Fall Back + Halloween = YIKES
I’d like to start with a warning: this blog is a little darker than my typical fare. If you need to infuse yourself with positivity (so probably most of you), just read recommendations #1-6 below and skip the rest. For those of you who wish to wallow in my personal pity party regarding my disdain of time change, please read in full.
This is an especially crummy year for Fall Back.
I’m never a fan of daylight saving time (DST) or the equally miserable end to it — euphemistically called Fall Back. My personal opinion is that it stinks and screws with my kids’ schedules I’ve worked so hard to maintain. The scientific fact is that it forces us into a time zone change without shifting our internal day-night cycle (circadian rhythm), which leads to a host of mental and physical health issues. This year, given the current political sh*t storm, a global pandemic, and virtual school, a forced time zone change is the last thing we need. Do parents of littles really need to be woken up even earlier? Aren’t we dealing with enough? Oh, and your kids will be hopped up on Sweet Tarts and Dum Dums because Halloween falls on the last day of DST this year. Most of us parents are already teetering on the brink of total 🤬 breakdown, and are hence poorly positioned to lose an hour of precious sleep, let alone on Halloween…..for however many days and nights it takes to get the family back on track. Ugh.
My typical advice regarding the time change is to not sweat it and understand that environmental light and dark exposure, combined with social activities, mealtimes, and daily routines, will work together to get your kiddo back on track within a week or so. It could be a messy week, but it won’t result in a 5:00AM wakeup forever. For those who are REALLY concerned about the time change, I typically recommend starting a schedule shift 3-5 days before the time change.
But ya’ll, it seems like nothing from the past applies to 2020. Everything is harder. That’s why I’m posting about Fall Back two weeks earlier than I typically do, so that any of you who are already dealing with earlier rising than you’d like, can plan ahead and make simple changes now to mitigate the impact of the clocks ticking backward in time. Since it isn’t likely that we’ll be able to collectively decide as a society to say screw it to Fall Back and keep our clocks where they are, here’s what I recommend for surviving the end to DST this year:
Accept that it’s going to happen and more likely than not your kiddo’s schedule will be a little wonky, and so will yours, and that’s OK. We’re all in this together and will feel better within 5-7 days of the time change — that’s how long he experts say it takes to adapt to the new time — and definitely within two weeks. Stressing about it won’t do you any favors. Just do your best to take care of yourself and consider kicking the TV and social media habits before bed for a while so that you can ensure higher quality sleep. If that’s not an option, set up your coffee pot at night so all you have to do is push a button in the morning.
Begin shifting your kiddos schedule later, by 15 minutes, every few days between now and October 31. Don’t just shift the bedtime later. You’ll also need to keep the bedroom dark for 15 minutes longer the following morning, and shift meal/feeding times, and nap times 15 minutes later as well. So, if your kiddo usually wakes up at 6:15AM, aim to keep them in the darkened bedroom until 6:30AM (it’s fine to go in and hold them and keep them company, just don’t turn on the lights or feed them until 6:30AM). Subsequent meals, naps, and then bedtime should be shifted 15 minutes later as well. Keep shifting the schedule in 15-minute intervals every few days until your baby is sleeping an hour later than “normal” on the days leading up to the time change (so 7:15AM in the example provided). Then, on November 1st, 7:15AM will magically become 6:15AM . The sleep period hasn’t moved a bit, but the clocks shifted backward by an hour at 2:00AM.
Keep the house well lit and lights really bright until about 30-45 minutes before bedtime while you are shifting the schedule, to help promote the later bedtime and later morning wake up time.
On November 1st and every morning that week, turn on bright lights in the morning and go outside early to expose yourselves to morning sunlight. This light exposure will help your whacked internal clocks get adjusted to the time change.
Allow yourself the pleasure of eating as much Halloween candy as you want, and go ahead and spike the cider while you’re at it.
Join my instagram live office hours this Friday at 10:30AM Eastern (@littledippersleep) if you have questions about the time change or early rising in general. And definitely let me know if the unfortunately early rising continues beyond November 8th! I can help :-)
In closing, yes, October 31st will be Halloween, and a full moon, a blue moon no less, and the last day of DST. My husband joked that this set of circumstances seems like one of those string of events that some kids would find engraved in a scroll in a horror movie, like, “Shall the full moon riseth for the second time on the eve of All Hallows, the Lord of the underworld shall rise and bring forth his wrath…” OK, so that was a little dramatic! I’m not going to let myself get too far down the path of pondering the apocalypse, especially given what’s happening on November 3rd. The real take-away: Fall Back is happening, it will be Halloween, the moon will be full so make sure your blackout curtains do a sufficient job making the room dark, and with a little planning ahead, you can beat the system and avoid the 5:00AM wake up call.
Wishing you and yours a happy, safe, healthy, and as well-rested (given the poorly timed end to DST!) Halloween!
~Liz
