Before bed, turn clocks ahead 1 hour. If your child normally sleeps till 6:30 AM, the next morning he/she will likely sleep till 7:30 AM. His/Her entire schedule - naps and bedtime - will then shift one hour later.
If you're happy about this change, great! Just protect his/her room from too much light in the early morning, and use white noise so he/she won't wake with the birds.
If you'd rather help your child get back to his/her usual schedule, try the following:
1. Put your child down at his/her regular bedtime, say 7:30 PM, on Saturday night.
2. Set your alarm for 6:30 AM (according to the new clock) and wake your child at this time. To him/her, it will feel like it's 5:30 AM, but don't worry. He'll/She'll be tired, but he'll/she'll adjust.
3. If your child naps, put him/her down at his/her normal nap time according to the new clock and resume a normal schedule from there. Don't allow him/her to nap longer than usual.
4. On Sunday night, put him/her down at his/her usual bedtime according to the new time.
About the Sleepy Planet experts:
Jill Spivack, LCSW, and Jennifer Waldberger, LCSW, are the co-founders of the pediatric sleep firm, Sleepy Planet and provide sleep consultations. Jill currently offers private parent education sessions and leads parenting groups for first and second time mothers. Jill lectures throughout the community on sleep, behavior and other parenting topics. Jennifer provides sleep consultations, lectures on sleep other parenting topics, continues in private practice as a therapist, and facilitates healing and energy sessions with parents and families through SQ Wellness (www.sq-wellness.com). Jill and Jennifer have been featured in a variety of media, including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Good Morning America, The Today Show, CBS Evening News, Inside Edition, WebMD, Parenting and Variety. They are the resident sleep experts on ModernMom.com and are the content contributors to Pajanimals, a joint production with the Jim Henson Company and PBS Sprout.
Reprinted with permission. Excerpt from The Sleepeasy Solution: The Exhausted Parent's Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep -- from Birth to Age 5.
