Fall Back: Preparing Your Family for the Time Shift

Brendan Duffy, Catholic Health Director of Sleep Services, shares tips to help you adjust when Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 5, 2023, at 2:00 a.m.

Tips for parents with young children

You may be up bright and early on Sunday if you usually have young children who go to bed at 8 p.m. and wake you around 6 a.m. To avoid this, start about three days before the time change and allow your children to stay up a bit later. Put them to bed at 8:30 p.m. to allow them to adapt to the change in time. Once this adjustment happens, they go back to their regular bedtime.

Tips for teenagers

Teens are usually sleep-deprived due to a change in their biology at puberty, which pushes back their biological clock and makes them want to stay up later. This, along with school times that usually don’t match a teen’s biology, causes them to experience “social jetlag.” If they typically fall asleep at 11:30 p.m., they should try to sleep at the new time, perhaps 10:30 p.m., once the fall time change happens.

Tips for adults

Treat yourself to that extra sleep and make sure you do not have sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea or insomnia, that may negatively impact your health and negate the goodness of that extra hour of slumber.

Enjoy the wonderful health-giving gift of sleep each night and get plenty of light daily to reset and strengthen your circadian clock.