Spring Ahead-and Lose More Sleep!
So as if parents aren’t sleep deprived enough as it is, someone had the bright idea to move clocks ahead by an hour every spring and cut our sleep time by another hour. And if that isn’t hard enough on its own, some of us have babies that are dependent upon a nice routine and get very cranky when they are sleep deprived, thus making our own sleep deprivation even harder to deal with!
So we’ve been through almost 3 time changes now. The first one would have been last spring, when they were just a few weeks old. Hmm, why do I not remember how we dealt with that? Oh yeah, because I was in a drug and sleep deprivation induced mommy fog trying to recover from a c-section and manage twin newborns! In fact, I think it’s safe to say I was in that fog for a good 6 months. So I have nooo idea how we handled the spring time change. I do know that when the time changed in November, I prepared for it weeks in advance, adjusting the boys’ schedule bit by bit until the day of the change so that they easily slipped right into the new time. similarly, I have been preparing for the time change this weekend, but I did not know it was this weekend until just a few days ago, so I haven’t had ample time to shift their schedule SLOWLY. I’ve been pushing everything back by 15 to 30 minutes since Monday:wakeup time, breakfast, naps, bedtime, etc. I’m hoping that if we can get to and stay consistently at 30 minutes ahead of schedule, then, by Sunday, we will only be 30 minutes behind and I can slowly change the other 30 over the next week. Typically, the boys are up and eating breakfast by 730am. The last few days we got them downstairs eating by 715. The next couple of days it will be 700. On Sunday, it will become 8am. I can spend the rest of the week, adjusting everything so that eventually, they are waking up at 730am again. This would follow for all of their naps, meals and bedtime for the day. Speaking of which, I have had a few people ask me what their schedule looks like at this age, so here it is!
645-715-Wake up
730-Breakfast-solids and water
800-815-Bottle
815-845-Independent play in Play Pens
845-915-Interactive play and snuggles-change and down for a nap
930-1030-Nap
1030-1100-Independent Play in crib
1100-1200-Organized Play-Story Time, Peek A Boo, Etc.
1200-Lunch-Solids-Soup, Crackers, Veggies,Water
1245-Bottle
100-115-Change, Story, Down for a Nap
130-300-Nap
300-Afternoon Snack (Graduates Toddler Drink and Yogurt/Fruit)
315-400-Independent Play in Play Pens
400-500-Creative and Interactive Play
500-TV time, Snuggles
530-Dinner-Solids and Water
600-Bath
630-Bottle, Snuggles and Story
700-Bed
How do you get your babies ready for a time change? What does your one year old’s schedule look like?
Id love to see some other ideas!
Thanks for stopping by! Happy Friday Everyone!
We had a very detailed schedule like this, too. But most of it was in my head. I should have written it down but I was too tired! 🙂 Our twins are 3-1/2 and we’re still a very schedule-oriented family. For daylight savings our strategy was just to dive in with the same schedule as if nothing had happened - something I got from discussing it with a grandma in our neighborhood. I told her I was worried about daylight savings and she looked at me like I was silly and said, “They don’t know what time it is!” Oh my… She was right though. Last week was the first time it was rough for 3 days because we had sunny weather at bedtime. Now we’re all back to our regular schedule. 🙂 Hang in there! The baby phase is really fast - I know everyone says that, but I remember being kind of encouraged by it on those days when I was exhausted!
Thanks Linda! I guess I am too chicken to just dive right in! Maybe when they are a bit older! I agree that they don’t know what time it is, but right now I feel like the “wake time” makes a difference so if they are up for 2 hours before napping they would notice if we they are all of a sudden put down for their nap an hour earlier than usual! I guess I think of it the same way I think of jet lag…your internal clock relies on certain things to tell your brain what time it is, and if you throw it off, even by an hour…your body notices! But as adults, we do tend to deal with it better, so I think as time goes on, we have to worry about it less and less with our kids! I’m hoping that the time change in the fall won’t have to be as much of a stress! I love your insights! Thanks for popping by!