Daylight Saving Time is quickly approaching on March 8th, and if you’re anything like me, that has already brought nervousness and anxiety about baby’s sleeping patterns. Especially being a new mom, the first time someone mentioned Daylight Savings Time a couple of months ago, I thought I was going to lose it. Leighton had just started sleeping 10-12 hours at night. The last thing I wanted was for anything to mess that up (though I know babies go through phases all the time, and it is bound to happen!) She used to love to stay up until 10:00pm to 11:00pm, and I’m not going to lie, it was tough. I am not a night owl, so I worked hard to finally get her to bed early. Over the past couple months, I have slowly put her to bed about 5 minutes early each night, and now she goes to bed between 8:30 and 8:45pm. I know that is still late for some people, but I don’t even get home until 6:00pm at night. Then after eating and packing and unpacking work stuff and her diaper bag each night, that gives us less than an hour to spend together. And she is still asleep when I leave the house at 6:30am. Then bath time starts at 7:30pm and then dinner time and bedtime. She has been on this schedule for a couple of months now, and it has made things SO much better. I get about 8-9 hours of sleep every night, and I actually don’t feel like a zombie.
My plans for Daylight Savings Time is to go ahead and set the clock forward an hour early the night before so that she would go to bed about 7:30pm instead of 8:30. This will work out perfectly since it is on a weekend so I will have spent plenty of time with her throughout the day. Then the time will be correct already the next morning. If she doesn’t wake up at her normal time (by 8:30am at the latest – 12 hours later,) I will wake her up myself and go ahead and feed her. Hopefully waking up that hour earlier will help her to go to bed an hour earlier that night. I think feeding her on time, getting her on a schedule and making sure that her diaper keeps her dry all night long are keys to a good night’s sleep. Below are a few statistics and tips about Daylight Savings Time conducted by Pampers, and I was surprised and glad to hear that I’m not the only one worrying. P.S. Keep reading to enter the giveaway that includes everything pictured above: Dr. Kim West’s sleep book, a month supply of Pampers Baby Dry Diapers Size 6 Jumbo Pack (4 packs), a month supply of PampersSensitive Wipes (2 packs) and a Cloud B Twilight Turtle to help baby sleep better.
The time transition of “springing forward” is so top-of-mind for parents that a recent survey conducted by Pampers found that 77% are concerned with Daylight Saving Time affecting their child’s sleep pattern. More than half of parents surveyed dread the anticipated disruption to their child’s sleep schedule more than tax season!
Another survey conducted by Pampers found that nearly one-quarter of mothers (24%) felt that a dry diaper was the number one thing that enabled their baby to sleep through the night.
Through Pampers’ extensive research on sleep, they’ve learned that babies are more vulnerable to waking up when they’re wet. And a dry night means baby is more likely to be more rested, less fussy and more content the next day.
That’s why across their entire line, Pampers diapers offer up to 12 hours of overnight protection and are up to three times drier than ordinary diapers to help babies get the uninterrupted sleep they need for a great morning
Please join @Pampers on March 3rd from 9-10pmEST as they host a Twitter Party with renowned sleep expert, “The Sleep Lady,” Kim West. Kim will be sharing her tips for helping little ones through the Daylight Saving Time sleep transition and will also be answering your questions regarding baby sleep. Have you thought about Daylight Savings Time yet? Do you have any tips on how to help your baby with the transition? I’d love to hear them!
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This review and giveaway was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Pampers. I was compensated for my participation in this campaign, but all opinions are 100% mine.
This will be my first time experiencing this as well. I like the idea of setting the clock a day before and getting her ready.
I'm not sure what to expect this time. In the fall, we didn't have an issue, but B's sleep has been getting worse as she has been getting older.
I am expecting my first but I think I will gradually introduce the time change by altering sleep and wake up times a week or two in advance to give time for baby to adjust! My mom did this with us as kids and it worked well!
I'm due with baby #1 in June – so I hope I can figure out this whole DLST when it arrives after she gets here! Great giveaway – I could really use some diapers!! 🙂
My little girl is due in June and I'm not totally sure how we'll transition during daylight savings time, but I guess just keeping her changed and comfortable will help with her sleep! That's a good question that I am going to have to think about!
We don't change time in Arizona which is nice.
Gosh, this is our first time with spring forward so I have no idea! Fall back was r-o-u-g-h though!!
Spring forward is way easier for us than fall back. Ella is an early bird & wakes up between 4:30 and 5:30 a.m. on a regular basis. So this will definitely help us out with her. Personally, I'm less affected by sleep timing than meal timing!
We change time but I will try to give her a shorter nap session so she goes to bed earlier. She's 4 months now.
My best tip is to start a week ahead going to bed 10 or 15 minutes earlier than usual and by the time it rolls around you will have it down!
Adjusting the time before you go to bed the night of the time change. Then go about your daily routine.
Changing the clocks has actually been much better than I expected with my little munchkins. Not nearly as bad as I thought! Hoping for the same this time.
I didn't even think about this effecting us so I'll be keeping an eye here for suggestions!
I have a baby on the way and hadnt thought of this yet — I like your plan it seems logical and appreciate this post! So many things to plan for
Our baby hasn't arrived yet, but I like the idea of slowly changing bedtime in 5-minute increments. Pretty clever!
Daylight savings time is always hard on kids and babies. Sounds like you've thought trough your plan and are ready!
no matter what we do with my niece, it's always hard! but I like the idea of changing the clock the night before.
I think the gradual shift is the way to go– 20-30 minutes a night.
Thankfully we didn't have issues in the fall so I'm hoping the same is true in the spring – we have an 8 month old baby.
I haven't started a family yet, so this is all new to me. I didn't even think about daylight savings!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
I wish I had a suggestion for daylight savings day! Going in blind! 🙂
Ashley
Realize that naps and schedules will be off for a few days and give your baby time to adjust
Also my first time with DST and a baby … I am so tempted to set the clocks forward in four 15-minute increments, culminating on the actual day.
We shift the clock 20 minutes a day until we are all caught up.
My tip is to adjust their schedule a little bit at a time before the change.
I would have to agree with Kelly and just adjuster their schedule.
Oh man, I didn't even think about daylight savings time and babies….ugh! My twins are due in the next month so I'll have to deal with this in the Fall! Boo!
I live in a state that doesn't do day light savings time so I have no tip to leave! But I would suggest still keeping them on a regular schedule.
We have never had issues, we just stick to our normal routine.
I move the bedtime by half hour.
This is my first time and I didn't even think about it. Kind of nervous now!
We adjusted bedtime in 15 minute increments over a week and a half period of time. It worked last time, we'll see about this time.
my best tip is to keep everyone well rested.
I don't remember having a problem last time. I still put her to sleep the same time.
Great post!
♥♥♥
Jeanne
http://fashionmusingsdiary.com
Thankfully I can say the time change wasn't a big deal with either of my two girls. I adjusted the time on Saturday and all went well. I am the one that the spring forward always affected more so than the girls. I hope you all transition easily.
We, too, change the clock a couple of days beforehand. However, it's still a tough time.
About A Week Before The Time Change We Will Change The Clocks So We Can Adjust Our Routine To Fit The Time Change.
There was nothing special I did with my son. I put him to bed at the same time as always and it didn't affect him. I hope it works alike with you.
I haven't gotten to experience it yet!
Pray, cross fingers/toes, &hope for the best! Lol)
I plan to shift the clock 15 minutes every night leading up to Daylights Savings.
Do an activity that tires them out the day they lose an hour of sleep, so they go to bed earlier! 🙂
I keep with the same routine and they seem to adjust pretty well.
This will be my first daylight savings with a child. Fortunately, she will only be two weeks old at that point which means I will still be on maternity leave (no work the next day), and she doesn't really have a routine yet (no routine to be broken). However, if she were older, I would do what you're doing and get her to bed one hour earlier!
we don't make any changes
We have not had to go through this yet but I would imagine trying to keep as close to your regular routine would be important!
I'll try to get my toddler to bed earlier than usual… As for the baby she barely sleeps through the night so as it is so I'm thinking the time change can't make it any worse haha
I would have to say starting a few days earlier on a new sleep schedule by going to bed earlier – shaunie
starla.bates@yahoo.com
Great tips that you are going to do! I might have to incorporate a few of those. I definitely love to plan ahead and keep everything ahead of our goal. I love this because that way we don't run into any bumps! starla.bates@yahoo.com xo
We like to change our schedule a few minutes each day started about a week before the time change.
My babe was just a week old the last daylight savings time so I am loving all these tips! I think I will set our clocks ahead Saturday morning after he wakes up so that my bedtime we are already ahead of schedule.
Slowly transition into changing the time the night before and getting plenty of sleep as much as you can.
We try to prepare a few nights in advance to get the kids on schedule.
We try to prepare a few nights in advance to get the kids on schedule.
We start getting them adjusted 2 weeks before the time change.
We transition slowly over a couple of weeks!
I'm pregnant with my first baby and know that I will have to encounter daylight savings time in the future, I plan on sticking to a routine and adjusting my baby's sleeping schedule during these times.
Daylight savings time has always been hard on us. I try to start adjusting our bedtime a week or so ahead of it.
With my kids we try adjusting bed times according to the time change as to not mess them up too much but the older kids seem to have a difficult time adjusting for about a week
Not making any plans.. Just going to take it nap time by nap time and make my schedule adjust to baby's schedule.
We start adjusting their schedule by 15 minutes for the few days leading up to it to help!
try to tire them out and put them to sleep early or wake them up earlier than usual
Start early!! About a week before move bedtime up ten minutes each day!!
A week before the time change -wake the baby up about 30 minutes earlier in the morning and then put her down 30 minutes earlier. Then a couples of days before the actual change wake 1 hour earlier and move the bedtime up 1 hour. This will hopefully help her adjust to the time difference.
My tip is to start adjusting bed times routines a little bit at a time
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My best tip is to start the new bedtime and morning routines changes gradually so my little one doesn't feel the effect of the whole hour all in one night.
Keep them on a scheduale!
I think for the kids to stay on schedule mom has to stay on it. Go to bed at the same time, pull the shades.
We start putting out kids to bed a few mins earlier/later each night starting 2 weeks ahead of time change.
Hope for the best and try to tire them out that day with extra activities!
Adjust as much with baby and keep your regular schedule.
First time dad here and I'm not sure how or what to expect. We will soon find out!
Oh man, I'm not quite sure yet! I'm hoping it doesnt even phase my son….that can happen right? 🙂 LOL
I really haven't had to deal with any negative issues with this yet, I think just adjusting the schedule back bit by bit in advance if you need to.
We go to bed half an hour earlier like three or four weeks earlier than the actual time changes. Thanks for the chance.
Kristin Goodson
lilgoodson21@yahoo.com
We go to bed at the usual time, but maybe a little earlier if possible! My son usually adapts to the change well.
Slowly changing the time I put them down, I never even really thought of this, but I never really did sleep schedules.
We start putting them down 15 min earlier for a few days. Also, blackout curtains work wonders!
We gradually put him to bed sooner/later a week or so before the actual time change and that helps quite a bit.
Put her to bed a little earlier each night.
We started by *trying* to put him to bed earlier, the week before.
I try to adjust bedtime gradually a couple of weeks before the time change.
It's my first time experiencing "spring forward" with a little one and I'm just going to put him to bed a little earlier and see how that works. I would like him to sleep a little earlier anyways (currently it's 9pm bedtime) so I'm hoping it doesn't backfire or mess up nap time too much! Good luck to you!
My best tip is to go to bed early. It makes it feel more normal. Thanks for the opportunity.
my best tip is to split it up into 15 minutes interventions
We shift the schedule little by little.
I am not due until June!
Yikes! I'm going to be a first time mom soon and this isn't something I even thought of! I think I would try to put him/her to bed a little earlier for maybe a week or so before the big change.
We will see this year. I hope its not too bad.
for my grandsons, I've been preparing them a couple of weeks early by setting a bedtime and no sweets prior to it. The hardest thing to deal with is the lighter sky because they think it's still daytime and time to play, so we keep things on schedule and darken the room a little using light filtering curtains so they think it's darker than it really is so they can stay on their regular sleeping schedule.
for my grandsons, I've been preparing them a couple of weeks early by setting a bedtime and no sweets prior to it. The hardest thing to deal with is the lighter sky because they think it's still daytime and time to play, so we keep things on schedule and darken the room a little using light filtering curtains so they think it's darker than it really is so they can stay on their regular sleeping schedule.
This will be our first daylight savings time to deal with… but I'm hoping it's not too hard. Maybe we will start the bedtime routine a little earlier for the first week or so…
But Pampers diapers… that would be a HUGE help!
We adjust the daily routine by 10 mins/day for the week before. So we're all set to go by the time the change happens.
Keeping the house a bit darker with closing shades as it gets closer to bedtime.