Springing Forward: What is the effect on our children?
Love it, hate it, or simply use it as a reminder to change the batteries in your smoke detector, daylight saving time is fast approaching. This Sunday, March 10th at 2:00am we will spring forward and lose an hour of night time. As an adult, I don't like it. But as a father, I figured it would be wise to do a little research around the impact of daylight saving time on children.
I was not surprised to find that children experience more daytime sleepiness after the time change. (makes sense) What I did find surprising is that the effect could last for two weeks or even more. (Fantastic.)
Looking for what I can do to help my children, and therefore me, have an easier time adjusting I found a few ideas.
- Maintain the regular sleep schedule and routine. No sleeping in on Sunday.
- Start gradually. Up the bed time by 15 minutes for a couple days in advance.
- Be a little more patient with groggy, grouchy kids, especially in the morning.
- Use lighting to help adjust. Turn on lights in the dark morning, and dim or turn off lights in the evening and at night.
What are your thoughts on the time change? Any tips that you have found that helps your family through the time change? Share them in the comments below.
Here are links to of the more interesting articles I found.
- Does daylight saving time hurt your kids?
- Kids Sleep and Daylight Saving Time
- Children and Sleep
- How Sleep Is Affected by Time Changes
Post by Jeffrey Pomranka
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