By Louise Flanagan
The clocks went forward by an hour last Sunday morning.
While adults might find it a minor inconvenience, for parents of young children, especially toddlers, daylight saving time can be a formidable challenge.
The adjusting of clocks by an hour can wreak havoc on sleep schedules and disrupt the balance of family life; a delicate balance that is hard won and easily lost in many cases.
Personally, I never managed to prepare my kids for the time change in advance – I’d normally be the last to remember about it, reminded by a post on Facebook or a passing comment from a friend.
Anticipating the shift, many parents dread the impending disruption to their children’s sleep patterns.
Toddlers thrive on routine, and any deviation can lead to crankiness, tantrums and sleep disturbances.
Despite even the best efforts to prepare them, toddlers don’t easily grasp the concept of time change.
Explaining to a two year old why bedtime suddenly feels an hour earlier or later is an exercise in futility.
On Sunday morning, most toddlers woke up at their usual time, unaware that the clock had jumped forward.
Suddenly, the carefully crafted morning routine was thrown into disarray; their willful body clock versus the actual clock.
Toddlers are creatures of habit, and any disruption to their meal times and nap schedule can have cascading effects on their mood and behaviour.
Some toddlers may resist napping at the new time, leading to overtiredness and meltdowns later in the day.
Due to their disrupted napping, some may fall asleep earlier than usual this week, only to wake up full of beans before dawn and ready for a new day.
The joys.
Bedtime poses another hurdle for parents.
While we’re pleased to see the ‘grand oul stretch in the evenings’, it undoubtedly makes it difficult to convince toddlers that it’s time to go to bed when the sky is still light.
A quote from the film Frozen springs to mind; “The sky’s awake, so I’m awake, so we have to play!”
How can you argue with that logic?!
The extended daylight hours can confuse their internal clocks, leading to bedtime battles that drag on into the night, ironically well beyond the original hour time difference.
Despite the challenges, there are strategies parents can employ to ease the transition. Gradually shifting bedtime and nap times by fifteen minutes per day can help toddlers adjust more smoothly.
There’s no point expecting them to get on board with the new regime in a mere 24 hours.
Maintaining a consistent bedtime routine, even in the face of changing clocks, can provide a sense of stability for young children.
Blackout curtains can help block out the extra daylight, signalling to toddlers that it’s time to sleep. The Groclock also worked a charm in our house.
Google it – and make sure you follow the instructions carefully to set it right!
It was a game changer in our house, encouraging the kids to ignore the sky outside and focus on the symbols on the clock that indicate when it’s time to sleep and when it’s time to rise and shine.
Above all, parents should be patient with themselves and their children during the transition.
It may take a week or more for toddlers to fully adjust to the new time schedule.
In the meantime, remember, this too shall pass, and eventually, we’ll all settle into the rhythm of a new, brighter season.
Louise Flanagan is an admin of Letterkenny Babies Facebook page and the author of the children’s book series, Dragonterra.
www.dragonterra.ie
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