Daylight savings confuses the crap out of me.. I can never remember which way we are turning the clocks and what it all means to our kids. Let me give you the key line to this whole blog straight up in case your too tired to read the whole article. YOU WILL GET A NICE SLEEP IN FROM YOUR CHILDREN. Your welcome!
For all the mothers that have had issues with waking early - you'll love this time! BUT be warned, the flip side is that we have to get our kids to bed at what is a whole hour earlier and for some, the sun may still be shining which will confuse your baby and aggravate your toddler so for all mothers of 2/3 year olds - expect the stalling to be extreme. The requests for an extra glass of water, (then a change of pajamas when they pour the water all over them) or an "extra book please" or my daughters favourite "a poos coming"..your going to hear all of them because they are simply not so tired.
So here's some tips for all you stressed out mummies..
1. Make sure napping in the lead up to the change is adequate - you really don't want them to be overtired before we even make the change.
2. Make sure to take your baby outside first thing in the morning and throughout the day. Ensure that they get as much fresh air as possible so you can start to reset their internal clock.
3. Know that it is likely only going to take maximum a week to adjust. Thats not too bad huh! Try and be a little flexible and patient with them. It's even hard for us as adults to get out heads around it..cut them a little slack.
4. If you think the light is making it difficult for your child to fall asleep then consider investing in black out shades. My girls both have rooms that is so dark its like the casino - you never know if its day or night :) You can get these at any good baby stores that suction onto the window or just buy the material from spotlight and stick it up with double sided tape.
5. Watch for sleep cues! You might have to look for them a little more carefully than normal.
6. If possible dim lights in the house and start wind down time a little earlier, you can't expect them to be playing outside in the sun one minute and the next marching off to bed.
7. Just pretend that nothing has changed. In the past, I had felt that for the weeks leading up to it you can slowly change sleep times by moving it in 15 minute incremements but what I find is that you just have several bad weeks, its not worth it! Just do whatever you normally do, mealtimes and naptimes will fall into place after a few days.
It really isn't going to be as bad as you think it will (we'll talk in a few months when clocks go to the other way...)
Sweet Dreams,
BEC
www.belliesandbeyond.com.au
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| Making sure my girls are getting lots of fresh air... |
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