Disclaimer:
This review was made possible by Double Duty Divas
and Pampers.
I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review, but
all opinions are 100% mine.
 |
| Loving her Children's Place Jammies |
Daylight
Savings time is just around the corner. If you are anything like me, you know
that the time change turns your families sleep routine upside down. If you have
a child in diapers in your home, you also know that it means you need a quality
diaper to make it through the long dark hours of Daylight Savings. With a child
in home home that has diagnosed insomnia, I personally dread this time of year.
I really only
wanted to provide a few tips to help other mother's out there. Unfortunately, I
could not eliminate any of the ten tips, I think that they all have the
potential to help mothers out there with children that are 5 months and
older. Not all of them will work for my daughter or son, but they may
benefit you in some way. So here they are:
10 Daylight Savings Sleep Tips for Baby
By Kim West, LCSW-C, Sleep Lady
Solutions, LLC, copyright 2013
Daylight
savings time ends on Sunday, November 3rd at 2:00 a.m. Most of us
will be rolling our clocks back an hour, which can cause sleep problems, and in
many cases, early rising. This is common due to the simple fact that once we
fall back, 6:30 a.m. suddenly becomes 5:30 a.m., but there are things that you
can do to adjust to the time change gradually so that your children do not need
to make a large adjustment. Please note that the following advice pertains to
babies 5 months and older. Babies younger than 4 months do not have fully
developed sleep patterns. Older toddlers and preschoolers may be able to make that hour
jump right away away IF they are well napped and already well rested, and
therefore may not need to be gradually migrated for the time change.
To
help your family make a smooth transition, here are 10 tips that you can
implement starting now to make a smooth transition as we fall back one hour:
1.
Many
parents dread this time change as their children will be
waking up even earlier, and previous early rising issues can become big
problems. To help make ensure that your baby’s sleep doesn’t go completely off
the rails, make
a slow transition. Make a point to slowly adjust your child’s bedtime
and naptimes an hour earlier, just 15-30 minutes a day for a few days before
daylight savings ends. This way, your child will already be adjusted to the
time change. While you’re adjusting naps and bedtime, make sure that you
also adjust mealtimes in 10-15 minute increments to help ease the transition.
2.
For children under 4 years old, its essential that we make
naps a priority this time change. Quality nighttime sleep is dependent upon
good daytime sleep. Make sure that your children are well-napped during the
day so that when the time change takes effect having a later-feeling bedtime
isn’t as much of an issue. Between naps, make sure that your children are
exposed to plenty of natural light; open the curtains, take an afternoon walk,
or just play outside. To help your children adjust, about 30-45 minutes before
naps and an hour before bedtime. Close the curtains, dim the lights and follow
your soothing sleep routine. If you find that your baby is still having trouble
with sleep even after a good day of naps, you may need to temporarily add a
third late-afternoon nap, of no more than 45 minutes to help make sure that
your baby isn’t overtired at bedtime.
3.
To help your baby sleep more soundly, consider installing blackout curtains
and using a sound machine. Although the days are getting shorter, there may
still be some natural light present, especially in the morning as well as noise
when you put your baby to bed. To mitigate these, install blackout curtains and
use a sound machine to help buffer outside light and sound. Black out shades
are great for children with early rising issues, which is often a problem after
the fall time change, especially if your child was already getting up before
6:00 a.m.
4.
While preparing for the time change (and after), use dramatic wake up to
help your children adjust to the change. It’s entirely possible that after
the change your baby may be waking earlier than normal. If this is the case,
keep your baby’s room dark and quiet, and use a gentle method to encourage your
child to go back to sleep; you may need to check on your baby and reassure that
all is well, and remind them that it’s not quite time to wake up. At this
point, you can either sit on a chair near the door or leave the room and do
timed checks. If your child is over 2.5 years old, I recommend that you purchase
a toddler clock or wake up alarm that signals them when its time to get up and
start the day, as this will help your toddler stay in bed (and hopefully fall
back asleep) until at least 6:00 a.m., at which time you open the blinds
and make a big deal of “good morning”. Make sure that you expose your baby to
lots of natural light first thing in the morning to help reset his circadian
rhythm to coincide with the new time.
5.
Watch your baby’s wakefulness windows. Children have a limited window of wakefulness
(the time that they can be awake and alert without meltdowns) between naps and
bedtimes. Make sure that you watch your baby for sleepy cues carefully. Make
sure that you’re changing your baby’s diaper right before your child goes into
the crib for naps or bedtime. Keeping your child dry will help to prevent
unnecessary night awakenings, and help to ensure a happy, well-rested baby the
next day.
6.
Get outside. It’s getting colder, so bundle everyone up and take a
morning walk, just 20 or 30 minutes to make sure that you and your baby get
some sunshine, which will help your circadian rhythm adjust to the time change.
If you can’t manage a morning walk, make sure that the blinds are open as you
start your day, and keep them open up to 45 minutes before nap and bedtimes to
help your child adjust to the time change.
7.
Stick to your flexible schedule. If you always have breakfast at 8:00
a.m., then keep your schedule, but make sure that you are following it
according to the time change. You can start slowly adjusting your daily
schedule forward in 10-15 minute increments 4-5 days before the time change. So
if you normally have lunch at 11:30, on Wednesday, have lunch at 11:40, on
Thursday, move lunch to 11:50 and so on. The same goes for naps and bedtimes.
The idea is that when the time change takes effect your child’s circadian
rhythm, or internal clock will already be in sync with the change.
8.
The end of daylight savings is a good time to make sure that your child’s
bedtime is age-appropriate. Infants and babies do best with a bedtime
between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m. Later bedtimes have shown to have a negative effect
on children’s attitudes and their ability to focus, and can result in instances
of early rising. If you find that your baby has been going to bed too early or
too late, take advantage of the time change to gradually shift bedtime (back or
forward in 15-30 minute increments over the next week).
9.
To ensure that your children know when it’s time to sleep, rely on your
established soothing bedtime routine. Routines are comforting for children,
so make sure that you keep your baby’s routine the same, although you will be
starting it a bit later due to the time change. Make sure that you are changing
your baby’s diaper right before you tuck them into the crib to help prevent wet
diapers at night and unnecessary nighttime awakenings. If your baby often has
diapers that leak during the night and require a change, please make sure to
use overnight diapers that can keep your baby dry for up to 12 hours to help
limit your baby’s sleep disturbances.
10. If you do
have a child who is getting up before 6:00 a.m., make sure that you
respond to early risings quickly and consistently. Although you may sail
through the time change, some babies will have trouble with early rising for a
few days. Respond to these awakenings quickly, gently resettling your baby so
that sleep comes easier. Be careful to make sure that your baby is actually
awake before you go help, however, as you don’t want to create a new sleep
crutch which would cause your baby to rely on you to get back to sleep.
Remember to utilize dramatic wake up once 6:30 a.m. rolls around!
If
you do nothing else to prepare for the time change, make sure that your
children have had adequate naps in the days leading up to the time change, and
help to prevent unnecessary night awakenings by putting your baby into a clean,
dry diaper right before you settle them into the crib for the night.
Here
are some facts about Pampers Baby Dry Diapers:
_
Pampers Baby Dry are available is sizes 1-6
–
An “Ultra Absorb” core to cover up to 95% of overnight loads.*
_
12 hours of overnight protection
–
Our most absorbent Baby Dry ever (sizes 2-5) with a 15% increase in capacity.
–
Three layers of absorbency vs. two (the amount found in ordinary diapers).
– A
longer absorbent area and new, fun graphics.
–
Snug, stretchy sides, colored tabs and a belted design to reassure parents that
the diaper will hold up.
Join
the PampersSleepChat on Twitter 11/7/2013 and chat about how the end of
Daylight Savings Time can affect sleep patterns & get tips on easing
the transition from The Sleep Lady, Kim West.
#PampersSleepChat Twitter Party Information:
The Twitter Party
will take place on November 7th at 9pm EST.
RSVP: by clicking here
Prizes include:
$50 AMEX Gift
Card, $25 Children’s Place Gift Card, Pampers product and book by Kim West.
$100 AMEX Gift
Card, Pampers Product, series of books by Kim West
Grand Prize: $500
AMEX Card to purchase sleep items such as a new crib, video monitor, etc.
To participate,
follow your hosts @DoubleDutyDivas, @BridgetteLA, @CeceliaMecca @AngieKcom
@WhatMommiesNeed @RamblingChick, sleep expert @TheSleepLady and our sponsor
@Pampers.
To
get more information about Pampers products you can follow them below by
clicking the social media platform(s) of your choice.
One
lucky Grammy2Kaiden winner will have the opportunity to win a Pack of Pampers
Baby Dry Diapers, and a pair of Children’s Place PJ’s
