The End of Daylight Saving Time: Fall Back
How to adjust your family’s sleep
Heather’s dad, upstate New York
On November 3th, 2024, the clocks will turn back one hour. While you’re sleeping on Saturday night, the time moves earlier, so if you normally wake up at 7:00 a.m., it will only say 6:00 a.m. on your clock. In other words, you might get an extra hour of sleep, (if the rest of the family cooperates).
What we’re doing is returning to Standard Time, which is "natural” time. Standard Time is good for us, because it’s more in line with the solar day (when the sun rises and sets).
As we move into winter, the days get shorter, so we have fewer sunlight hours overall (because of the season, not the clock change). Thankfully, we move back to Standard Time in November. If we had permanent Daylight Saving Time, the sun would not rise until 9am in many parts of the country during winter!
When we return to Standard Time, the sun will rise more in line with when most of us wake up. Morning sun is beneficial, as it alerts and regulates the brain clock, and it has positive effects on our whole family’s physical and mental health.
Most people get better sleep during Standard Time (November to March), because it’s a more natural time and makes our mornings brighter and our evenings darker (along with colder temperatures) — all of which is good for sleep.
Here’s how to adjust to Daylight Saving Time ending and Standard Time starting
Jump right to the new time
When we “fall back”, older kids, teens, and adults (especially those who are night owls) are often just fine jumping to the new time. Teens do especially well with the fall time change, because they have an easy time sleeping in.
For an older child, you can just put them to bed at the time according to the clock on Sunday night and they will most likely be very tired and ready to sleep.
Shift to Standard Time gradually
This is our recommended approach for babies and younger kids (along with anyone who is a morning person and vulnerable to waking up too early). Human beings have circadian clocks that are naturally designed to shift gradually as the seasons change — by a few minutes at a time, not by an hour. So gradually changing your baby’s sleep, wake, nap, eating, and exercise times will all help their internal clock adjust in a much more biologically friendly way.
What used to be 8:00 p.m. will now be 7:00 p.m., so adjust sleep times 5–10 minutes later each day in anticipation.
STEPS FOR THE GRADUAL SHIFT LEADING UP TO THE END OF DAYLIGHT SAVING:
You can start 6 days before the time change, or 12 days if you’re feeling ambitious and you want to go with the most gradual change. You will start your bedtime routine and put your baby to sleep minutes later each day — 5 minutes later if you’re starting 12 days early, and 10 minutes later if you’re starting 6 days early. It will take you 6-12 days to reach the one-hour mark.
Use the same rate of adjustment for naps, 5 or 10 minutes later each day for 12 or 6 days. Also for wake up time, feeding, and meals.
If your baby hasn’t completely adjusted by the time daylight saving time arrives, no worries; just continue the adjustment over the next few days.
NOTES:
If your baby’s current schedule is off and the time change will help (for example, you want him to go to bed and wake an hour earlier), you’re in luck. You will be able to shift your baby immediately to the new time. It will still be very important to pay attention to blocking out daylight and keeping bedtime and naptime routines consistent.
If your baby’s schedule is off in a direction where the time change will make it even worse, adjust gradually to the new time and then continue until you’ve reached the desired bedtime. One of the most daunting scenarios is when it’s fall and your baby is already waking up way too early in the a.m.
Hold onto routines and environment. Keep bedtime and naptime routines in place and predicable. All that effort and consistency will pay off now, as these cues help your baby adjust to the new time. Also make baby’s room very dark. Light creeping in earlier in the morning or during naps can add to baby’s challenge to adjust to the new time.
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