Helping Your Children Adjust to Daylight Saving Time with Dr. Angelique Millette

Spring Forward Time Change March 10

March 10th “spring forward” time change is coming up, here is a quick reminder on prepping your child.

Beginning Tuesday March 5th, put your child down 10 minutes earlier for bed. 

This means you will need to begin the bedtime routine 10 minutes earlier than usual.

Repeat this every night through Saturday. When the time change occurs, your baby or toddler will have slowly adjusted to the new time.

For example, if your child's bedtime is 7:00 pm, with the bedtime routine beginning at 6:30 pm, the schedule will be:

Tue: 6:20 pm begin bedtime routine, 6:50 pm bedtime
Wed: 6:10 pm-begin bedtime routine, 6:40 pm bedtime
Thu: 6:00 pm-begin bedtime routine, 6:30 pm bedtime
Fri: 5:50 pm-begin bedtime routine, 6:20 pm bedtime
Sat: 5:40 pm-begin bedtime routine, 6:10 pm bedtime
Sun: 7 pm bedtime (new time, old time would have been 6 pm)

You can take this time to make schedule/routine adjustments. For example, if your child goes to be on the early side (6 pm) and is waking earlier in the morning (4/6 am) you can keep their bedtime the same without using the 10-minute adjustments suggested above. So, if your baby goes to bed at 6 pm and wakes at 5 am, don’t make any adjustments. With the time change, your child’s new bedtime will be 7 pm and the new wake up time will be 6 am.

It takes about a week for a baby/toddler to adjust to the new time. Your little one may be a bit cranky, or seem more tired and may need more nap time during the day. Adjust to your child’s needs and put down for a nap 15 minutes earlier if your child seems over tired. Otherwise, stick to your routine and keep the daytime naps the same time.

Dr. Angelique Millette

Parent-child coach, pediatric sleep consultant, and family sleep researcher. Dr. Millette’s diverse background includes training in child play, art, and nature therapies, child development and sleep, and work as a child psychologist. Dr. Millette’s commitment to children and parents spans twenty-five years and she continues to develop programs to meet families “where they are at.” Her approach allows her to work with diverse communities both nationally and internationally. Dr. Millette has developed The Millette MethodTM a multi-disciplinary approach to family sleep and child behavior. The Millette MethodTM does not follow one specific sleep or behavioral method, but rather uses a “tool-box” of different methods and approaches and takes into account various factors including child temperament and history, culture, family social support, access to nature/play, parental overwhelm, history of trauma, and parent/child mental health and wellness. Dr. Millette has worked with more than 15,000 families, and presents professional workshops to non-profits, government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, universities, and parents groups across the country and internationally. Dr. Millette also consults with juvenile products manufacturers in their development of innovative sleep and child development designs.