I know I’m not the only one noticing how much shorter our days are getting already. Daylight savings 2023 will end on November 5th. Clocks are moved back one hour from 2 a.m. DST to 1 a.m. For parents of early risers, the upcoming change can be nerve-racking. “He’s already waking up at 5:30 a.m. Does this mean he’s going to start waking up at 4:30 a.m. now?!” Thankfully the answer is no. You are going to gradually shift his schedule to the new time.
So what will it look like? You have a few options. One is to allow your child to wake up at his natural time on the morning of the 5th. According to the clock, it will be an hour earlier than usual. If he usually wakes up at 6:30 a.m., he will likely awaken at 5:30 a.m. That’s fine. It will be short-lived! Try to keep things low key for 30 minutes and delay breakfast until after 6 a.m. Do everything — meals, naps, bedtime — around the new clock time. If your son’s bedtime was 7:30 p.m., the clock will now read 6:30 p.m. Aim for good naps that day so he can make it to at least 7 p.m. (new clock time). You can gently push his bedtime back to 7:30 p.m. over the next few nights.
Alternatively, if you don’t think going “cold turkey” will work well for your child, you can also approach the time change incrementally, starting a few days before. Push naps, meals and bedtime back 15-20 minutes later each of the days leading up to the end of daylight savings. For example, if his usual bedtime is 7:30 p.m., he can go to bed at 7:45 p.m. the night of the 1st, 8 p.m. on the 2nd, 8:15 p.m. on the 3rd, and 9 p.m. on the 4th. By the time daylight savings ends, he will already be well on his way to being adjusted.
Regardless of which approach you choose, stay consistent and try not to let him eat or really start his day before 6 a.m. (new time). He’ll be adjusted within a week.
Getting outside for some fresh air and daylight in the morning will also help him reset his internal clock.
If your child had too late of a bedtime before the time change, this is your chance to move it earlier without too much fuss. The ideal bedtime for most children is between 7-8 p.m. For babies, 6-7 p.m. is often ideal. So if your son’s bedtime was too late, don’t move it later for the end of Daylight Savings.
Note: If your little guy seems plagued by early rising, it’s time to get to the bottom of it. Click here to read my earlier post about the common causes of early rising and how to address them.
*Includes information from Kim West’s Good Night Sleep Tight.