How we’re getting through Daylight Savings Time

It’s Daylight Savings Time! That time of year when we lose an hour and the sun stays out later and our kiddos schedules get thrown off!

I think the only reason I like Daylight Savings Time is the sun being out so much later. I just wish they’d decide to either keep us in this time or standard time. I just hate losing an hour, it throws everyone off!

I wanted to share with you how we have dealt with all the time changes with Caroline. And give you some little tips to get through it!

Tip 1: Have a Schedule

I believe before tackling something like a time change because of travel or Daylight Savings you must get your child on a schedule. Schedules are so important.

Your schedule doesn’t have to be rigid but it must be predictable for your kiddo. Kids like predictable, I promise.

After 8 years of teaching, I knew when I had Caroline she would be on a schedule. I watched my students thrive when we had a normal schedule and routine and I knew I’d want that for my own children.

So first, get your child on a schedule whether they’re a month old or 12 years old. I can pretty much guarantee you it will only benefit everybody!

Tip 2: Keep the same night time and nap time

Once you have a schedule, keep using that same schedule for when the time changes.

For Caroline, we’ve been putting her down around the same time which is about 7:30 PM for the night. We’ve kept our routine the same and acted like nothing was different.

We do bath time, prayers, read a story and off to bed.

Her nap schedule has been the same too. I’ve put her down at the same time as before. So if the clock said 12:30 PM, even though a couple of days ago 12:30 PM was 11:30 AM, she still went down for her nap.

Does this make sense? Just keep your schedule, they will get used to the time change, I promise as will you!

Tip 3: Keep the same wake-up time

Wake-up times–if you have a little one taking more than one nap a day I recommend waking up your kiddo at the time they would normally wake up even though their body thinks it’s an hour behind. This will help their body adjust to the rest of the day.

For example, my sister’s daughter wakes up every day at 6:30 AM but when the time changed she wanted to sleep till 7:30 AM. If she would have slept till 7:30 AM this would have thrown her whole day off. So my sister woke her up at 6:30 AM. This little waking helped her adjust to the rest of her day.

I totally recommend this for adults too. I know for myself, I’ve wanted to sleep longer but when it comes time to go to sleep at night I lay there for an hour trying to go to sleep because I had extra sleep that morning. Instead, if I set my alarm for my normal wake-up time, even though it feels earlier, it will help me go to sleep faster.

Tip 4: Buy blackout curtains!

Just do it for yourself and your kids! Blackout curtains are the BEST! We have them in every bedroom even our guest room. They help so much with naptime and early bedtimes even when it’s not Daylight Savings Time. These are Caroline’s Blackout curtains and let me tell you they are cute and amazing!!!

Tip 5: Give yourself and your kids a break!

Give yourself a break this week and your kiddos too. Everyone is going to be a little more tired and if you’re anything like us you might have some weird allergy stuff going on.

So just remember if you’re tired and agitated easily, remember your kids could be feeling the same way. Order Pizza, make life easier on yourself, and give yourself a break!

I hope you’re doing great with the Daylight Savings Time change! In a week or two, this will be totally something of the past just remember that!

Let me know if you have any great tips below! I’d love to hear them!

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