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It's that time of year that some people love to hate.
Daylight Savings Time will soon be coming to an end, and we'll move our clocks back one hour.
Once we Fall Back, we'll get more light in the morning and less light in the evening.
Some parents dread this time of year because it wreaks havoc on their babies' sleep schedule, which, of course, wreaks havoc on EVERYBODY'S sleep situation and makes for a rough couple of days as everybody gets acclimated to the time change.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
Here's how to adjust your twins' sleep schedule leading up to Daylight Savings Time.
Set your twins up for success when it's time to Fall Back
You'll want to implement your plan four or five days ahead of the time change.
On the first day, go about your morning and day as usual. Keep naps the same length as they'd usually be. But starting that evening, pay attention to the clock.
Push suppertime and the start of the bedtime routine back by 10 or 15 minutes each night, with the goal being that by the time you reach Saturday night (mere hours before Daylight Savings Time ends), you'll have pushed your twins' bedtime back to be basically one hour later than it was before you started this process.
After the first night of pushing their bedtime back slightly, you'll implement part two of your Plan for Uninterrupted Sleep & a Successful Time Change: starting your babies' daytime routine 10 to 15 minutes later each day, so that by the time you Fall Back, your day will start one hour later than it used to.
Side note: Just a word to the wise—don't try this plan for babies who are younger than four months old, or you'll probably end up with not one but TWO overtired babies who are much more difficult to put to bed and who don't want to nap.
According to the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, "evidence of the circadian rhythm starts to emerge at around two to three months of age, but is not normally fully developed until after the first year."
This is why it's important for babies to experience changes in lighting throughout the day; it helps them develop and entrain the circadian rhythm. During daytime hours, make sure your babies are exposed to light, whether it's opening the curtains, turning on the lights throughout the house, or going out for a stroll. Doing so helps your little ones produce melatonin later in the day, so they sleep better at night.
When it's naptime or bedtime, dim and then completely turn the lights out. If your toddlers tell you they're scared of the dark (or if you suspect they are and it's affecting their sleep), you can try a red nightlight like this one, which is less harsh on the eyes than standard white or yellow nightlights and are less likely to affect their production of melatonin.
Instead, with the time change, just carry on about your normal routine with your newborns and follow their hunger and sleep cues as you usually would. Over the week, your little ones will likely adjust their schedule as needed on their own.
If you try this with your newborns and their schedule stays really out of whack after five days or so, try incorporating some extra snuggles onto the end of their naps and sleep sessions to see if that helps push the start of their wake windows and daytime routine a little later to where they should be.
On that note, we tried pushing the schedule, including naptimes, back incrementally each day when our twins were a week shy of five months old, and it worked like a charm for the Fall Back.
They hopped on the Goodnight Train without any issues, and after the day of the time change, we were back to our usual schedule and wake windows.
Why bother with adjusting their schedule?
When someone, or in a twin parent's case, two someones are doubly cranky from being overtired because they are exhausted and want to go to bed but it's not actually bedtime for another hour yet (thanks to the Fall Back), that single hour can feel like an eternity.
On the flip side, when your twin toddlers jump out of bed to get up and at 'em at their usual time, but still technically have another hour they should be sleeping for (again, thanks to the Fall Back), it can be frustrating for them.
Gradually pushing everything back in the days leading up to when Daylight Savings Time ends can help with the transition to the time change.
But I can't make them stay asleep…
As someone who's been through this with their twins, I know it's easier said than done to keep not only one but two babies who are rarin' to go in their bedroom AND quiet, even for only an additional 10 minutes. If you can keep your toddlers asleep for those extra 10 or 15 minutes, all the power to you, and congratulations on a job well done!
But if your little ones wake up at their usual time instead of the slightly late time you'd hoped forr, the goal is to keep them in the quiet and dark environment (read: in their bedroom with blackout curtains and a sound machine going) for those extra 10 or 15 minutes.
Basically, you want to keep them in their usual sleepy environment surrounded by their usual sleepy cues until the adjusted time you want them to start their day at...or as close to that time as you can get them to.
Follow their cues
On the actual day Daylight Savings Time ends, as you're approaching the new bedtime, if you haven't quite made it to the adjusted bedtime yet but you notice your kiddos are totally tuckered out but haven't reached the realm of the overtired yet, call it a day and put them to bed.
If you try to keep them awake that extra little bit to reach the goal bedtime, you'll likely wind up with a rough night for everyone.
You'll be closer to your goal if you follow their cues while navigating the road to get there.
You'll get there in the end and everybody will sleep better for it.
Is Daylight Savings Time an issue for sleep schedules in your household? What do you do to try to ease the transition when the clocks jump ahead or back? Let us know in the Comments section below.
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