

Light (specifically unnatural light) plays an interesting role in sleep patterns. The National Sleep Foundation (2015) found that, “Exposure to light stimulates a nerve pathway from the eye to parts of the brain that control hormones, body temperature and other functions that play a role in making us feel sleepy or wide-awake”. So no screen time before bed seems crucial to letting hormones (like melatonin) and your brain activity patterns gear up for a good night’s rest. This sounds fine but when trying to find a hard rule about how far ahead you should stop screen time, there is huge debate. Some say 2 hours and others suggest a half an hour- so personally we are going with one hour because it fits easily into our current routine.

This is interesting. Read this: https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/lights-out-good-nights-sleep

Routine.

Speaking of routine, Halloween has drastically messed ours up. So I’m going to dutifully start back up night time baths, teeth brushing, and reading time. Routine is good because it helps your kids anticipate what the next action will be. It is comforting to your kids (and everyone really) to be able to have a rough idea of what is next and what is expected of them. You also tend to get less whining when people get into routines because they feel a sense of control and mastery.

Make it fun: Make Nightlights.

Since you will be answering about a million questions on why there is a time change in the first place- you might as well be doing a craft. The key to a good night light is having it be small and a red/orange hue. Dr Michael Grandner explains why: “The reason why the reddish, yellowish, orangish light is better is because the light that your eyes use to tell daytime versus nighttime is blueish-greenish light, But in reddish-orange light, you don’t have those frequencies, so it won’t give as much of a daytime signal.”

The little creature night lights that I bought are blue/green- so way wrong color according to this article. But the kids like them so we are keeping them. I also put the links to some really cool craft/night light projects that would be fun to do as the dark starts to come earlier.

Here is the article about red/orange light:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/12/nightlight-color-better-sleep_n_6142098.html

Here are some links to very cool nightlights that you can either make or buy:

http://www.parents.com/fun/activities/indoor/creative-ways-to-light-kids-rooms-home/?slideId=37337

https://www.babble.com/crafts-activities/25-beautiful-night-lights-you-can-make/

Know that it is going to suck a little bit no matter what you do. You need to understand this and embrace that you can’t control it. It is also terrible for the kids as well because their internal clocks are off, making nap time off, bed time off, dinner, and so on. So try your very best to be patient and give them a little slack.

My Challenge to you: This week lets all get to our battle stations and make a plan for the time change. Remember the idea is to try and make it as smooth as possible for the whole family, not just the kids. We also need to keep in mind that everyone is going to be a little off so we need to practice patience. Let me know if you use any of these ideas and what other ideas you have found success with (or not).  

Happy Time Change friends!

-Jessie the Therapist