Ever notice that your child’s behavior may be a little off following the switch to and from daylight savings time? Children can become extra cranky, emotional, and uncooperative or even aggressive due to the change in their sleep pattern. While changing the clocks forward or backward one hour is something that may make adults feels sleepy for a day or two, it can have a real impact on the behavior of our young children for a week or so.
All children benefit from having a set bedtime, but for those children who are not terribly flexible by nature, a one hour change in bedtime can wreak havoc. Following are some suggestions on how to minimize the impact of the “spring ahead/fall back” phenomenon:
- Begin getting your child to bed a little earlier (or later, depending on which way the clock is being changed) the week prior to changing the clock. Aim for a 10 minute change each night, this will help them ease into the transition. Don’t worry if your child does not fall asleep right away, their body is still beginning to relax a few minutes earlier than usual.
- Keep your child’s bedroom dark by using blackout shades or curtains. This will help keep sunlight out of bedrooms in the evening hours when it stays lighter longer. It will also help keep children from rising too early in the morning when the sun shines earlier.
- The use of screens (TV, computers, smart phones, tablets etc.) should be avoided for approximately 1 hour prior to bedtime because the light from these devices can trick the brain into not getting sleepy.
- Calming activities such as reading or taking a bath can help prepare for sleep. It is best to avoid energizing activities such as exercise or rough housing before bedtime.
Although the beginning or end of daylight savings time can be an added challenge to getting children to bed, many of these suggestions can be useful all year long.
All Blogs are written by Professionals in the fields of Nutrition, Human Development and Diabetes.