I had the opportunity to attend an Infant Sleep workshop last week hosted by Modern…
Time for a Change
It’s not that often that I find myself dreaming about living in Saskatchewan – maybe once or twice a year. I was never a big fan of daylight savings time pre-kids, but once you’re a parent, hearing the dreaded “Fall Back” and “Spring Forward” reminders are enough to have me packing my bags for Regina. Low housing prices and no DST, what more could a Mom ask for?
Since I haven’t yet managed to convince my hubby to make the move, I did the next best thing and consulted Jennifer Garden and Karen Randall, the wonder women of SleepDreams Professional Sleep Consultants. Having worked with them in different capacities and attended their amazing workshops, I knew they would have the answers to smoothly transition my little monkeys through the time change. Incidentally, these are also great tips for any time change – we recently put them to good use having travelled back East over Thanksgiving to visit family.
1. Plan Ahead. If the time change hasn’t snuck up on you as it did me, make the transition gradual. Especially for little ones who are sensitive to change, Jennifer recommends moving the entire schedule in 15 minute increments each day until you reach your desired time.
2. Give In To The Dark Side. Specifically for falling back tomorrow, if you don’t want your little one catching worms with the early birds, keep them in a darker environment and hold off feeding until desired wake up time. Once you’ve hit that time, getting them fed and out into sunlight (or whatever natural light you can find in Vancouver) will help reset their circadian rhythm – the body’s internal clock.
3. They Like To Move It. Make sure you have lots of movement incorporated into their awake times throughout the day. This always helps with sleep, so go to the park or hit up Gymboree to get moving!
4. Parents See, Parents Do. You may be tempted to use the “extra” hour to clean or work or have a SuperNanny UK marathon (no…just me?) but Karen reminds us to TRY to adjust our own schedules accordingly as well. Not only will it help your little one make the transition, but rest assured those little feet will start pitter-pattering much too early!
So unless you are reading this post from the Land of the Living Skies, or have found your dream listing on Flin Flon’s MLS, use these tips and the only place you’ll be visiting is dreamland.
Sorry for being a little tired and dumb tonight – I definitely enjoy SuperNanny UK marathons also! I certainly didn’t plan for this time change but I think I will write it in on my calendar for the next one.
Not dumb! The only reason that I had the “inspired” solution so quickly is that I’ve recently done the same thing 🙂 There is something special about the UK version, I just can’t resist kids with accents!