Friends, it’s happening. Daylight savings time ends on Sunday, November 6 at 2 a.m. Unless you live in Hawaii or Arizona, that means you’ll be setting your clocks back one hour when you go to bed on the evening of the 5th. In other words, it’s gonna get dark a whole lot earlier. Aside from the depressing nature of shorter days, the change to our body clocks can also feel jarring. Here’s how to cope:
Ease Kids into It
The time change can be especially difficult for parents of young children. Tots may become little monsters over-tired when staying up an hour past their normal bedtime.
While your childless friends or parents of older kids may be enjoying an extra hour of sleep the next morning, no such luck for you. No matter when you put them to bed, your kids are unlikely to sleep an hour past their usual wakeup time. (At least until they get used to the new bedtime, which can take up to a week.)
Tip:
Don’t force change overnight. Gradually adjust your children’s bedtime by fifteen minutes a day over the course of several days, rather than making the change in one fell swoop.
Don’t Overcompensate
If you’re able to get an extra hour of sleep, take it! Most of us could use the extra snooze time. This 2016 study from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) found that one in three Americans don’t get enough sleep.
Tip:
Go to bed at your normal time Saturday night and get up at your normal time Sunday, and voila! You will have enjoyed an extra hour of snooze time. If you stay up late knowing you can sleep in, you’ll miss this golden opportunity that only comes once a year.
Practice Good Sleep Hygiene
If you’re habitually sleep-deprived, don’t count on one measly hour to fix the problem. Making sustained change will be more effective in the long-term.
Tips:
- Sleep like clockwork. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends.
- Stay in the dark. Sleep in a quiet, dark room. Blackout shades, eye masks, and earplugs are your friends if your sleep environment is too light or noisy.
- Stash the screens. Avoid screens for an hour before bed and don’t keep them in your bedroom. Blue light suppresses your body’s release of sleep-inducing melatonin.
- Step away from the coffee. Avoid caffeine late in the day. Alcohol and large meals can also interfere with sleep.
- Get moving. Exercise during the day can help you sleep at night, though some people find exercise close to bedtime keeps them up.
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NPN 80041079
NPN Claims: Traditionally used in Herbal Medicine as a sleep aid in cases of restlessness or insomnia due to mental stress and as a calmative to help relieve nervousness.
