If you’re dreading rousting grouchy kids from bed Monday morning — possibly while battling your own desire to dive back under the covers — a few steps now can reduce the pain of the time change.
Daylight saving time will begin at 2 a.m. Sunday, when the country “springs forward” by an hour, losing sleep in the process. The time change shifts an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening, raising concerns about reduced sleep if people respond by going to bed later.
Ideally, families would start shifting their meals and bedtimes gradually earlier over the course of a week, said Dr. Hector De Leon, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente’s Fort Collins office. Those who didn’t remember to start well in advance can still somewhat blunt the effects by moving their routines over the coming days, he said.
For adults, the spring time change brings a temporary increase in heart attacks, strokes and car accidents, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Kids obviously don’t face the same cardiovascular risks, though traffic accidents are a concern for older teens, who generally don’t like to go to bed early, De Leon said.
Steps families can take to make the time change easier include:
Encourage your child to get outside early in the day after the time change, and schedule strenuous activities in the morning to the extent possible
Try to develop a wind-down routine to ease bedtime as the days get longer. That might include stretching, breathing exercises or asking your child to tell you a story from their day.
If a family member has particular difficulty getting going on dark mornings, consider having them eat breakfast in front of a specialized lamp used to treat seasonal affective disorder
If you have a teenager who doesn’t like to go to bed early, see if you can spark some internal motivation by asking them about activities they value, and reminding them how sleep affects their performance and enjoyment of those things
If your child takes medication that interferes with sleep, such as stimulants for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, talk to your pediatrician about additional steps to get them on schedule. Most doctors don’t recommend that parents routinely give their children melatonin, a hormone to ease sleep, but it can make sense in the short term in some situations, De Leon said.
Ultimately, most kids make the time change transition in a few days without too much trouble, De Leon said. If they continue to be more irritable than usual for a longer period, though, parents should seek help to get their sleep back on track.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that preschoolers get 10 to 13 hours of sleep per day (including naps), school-aged children get nine to 12 hours and teenagers get eight to 10 hours.
“If it’s been more than a week and they’re really struggling… that’s when it’s time to talk to their doctor,” he said.
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