Here we go again… After perfecting Liam’s schedule and having some much appreciated consistency in our lives, it’s time for yet another time change.
In terms of what to do to facilitate the process, there are a lot of different methods out there.
Some sleep experts say you should get your baby used to the new time a week in advance, others to act as if nothing happened and wake up your baby at the same time as usual.
I find it all very overwhelming!
In the Fall, Liam did pretty well: it took him only 2 days to adjust. I chose the “do nothing” approach and listened to his cues instead of looking at the clock for a few days. Yes, the earlier wake up time sucked. But it didn’t take long before it went back to normal (his naps were still a little inconsistent, which ended up being a good thing…)
Now, with “Spring forward”, I’m a little anxious about Liam’s schedule changing. He has a very reasonable wake up time (between 7 and 8am) and usually goes to bed by 7:30pm. We decided to wake him up at 8am tomorrow morning (which will feel like 7am in his mind) to prevent too much of a shift. If we let him sleep until 8:30am, it would most likely mess up his naps and make bedtime too late. We’re hoping that with an 8am wake up, he’ll go down relatively early for his first nap.
We have faith in his internal clock!
A good tip for daylight savings is to install black out blinds in the fall (to help baby sleep longer in the mornings) as well as in the spring (because of longer days and brighter rooms at bedtime!)
Are you excited about the extra hour of sleep? Or anxious about it messing up your baby’s perfect nap schedule? Here are what a few of my mommy friends are planning on doing to make the shift as “stress-free” as possible:
Mama Naturelle 