Getting kids to sleep through time change
BY KAREN DEERWESTER
Spring ahead - fall behind. Sleep routines are about to change in your household whether you like it or not. Eastern Standard Time clocks turn back one hour at 2 a.m. Saturday night/Sunday morning on Nov. 7.
Your children are not likely to be on one schedule before Nov. 6 and wake up on Nov. 7 perfectly acclimated to the time change.
 This is the "good" time change when grown-ups get an extra hour of sleep! The problem is: Children don't want an hour of sleep, and they certainly don't like "waiting" for sunrise to get out of bed.
Children will, however, be ready for bed an hour earlier which gives parents a much needed evening break.
You have two ways of managing the time-change. You can gradually adjust bedtime schedules the week before. Or, you can relax and slowly adjust schedules the week or two after. Either way, your child needs a few weeks to reset his or her biological sleep rhythms. Here are a few tips should you want to take advantage of tweaking your child's sleep habits in the upcoming weeks:
- Let your child sleep in now if your schedule permits. 7 a.m. becoming 6 a.m. is much preferred over
6 a.m. becoming 5 a.m.
- Start extending your child's wake-time by 10-15 minutes every few days until Nov. 7. A child awake doesn't mean time to hit-the-ground-running. Let your child know "it's not time to get out of bed yet" - give her books to read in bed, or "imagination" toys like dolls, animals, or small vehicles.
- Incorporate visual reminders in your child's room to reinforce your awake/asleep message: shade-down/shade-up, stay-in-bed picture clock or a two-sided door hanger hung in the room.
- Let your child stay up 10-15 minutes later the week before the time change, gradually extending your child's day so that this week's 9 p.m. bedtime becomes the November 8 p.m. bedtime.
- Most importantly, stay clear and consistent in your sleep expectations. Your child can and will learn great sleep habits. Just remember, you can't "force" a child to sleep but you can create a peaceful bedtime routine.
Karen Deerwester is the author of "The Entitlement-Free Child" and "The Potty Training Answer Book"
and the owner of Family Time Coaching and Consulting. She offers
one-on-one parent coaching, as well as classes and seminars. She is
also Mommy & Me director at B'Nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton,
where she works with mothers, infants and toddlers through age 2. Get
more information about B'Nai Torah's early childhood education program here. Visit the Family Time website and follow Karen on Twitter @FamilyTimeInc.
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