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On the night between Thursday and Friday, between March 23 and 24, at 02:00, we switch to summer time of 2023. At that time, we will move the hands forward one hour to 2:00 - and lose an hour of sleep.
While it is easy for adults to cope with the change, it is more difficult for children (depending on age, temperament and the quality of the child's sleeping habits), so it is better to prepare in advance so as not to disturb the children's sleeping routine.
Here are tips on how to prepare the children for moving the clock to maintain a balanced sleep routine:
Before moving the clock
Starting today, gradually advance the child's bedtime.
Your general goal is to advance bedtime by an hour, every day a partial advance, for example: if your child is used to going to bed at 8:00 p.m. and there are 4 more nights until the clock changes, divide the 60 minutes by 4 and each day advance bedtime by 15 minutes From yesterday: today they went to bed at 19:45 instead of 20:00, tomorrow at 19:30, two days after tomorrow at 19:15, and finally they went to bed at 19:00.
On the night of moving the clock, you should be at bedtime one hour earlier than usual.
In this way, the child does not lose an hour of sleep and does not cause excessive fatigue.
The morning after moving the clock,
the meaning of moving the clock is that the light will rise later and therefore the children will wake up later in the morning.
There are children that this will not affect them at all, and there are children who are used to waking up very early in the morning and the change of the clock will do them and their parents good because they will wake up at 5:30 instead of 6:30, which is a significant difference.
Here are some tips on how to behave the morning after moving the clock:
* Set an alarm clock for the normal wake-up time of the house and if the child wakes up before then - put him back to sleep and tell him that it is still night and you are not waking up now.
Some children will pass the clock easily.
A sleeping baby (Photo: ShutterStock)
* Wake up only children who need to get to their setting (school, kindergarten, etc.). Babies and children who do not go to the setting have no reason to wake up in the morning because they are not late, so allow them a natural morning wake-up. * If the children have difficulty waking up in the morning due to excessive tiredness, develop
the Open the windows and let in natural daylight - sunlight adjusts the biological clock and makes it easier to wake up.
During the day after moving the clock
, the children may be more tired today, it makes perfect sense. Be more attentive to signs of fatigue and sleep needs this day and in the coming days. Here are some tips For children who sleep in the middle of the day: * Put them down for a nap earlier than
usual
to avoid prolonged overtiredness.
* Allow a longer than average daytime rest to make up for deficiencies.
It may be that your child has gotten used to the transition easily, and it may be that he is overtired.
Because it's getting darker now, most kids won't be tired at their usual bedtime and will therefore have trouble falling asleep.
Here are some tips for how to behave in the evening after moving the clock:
The most important thing is to avoid a state of over-fatigue, so pay attention to signs of fatigue, and don't allow yourself to stay awake past the usual bedtime.
Don't be confused by the fact that it gets late and put the child to bed later because he will be overtired and it will be even more difficult to put him to sleep.
Wake up early only if the child has to go to school.
A child on his way to kindergarten (Photo: ShutterStock)
* In order to encourage the secretion of sleep hormone, darken the house when you start the sleep ritual and especially the bedroom.
Behave in a more relaxed atmosphere than usual, and act as if it is already dark even though it is still light outside.
* A child who refuses to go to sleep, looks alert and jumpy: he is probably already in a state of over-fatigue, so it is recommended to conduct a more relaxed sleep ritual than usual, slow down, take a quiet shower and add a relaxing activity in a dark room in bed.
In no way allow staying up until late.
* A child who has trouble falling asleep: if the child is crying, approach him and soothe him in his bed.
Do not allow to leave the bed or the room, be consistent and insist on going to bed at the usual time.
Allow the child to talk to himself in his bed and think thoughts, but no light or sound activity.
* Do not panic if the child cries and resists, if you are consistent and sensitive - within a day or two the situation will pass.
* Follow the bedtime routine at the appropriate time and according to signs of fatigue even a few days after moving the clock, regardless of the fact that it is the weekend and you can go to bed later. This coming weekend you should give up late nights, Shabbat meals, etc. in order to prevent continued deterioration.
Mia Steinhardt Ziv is a parenting and sleep expert and the owner of MamamayaSchool - a school for parenting and sleep.
health
parenthood
child's health
Tags
sleep
summer time
