Topline:
We’ll all lose an hour of sleep this Sunday for Daylight Saving Time, and that can be hard for young kids and adults alike. But there are strategies to help kids adjust.
Spring forward: Clocks will be set an hour ahead starting at 2 a.m. on Sunday. That means if you’re waking up at 7 a.m., your body will still feel like it’s 6 a.m.
Tips to adjust: While parents of young kids might be anxious about the change, Colleen Kraft, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, says it’s actually easier to help younger children adjust than teenagers, since parents can set their bedtime schedules.
She has three main tips:
- Gradually make bedtimes earlier by 10 to 15 minutes a day — it’s not too late to start that today.
- When you wake up in the morning, make sure to get sunlight or some outside time, because that will help set your circadian rhythm.
- Stop screen times two hours before bedtime. “What happens is that when it gets dark, your brain begins to turn on some melatonin and with Daylight Saving Time, dark is going to be an extra hour away so you have to do everything you can to make your brain ready to relax and go to sleep,” she said.
Go deeper: Why Daylight Saving Time Is Starting Again In California
