Mamahood

Springing Forward…

I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear our clocks are about to change, I panic a bit. When it comes to Evelyn’s sleep and nap schedule, she is so scheduled but in the best of ways. Her body is like clockwork. She’s in her crib at 7 pm—I go in to get her in the mornings around 7:15. I mean, the kid wakes up singing and LOVES her crib. As for her naps (that she asks for)—she’s down by 1 and we’ll go in by 3 pm to either wake her or she’s just lying happily in her crib singing. I know! She’s a dream. Mabel on the other hand, has never been the best sleeper. Well, let me rephrase that. Mabel is a Great sleeper—if she’s in our bed.

So here we are, again. On Sunday, our clocks will be springing forward. Listen, there’s definitely nothing wrong with knowing that we’ve officially made it through the winter or having that extra light in the evenings. But here I go with having to finesse their sleep schedules, again. I do it, it gets done and that’s with the help of  Jennifer Waldburger from Sleepy Planet.  I’ve mentioned Jennifer and her company before. She’s coached me through transitioning Mabel from co-sleeping to sleeping in her crib in a loving and gentle manner. She gave me wonderful tips and advice on transitioning Mabel from her crib to a bed .

You bet she has some tricks up her sleeve when dealing with the imminent time change.

Here’s what Jennifer has to say:

I do it, it gets done and that’s with the help of Jennifer Waldburger from Sleepy Planet...

Before bed on Saturday, turn clocks ahead 1 hour.  If your child normally sleeps till 6:30 AM, the next morning she will likely sleep till 7:30 AM.  Her entire schedule – naps and bedtime – will then shift one hour later.

If you’re happy about this change, great!  Just protect her room from too much light in the early morning (use room-darkening shades if necessary), and use white noise so she won’t wake with the birds.

If you’d rather help your child get back to her usual schedule, try the following:

  • Put your child down at her regular bedtime, say 7:30 PM, on Saturday night.
  • Set your alarm for 6:30 AM (according to the new clock) and wake your child at this time.  To her, it will feel like it’s 5:30 AM, but don’t worry.  She’ll be tired, but she’ll adjust.
  • If your child naps, put her down at her normal nap time according to the new clock and resume a normal schedule from there.  Don’t allow her to nap longer than usual.
  • On Sunday night, put her down at her usual bedtime according to the new time.

Once it’s explained like that, it should take all the anxiety out of it for you. I sure did for me. Thank you Jennifer!

 

Emma xx

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Carli says:

Its amazing how a little thing like the clocks changing can realy stress us mums out.
But thx for the easy breakdown emma x

Emma Heming Willis says:

Oh, it’s the little things that sometimes get my wheels turning! And this is one of them :):):)

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