As a mother of twins, my number one piece of advice to new MoMs is to get their babies on a schedule…the SAME schedule.
It was that piece of advice that saved my sanity when the girls were infants, and I’ve continued to be very schedule-oriented since.
With the clock being so central to our lives, the thought of the time change twice a year sends my stomach into knots. I work so hard to maintain my girls’ schedule, and here Mr. Time decides to upend us by an entire hour!
While I dread changing our clock every few months, [KNOCK ON WOOD!] our girls have always adjusted to the new time within a few days, and it’s never been quite as bad as I rehearsed in my mind.
To help get us thinking about the time change in a couple of weeks, I am posting an excerpt I saw from a sleep specialist, as to how to manage your children’s schedules.
Although the time change officially takes place on a Saturday night, for the child, it actually begins the next evening on Sunday. The parent should stick with the “old time” all day Sunday for the child’s nap. Then on Sunday evening, the parent should move to the “new time” essentially making the child stay up an hour past the usual bedtime. The parent must continue putting the child down at night at normal bedtime for the child to make the adjustment to sleeping in till their usual time. Most children continue waking early for several days, then intermittently for several days. After about 10-14 days most children are back on schedule if the parent is consistent. It will take longer to adjust if the parents intermittently put the child down early.
I’m hoping that if I at least feel like I have a plan of attack, I can save myself some anxiety leading up to the time change on November 6th. But I’ll still be crossing my fingers and toes for good measure that the transition is a smooth one.
What are your tips for managing the time change?
Mandy, mom to almost-three-year old fraternal twin girls
