THIS time every year the farmers start complaining about the cows getting grumpy and mums get grumpy about the kids complaining they’re tired. Yes, welcome to the wonderful world of daylight savings.
If you’re like us and have a bird sitting on the window sill at 5am whistling to the tune of Wake Up Jeff, you’ll know daylight savings couldn’t come quick enough. Last night we started on the path to gently adjusting Baby Holly and Princess Ella’s body clocks for daylight savings, which this year happens at 2am on Sunday.
Since Ella was born, we’ve used this guide and it’s worked for us – from babyhood to preschool age. So I thought I’d share our (mind numbingly) simple plan for those who have never had a plan or end up going stir crazy because their overtired children turn feral for the next two months. If it works for the cows, why not. If you have teenagers, sorry, but you’re alone on that one!
You can adapt this to your child’s bedtime if it isn’t usually 7pm. Also consider moving their dinner time earlier by 15 minutes each night as well. This can be used at the end of daylight saving too, by putting children to bed later.
Here’s the bedtime plan:
Tuesday: 7pm
Wednesday: 6.45pm
Thursday: 6.30pm
Friday: 6.15pm
Saturday: 6pm
Sunday: 6pm – the children are already adjusted
If you missed last night, that’s OK. You’ll still be on track if you start tonight. The key to all of this, of course, is to be organised and expect to be SUPER tired this week. Unless you have a live-in nanny. Yeah, right.
Do you transition your children in the lead up to daylight saving? What are your tips?
Read more sleep tips in the Sleep Challenge.
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