Admit it, a time change + daylight savings is the last thing you want to deal with.
You fear anything that may undo all the hard work you have put into getting your twins to consistently sleep through the night.
And you NEVER deviate from their routine just so they continue to sleep like champions.
Have you avoided any opportunity to venture away from home for the weekend or politely declined a trip across country to visit family all because you worry how your twins will handle a time change?
The truth of the matter is that you will encounter times when you have to shift your twins schedule due traveling, moving across the country or it’s the actual time to change our clocks for the season.
How Will Time Change + Daylight Savings Affect My Twins Schedule?
The good news is that the adjustment period is usually short-lived, but time change can wreak havoc on your babies’ sleep schedule. Suddenly you may have two tiny humans crawling in your bed or hollering at you from their cribs earlier than normal, which is less than ideal for any family.
So you have a choice to make…
You can do nothing and although it may be challenging, your babies’ internal clock will adjust to the time change in a week or two, but that can be tricky when you are traveling.
Better yet, you can begin to shift their schedules about a week ahead of time to prepare for the change.
So here’s what you can do to maintain your sanity and sleep when the time changes–
- Starting three to four days (even up to a week) before the anticipated shift in time, put your little loves to bed 15 minutes later each night leading up to the change. For example, if bedtime is usually 7 p.m., put your baby to bed at 7:15 p.m. the first night, 7:30 the next, so on and so forth. You will need to shift nap times and feedings as well.
- Following the same shift in bedtimes, try getting your babies out of bed 15 minutes later (if you can tolerate a little protesting) for those few days before daylight savings hits to help them adjust their wake times to the change.
- Keep the early morning sun at bay and encourage later wake up times with room darkening shades.
- Maintain your bedtime routine and encourage some quiet calming activities in the early evening (puzzles, extra stories, coloring, etc.) to help ease the transition to a later bedtime.
- The Gro Clock Sleep Trainer (affiliate link) has worked miracles in our house by helping us train our twinkies to stay in bed until “the sun comes up”. We simply adjust the wake time to match the time change. Check it out, The Gro Clock is a must have for busy toddlers!
Just Remember…
That overtired babies have trouble sleeping soundly at night and wake up early in the morning. Even though you are shifting schedules, be sure that you maintain your routines.
Use your babies’ sleep cues to determine when you should put them down for a nap or if bedtime needs to be a bit early for a night.
And when all else fails, brace yourself, pour an extra glass or two of wine and take the challenge as it comes!
Have you found any tricks for surviving a time change + daylight savings with your twins sleep?
Chat with us in the comments, we’d love to hear from you!
