By Sandee LaMotte
Are you ready to move your clocks forward by an hour this weekend? That’s right — for most people in the United States, it’s time to “spring forward” into Daylight Saving Time on Sunday, March 12, at 2:00 a.m.
“For whatever reason, Daylight Saving Time always just creeps up on us,” said pediatrician Dr. Cora Collette Breuner, a professor of adolescent medicine in University of Washington’s department of pediatrics in Seattle.
Residents of Hawaii, most of Arizona and the US territories in the Pacific and Caribbean don’t follow the time change.
For folks who are adjusting their clocks, the body isn’t going to like getting up a whole hour earlier, so it’s best if you and your kids start adapting by going to bed and waking up 15 to 20 minutes earlier each day for four or more days before the change, experts say.
“Planning for the change can be key to lessening the impact of this change on your body’s circadian rhythms,” said sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.
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Begin to adjust the timing of other daily routines that are time cues for your body as well, such as meals, exercise and medications, he added.
Prepping in advance is an especially good plan for teenagers, who are naturally programmed to stay up late and sleep late, and for anyone else in the family who is a night owl, said Dr. Phyllis Zee, director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
Didn’t do that? Don’t despair. “It’s never too late to start,” Dasgupta said. “Sleep is very individualized, and every child will respond differently to the time change. Make sure you as the parent are getting the rest you need as well, so you’re not overly irritable with your child.”
Moving bed and wake…
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