How do you handle DST with kids' bedtimes?

[mackmama]

Do you adjust your kids to the new DST schedule, or do you keep them on their current schedule? We are considering keeping DC on the current schedule, i.e.:

Regular bedtime is 7:15pm, so put to bed at 6:15pm after DST
Regular wakeup is 7am, so regular wakeup would be 6am.

Is this a bad idea? DC doesn't have any late activities during the day, so the earlier bedtime shouldn't be a problem. We are thinking this will be easier than transitioning - but are we missing something?

Update: So do most people stick with the same clock time for bedtime all year? (Ie: if bedtime is normal 7:15pm then stick with that year round and don't make it 6:15pm when DST starts)

[123LuckyMom]

I think it's brilliant! I might try it with my kids!


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[bcafe]

There is no possible way we could put them down that early. It sounds good but in practice it wouldn't work for us. We usually just adjust gradually.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Wouldn't work for our lifestyle at all. Night owls/ dislike mornings. We don't change anything. Never have. Bonus with dst is that we have started staying up later recently so it'll be good to feel tired at a slightly earlier time.


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[mackmama]

There is no possible way we could put them down that early. It sounds good but in practice it wouldn't work for us. We usually just adjust gradually.

Would it not work because they wouldn't go to bed that early (but why? their schedule wouldn't be adjusted) or is it because they have late activities?

[mackmama]

Wouldn't work for our lifestyle at all. Night owls/ dislike mornings. We don't change anything. Never have. Bonus with dst is that we have started staying up later recently so it'll be good to feel tired at a slightly earlier time.


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I'm confused. So you don't change anything - I think I'm saying the same thing. Aren't I? I don't know why DST stumps me every year.

[Philly Mom]

Would it not work because they wouldn't go to bed that early (but why? their schedule wouldn't be adjusted) or is it because they have late activities?

Their schedule is adjusted though if they are in school. I think it would be hard to maintain for longer than a week. I also can't imagine wanting my kid to wake up at 6:15.


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[DualvansMommy]

My boys never seem to be affected by DST. I always just kept their schedules pretty much the same without any issues. They usually wake up 7am and go to sleep anywhere from 7-7:30pm ever since DS2 was close to 18 months old.


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[BDKmom]

With your way of doing it, OP, you just end up with an extra hour before school and one less hour between end of school and bedtime. We need the hour after school a lot more than the hour before, and we don't do late activities. But by the time the kids unwind and get homework/reading done, I cook dinner and we eat, then clean up and get a bath, no way we could get in bed an hour earlier. (DS gets off the bus just after 3, we eat dinner 5:30-5:45, kids head upstairs 6:30 or 7, depending on whether we are doing a bath that night. Bedtime is 8.) I can imagine that it's much worse for WOH parents. I SAH and DH WAH.

I was trying to figure out earlier tonight how to adjust things to make it as easy as possible. I considered letting them stay up a half hour later tonight, but DH
and I had things that we needed to do after they were in bed. So, they will probably wake up at 6 in the morning instead of their usual 7, so I may put them down about 30 min early tomorrow night, since they basically get the extra hour during their day tomorrow. By Monday night, they can go to bed at usual time and be fine.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I'm confused. So you don't change anything - I think I'm saying the same thing. Aren't I? I don't know why DST stumps me every year.

Bedtime is 9:30ish year round. I don't make it 8:30 when DST starts.


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[BananaMama]

Same clock time for bedtime all year. I can't imagine putting them to bed an hour earlier during standard time.


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[mikala]

OP's plan wouldn't work for my kids. We need the extra hour after dinner to do baths, etc. and DH would basically lose an hour a day of time with the kids.

It would also be a problem during the holiday season. We usually have holiday events until at least 7p, and we travel to see family one timezone away. One hour difference is fine but I wouldn't want my children to be ready for bed at 5p local time.

I usually adjust the clocks correctly, extend bedtime with a few extra stories for a few nights and my kids adapt within a week or so.

[KrisM]

We keep the same time for our things. No way would DS1 get up at 5:15 to leave for the bus at 6:55! He has no need for an extra hour in the morning. The others could sort of do it, but again, they don't need to be up at 6 for 8:40 bus.

Night would be hard, as bedtime is 8:30 now and moving to 7:30 would be very difficult most days. It would be so rushed in the evenings.

ETA: We don't do anything different to switch at this point. It takes a few days, but they just adjust.

[kristenk]

OP, if I were you, I'd keep the old time schedule for the first few days (so go to bed at 6:15 tomorrow night). I'm betting that your DC's sleep schedule will gradually shift over the course of the week. I'd just let that happen gradually and not stress too much over the exact time.

[specialp]

OP's plan wouldn't work for my kids. We need the extra hour after dinner to do baths, etc. and DH would basically lose an hour a day of time with the kids.

.

:yeahthat: They would lose Daddy time at night so they would never see him because he is up and out long before they are wake. Even if they stay on regular time, the rest of the world (aka: us) operates on DLS time and I see no benefit to them being up an hour earlier than I need them to be only to go to bed as soon as dinner is completed with no down time with their dad.

[klwa]

It sounds like a good plan, but as PP have mentioned, it wouldn't work for us. Moving bedtimes up by an hour would make it very difficult to get supper eaten as a family before needing to put th e youngest to bed.

[scrooks]

Like others have said, we need that extra hour at night. I'm always amazed by families who can swing those early bedtimes. For us it's hard for activities and even my 3 year old balks at going to bed when the sun is still out (I realize this time of year that's not a problem.). Plus I don't want anyone waking up at 6 am!!!

[PZMommy]

My kids normally go to bed at 7, and are up at 5:30. We keep that schedule during the school year and then adjust it in the summer when we don't have school to deal with. For the next few mornings they will wake up insanely early, but they adjust within a few days.

[123LuckyMom]

My kids are tired! They aren't waking up by themselves in the morning any more, and having to be awoken is a sign of not getting enough sleep. I think using DST to try to push bedtime back may work, because to the body clock, it's the same time they've been going to bed, so they might get sleepy earlier. I expect they'll still sleep the extra hour on the morning end. We wake now at 7am, though I've been letting them sleep as much later as I dare. My hope would be if I could push back what is now a bedtime-routine-ending-at-8pm-but-actual-sleep-at-9pm to actual sleep by 8 or even 8:30pm, they'd be getting more sleep and might wake naturally at 7am like they used to. We'll see. We do have one weekday activity that ends at 7:45pm, and it throws our whole week off!


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[mom2binsd]

I never really worried about it, my kids naturally adjusted, we tended to keep the same time that the clock said, they usually had no trouble going to bed when we needed them to. But there is no way I'd have been able to put my kids to bed at 6:15, but they have always gone to bed closer to 9.

[BDKmom]

I think the fall time change isn't really a big deal for my kids to adjust to. We get an extra hour, which just gets added into our Sunday. They still get the same number of hours of sleep Saturday night and Sunday night. If I felt they had been going to bed too late I might use it as a chance to adjust things, but otherwise, it's really no big deal. Now the spring change when we lose an hour is a different story.

[twowhat?]

It used to be really hard when the kids were babies/toddlers/preschoolers but now that they're school-aged, it's easy. We just let them stay on the old schedule until Monday morning...they never want to wake up on Monday mornings anyway so it's perfect! And then being at school doing the regular school routine is enough to re-set their clocks and then Monday afternoon/evening we're good to go with the new time:)

We do the same thing in the spring. We try to have them ready to go to bed early and then they can read or do a quiet activity until they're sleepy - sometimes makes for a rough Monday morning but the adjustment is easy due to school routine.

[AnnieW625]

we don't change schedules. Dd2 went to bed at her normal time of 8:30, and Dd1 went to bed at 9:30. Dd1 was up by 6:15, and Dd2 was up at 6:40. The earlier morning wake ups will help with getting ready for school esp. with Dd2 who likes to sleep in. They will eventually get back on the regular track.

DD1's regular bedtime is about 9 pm these days and is usually up by 6:30 and has very little problems getting up at 7 am for school, but she has always been that way.

Being work out of home parents an early bedtime of 7:30 pm for even Dd2 since she turned 4 has been really hard; we try our best for 8 pm, but most nights it is closer to 8:30 once we have finished books and she has brushed her teeth.

[doberbrat]

When its time to change the clock, I change it and we go about our business. We dont change anything other than the clocks. Everyone adjusts.

The whole clock change thing annoys me though. I dislike moving it back in the summer. Makes for less playground time after school!

Funny story though - my mom sent me a reminder to move my clocks ahead last night. As soon as I saw it, I sent her an email back correcting her but it was already 1ish.... she'd already moved her clocks ahead and went to bed. Then she woke up at 6:15am to get ready for 7:30 Mass. Couldnt understand why it was so dark or why the church parking lot was so empty .... until she looked at her phone and saw my message OOPS! :hysterical:

[trcy]

We don't do anything different. DD goes to bed at her normal time. I change her clock after she is asleep (she has an ok to wake clock), and hope for the best. She is usually a mess for a few days after a time change...though she seems to be handling this one ok.


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[flashy09]

I always use it as a good opportunity to move up bedtime! My kids get up early no matter what so don't worry about that part - plus makes it easier for preschool mornings.

[AlbrightRC]

My son wakes at 6am..and goes to bed at 8pm by the clock..all year round

[amom526]

Keeping the schedule the same wouldn't work for us, cause it would mean putting my kids to bed at like 530 or 6 which isnt really possible. Plus they already wake up insanely early. But i WISH WE COULD! i HATE daylight savings time with a passion. It really throws us off. One of my kids woke up in the 3 o clock hour this morning, and I'm expecting more of those this week. But they do adjust. In my experience, you would have to adjust things like meal times as well - because at least for my kids meal times are a big part of their daily routine and how the body works. It's much easier in the long term to keep everything the same clock time, and just deal with the disruption for a few days - at least for my kids.

[StantonHyde]

Just think of it as going on vacation to a place where the time zone is an hour behind. Everybody adjusts. Nobody dies.

[mom_hanna]

We have always kept schedules the same (ie. bedtime is 9pm all year long). My dc have luckily never had any problem adjusting to the new time.

[JamiMac]

We've never done anything different and my kids have never seemed effected by it. They go to bed between 9 and 10 and usually and wake up at 6:30-7.


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