Fall Time Change

hi I'm Ashley KY a birth baby and sleep specialist and mom of three there's so much information out there right this show is dedicated to helping you clear out the noise so you can figure out what will work best for your baby and your family if you're looking to learn more about your baby gain more confidence in your parenting and get as much sleep as you can through it all you've come to the right place bringing up baby is about to get a little easier it's that time of year the dreaded time change it wasn't dreaded before you had kids cuz before you had kids in the fall when we would get an extra hour in the day it meant an extra hour to sleep an extra hour in bed but now that we have kids that's not at all what it means so today I'm going to give you my top three tips for dealing with the change that is coming up on November 6th this year for the time change basically what it comes down to is choosing one of these three options now we're a few days ahead still if you're listening to this the day this episode is coming out you get a like up we get maybe an opportunity to do this but one thing you can do in advance to prepare for the time change which again this fall means it's moving back 1 hour which means those 6:00 a.m. wakeup times will become 5 a.m. okay so this is what we're preparing for so one way that you can help uh prepare for this is to move bedtime meals naps everything you can ahead by about 10 to 15 minutes every few days so it's just a little bit of adjustment not a full 1 hour adjustment happening all at once this way you're helping prepare your little one to uh have that later bedtime that's going to come on Sunday November 6th of this year so by moving the bedtime and meals ahead by that 10 or 15 minutes you're helping them adjust and you're doing that every maybe 2 to 3 days I would try for about 3 days of course you're not going to get to that full hour by Sunday cuz this episode's coming out on a Tuesday before but it'll at least give your little one a leg up so it's not a huge Shift come Sunday the second option is my personal favorite do nothing NADA zip come Sunday you jump into the new time you don't look back yes it might be a strange or an off day but it will work out in the wash trust me it takes all of us even us adults maybe especially us adults but it takes all of us at least a few days to adjust to a time change our whole internal body clock those circadian rhythms need to shift and it's it's different okay by the way not all places in the world do this not even all places in Canada do this hopefully we'll become one of those I'm an advocate for getting rid of the time changes just no longer necessary anyway another topic for another day let's get to number three meet in the middle okay so maybe you're not prepping ahead of time but come Saturday Sunday you can just change things slightly Maybe by half an hour again not just the full hour come Sunday split the difference the same way with the nap so aiming for only a maximum of 30 minutes in the difference rather than a full hour but then by Monday you stick to the new time only so you're giving that time change an extra day to happen basically you change it by a half an hour Sunday then it's by Monday it's changed by the full hour okay so you can shift things ahead by a few minutes 10 to 15 minutes every few days leading up to the time change to help with that adjustment more slowly you can go the full opposite way and do nothing and then come Sunday of the time change just jump into the new time whenever you happen to be getting up for the day or you can meet somewhere in the middle and just shift things by half an hour on that Sunday so Guys these podcast episodes are great and all and I love getting the chance to share some evidence-based practical and non-judgmental information to help you along your parenting Journey but now there's a way to get even more introducing the bringing up baby membership Community a place where we continue the conversation from these episodes where you can access incredibly helpful resources like my new baby sleep guide and so many more and it's also a place where you'll make new connections and can participate in live education sessions every week on a variety of baby related topics yes lots of them are sleep related trust me the value of this membership is like no other to find out more and to sign up visit birthbaby sleep.com Community but we'll link to that in the show notes see you [Music] there now I have three more tips for you still having to do with the time change these tips can happen with any time change that that's happening whether we're going back an hour or moving forward these can help one keep it dark okay darkness is always going to be your friend when you want your body to relax and to be able to settle and stay asleep Darkness helps to produce melatonin which is the sleep hormone this is for adults this is for children this is for babies so darkness is going to help produce melatonin so having making sure that it's dark in the room until you want it to be light until you want the day to start so being able to control the darkness no you may not have to go out and get those blackout blinds you can just darken it even temporarily just to get through the time change if you need to by either putting some tin foil around the edges of your blinds or curtains to get that light that seeping through there maybe a rolled towel at the top uh could help just for again the internal and getting any light that's coming out so that will help the other thing that will help is actually the opposite using light when it's time to be awake so when you actually want your internal body clock to be reset for let's expose yourself your your little one's self to light for instance let's take the example I said earlier that 6:00 a.m. wake up time if your little one is waking up at 6:00 a.m. right now come Sunday technically the way that works works with the time change in the fall is that 6:00 a.m. becomes 5:00 a.m. so your little one's internal body clock is going to have them waking up around 5:00 a.m. on Sunday do you want to get up and start the day at 5:00 a.m. well that is your choice um but to help ensure enough night sleep and getting into the new time that we're going to be in for the next few months it would be helpful to try to keep your little one in bed or to keep things dark and comfortable and in nighttime mode until you want them to wake up for the day so if you're taking it the middle of the road route you would maybe just wait till 5:30 to get them up for that day but if you're going with the do nothing route you're trying to get that extra hour with them in in their space in their bed or their crib wherever they may be and basically no matter how you help your little one to go to sleep to stay asleep keeping it nighttime mode don't respond like you would if it were waking they were waking up for the morning if you want them to stay in bed stay in bed with them or encourage them to stay in bed on their own whatever you do there and help them to stay at least quiet stay in that Darkness encouraging them to go back to sleep if they can so then you would want to expose them to light as soon as you do want them to get up so when it is time when it is that 5:30 or 6 whichever way you're going with this and you want them to get up for the day and start the day we want to reset their internal body clock so if you can and if it's sunny out that day get out and use that sunlight to help reset those body clot or turn on lights in your house they may be artificial light but they're still going to help reset those internal body clocks so when you do want them to wake up and you are going to start the day get the noise going get the light in and that can help with that reset the last thing you need in any time change situation is a sense of humor things are probably going to feel off for a few days even if you're doing all the right things but the world's not ending so try to just shrug it off as best you can if your baby snap is shorter than usual or maybe it's longer than usual or maybe one gets skipped but the idea is that a day here there when things aren't going so well isn't really going to mess up their sleep in total especially if they have some really good sleep habits already so these little one-offs or things that happen can totally shift all of our sleep so just try to have an understanding of that but remember the sooner you get into the new time the sooner you get back to the usual stuff and routine the easier it is to adapt that's all for now thanks for listening and we'll see you back next time looking for more check out birthbaby sleep.com and new baby resources and sleep support during the childhood Years you'll also find me on Facebook and Instagram at birthbaby sleep it would be awesome if you followed us whever listen to podcasts and if you can leave a review or a raing which goes a long way for helping others to find us that's all for now I'm Ashley and we'll see you back here next time [Music]