Anyone else's kids STILL grumpy after the time change?

[Not_a_Number]

Yep, that's where we are right now. My kids have a really hard time with time changes. 2 weeks until "back to normal" is not unusual, and it hasn't been 2 weeks. It's really annoying. 

At least my kids don't get hangry. That's something, right? 

[Spy Car]

Not kid. Wife.

Mrs Spy Car hates the time change. Always discombobulates her. She says she's really finely tuned to the rhythms of the day, and I believe that's true.

Bill

[Acorn]

I’m still grumpy, along with my teens and preschoolers. I think tree pollen exploded this weekend which isn’t helping anyone. We are all tired. 3 more days until spring break.

[PeterPan]

It used to bother me. Now I have all my clocks on auto and the ones that aren't dh changes. In other words, pretend it never happened. So instead of worrying about it or thinking about it I IGNORE it. 

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, PeterPan said:

It used to bother me. Now I have all my clocks on auto and the ones that aren't dh changes. In other words, pretend it never happened. So instead of worrying about it or thinking about it I IGNORE it. 

Uhhhhh, that doesn't help the sleep deprivation. And my family is sensitive to it. 

[Not_a_Number]

8 minutes ago, Spy Car said:

Not kid. Wife.

Mrs Spy Car hates the time change. Always discombobulates her. She says she's really finely tuned to the rhythms of the day, and I believe that's true.

Bill

Yeah, I'm also sensitive to the rhythms of the day. I've actually recently discovered that I do WAY better if I don't let myself sleep in at all on the  weekend, since it is way too hard for me to reset from that. Same thing with the time change. 

[Shoeless]

In normal times, the time change throws me off for 2 weeks. In covid times, I can't figure out what day/time/month it is to start with, so DST didn't register this year. 

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, MissLemon said:

In normal times, the time change throws me off for 2 weeks. In covid times, I can't figure out what day/time/month it is to start with, so DST didn't register this year. 

Hmmm, whereas we're on a tight schedule, designed carefully to make sure that everyone can get their work done. So the day starts at 7:15 😛 . And that's 7:15 new time, sigh. 

[Katy]

Yes, mine are a wreck. I reinstituted 2 quiet times a day for the little ones because their behavior is so abnormal. I was guessing it might have something to do with a simultaneous growth spurt, but I no longer know. 

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, Katy said:

Yes, mine are a wreck. I reinstituted 2 quiet times a day for the little ones because their behavior is so abnormal. I was guessing it might have something to do with a simultaneous growth spurt, but I no longer know. 

Both my kids are having issues, and DD8 isn't even that little anymore. But her focus is absolutely shot. And today, she managed to forget how to divide fractions, which she's known how to do for more than a year and does ALL THE TIME, including with variables!  

I'm really hoping next week will be back to normal, because wasting two weeks on this nonsense is ridiculous. 

[Not_a_Number]

By the way, the one time we managed a time change effectively was when we could do light therapy. It was when we flew to SF in the summer, and it was really light in the evening, so we stayed out and got as much sunlight in the evening as possible. 

The kids went to bed at the normal California time and... slept until a normal California time, not the 4 am I was expecting. It was amazing. I should have done that this time change -- got them out of the house in the morning. Light therapy does wonders for resetting one's circadian rhythms. 

[Pawz4me]

I'm still grumpy and out of sorts. I HATE this time. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I won't feel normal again until we fall back.

[wendyroo]

No, we always make a point of running the kids ragged the weekend of spring time change. Then we put them down half an hour early Saturday night and then shift the clocks by 30 minutes. Then to bed half an hour early, and the rest of the time change Sunday night. 

So if they typically sleep from 7pm to 5am (EST), on Saturday they go to bed at 6:30pm (EST) and wake at 4:30 (EST), though the clock says 5. Then on Sunday they go to bed at 6 (EST), though the clock says 6:30, and wake at 4 (EST), though now the clock correctly reads 5 (EDT).

If it seems like they need it, I will put them down early again on Monday to catch up on the missed sleep, but typically they are fine. We always stick to early bedtimes and use white noise and blackout curtains so that everyone can sleep as long as they need, so they can normally weather two slightly short nights with no ill effects. 

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, wendyroo said:

No, we always make a point of running the kids ragged the weekend of spring time change. Then we put them down half an hour early Saturday night and then shift the clocks by 30 minutes. Then to bed half an hour early, and the rest of the time change Sunday night. 

So if they typically sleep from 7pm to 5am (EST), on Saturday they go to bed at 6:30pm (EST) and wake at 4:30 (EST), though the clock says 5. Then on Sunday they go to bed at 6 (EST), though the clock says 6:30, and wake at 4 (EST), though now the clock correctly reads 5 (EDT).

If it seems like they need it, I will put them down early again on Monday to catch up on the missed sleep, but typically they are fine. We always stick to early bedtimes and use white noise and blackout curtains so that everyone can sleep as long as they need, so they can normally weather two slightly short nights with no ill effects. 

Yeah, I couldn't put them to bet early without getting them up early if I tried, no matter how ragged I ran them. And even with getting them up early, that's not how it works for us. 

[fairfarmhand]

Kids? Yes.

Me? Yes.

[fairfarmhand]

24 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Yeah, I couldn't put them to bet early without getting them up early if I tried, no matter how ragged I ran them. And even with getting them up early, that's not how it works for us. 

My kids don't shift wake times very well at all. 

If they get to bed late, they wake up at the same time just grumpier the next day. Now that they're teens that works a little better, but still not great.

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, fairfarmhand said:

My kids don't shift wake times very well at all. 

If they get to bed late, they wake up at the same time just grumpier the next day. Now that they're teens that works a little better, but still not great.

Exactly. Same time, just grumpier. 

Light exposure really does help, though. That's the only thing that worked for us. 

[fairfarmhand]

BTW, I love DST, but don't like the shift very much!

[scbusf]

Kids, no. Me, yes.

ETA: I am SUPREMELY happy to have more daylight. That means my kids can play outside longer. But I am NOT happy about making the shift.

Edited March 24, 2021 by scbusf

[AmandaVT]

DS is fine - I'm super crabby still. I was just getting used to not driving to work in the dark every morning and now it's dark again. Also, I got to bed early and it's just now (8:15p) dark outside, so I feel all messed up. I wish we could stay on normal time all year. 

[Calizzy]

I'm not grumpy, but I have not adjusted at all. I am waking up at 8am! I just can't get up any earlier 😞

[wendyroo]

45 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

My kids don't shift wake times very well at all. 

If they get to bed late, they wake up at the same time just grumpier the next day. Now that they're teens that works a little better, but still not great.

 

44 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Exactly. Same time, just grumpier. 

Light exposure really does help, though. That's the only thing that worked for us. 

Oh, yeah. I can't put my kids to bed late. They most definitely wake up grumpy at the normal time.

Earlier, on the other hand, we can manage. And it's not that they get extra sleep, but they can typically get the normal amount. So if I do that two days in a row then they are getting up at 4 in the morning, eeek!, but then I spring the clocks forward and they are waking up at the normal time of 5am again.

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, wendyroo said:

Oh, yeah. I can't put my kids to bed late. They most definitely wake up grumpy at the normal time.

Earlier, on the other hand, we can manage. And it's not that they get extra sleep, but they can typically get the normal amount. So if I do that two days in a row then they are getting up at 4 in the morning, eeek!, but then I spring the clocks forward and they are waking up at the normal time of 5am again.

I really wish we could!! They don't fall asleep earlier -- they fall asleep later, because they get bored of being in bed 😞 . They still don't even fall asleep earlier the next day after waking up early, or the day after that, or the day after that. 

[Lady Marmalade]

I'm still grumpy.

My every day wake-up-for-work time is 4:30 am, and I've been waking at 3:30 every day for the last eight days.  It's so hard to try and go back to sleep for a little longer once I first wake up.  I've tried tricking myself to go to bed earlier, later, etc, and nothing is working yet. I should not spend my days dreaming about going back to bed, but I'm still there. 

[Selkie]

I'm not a fan. Ever since I was a kid, the spring time change has messed with my sleep and caused weeks-long bouts of insomnia. Hate it!

[Amethyst]

I really don’t have much problem adapting. Dh does but to me, sure I miss ONE hour of sleep ONE night. So, the next night I’m tired, sleep normally, wake up and it’s all over as far as I’m concerned. Dh complains for weeks. 

[MercyA]

Not at 12, but at your kids' ages? Definitely. 

[katilac]

3 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

By the way, the one time we managed a time change effectively was when we could do light therapy. It was when we flew to SF in the summer, and it was really light in the evening, so we stayed out and got as much sunlight in the evening as possible. 

The kids went to bed at the normal California time and... slept until a normal California time, not the 4 am I was expecting. It was amazing. I should have done that this time change -- got them out of the house in the morning. Light therapy does wonders for resetting one's circadian rhythms. 

Sounds like a natural light lamp would be a worthy investment! 

Your kids are really young to have to have such a tight schedule. If they consistently struggle with the the time change, I'd make the change more gradually, say a 10-minute adjustment per day. You won't lose any more time than you already due to tiredness and such - and really, losing a bit of time each day for a couple of weeks isn't worth stressing over at their ages. 

[mommyoffive]

Nope.  My kids have never had an issue with it even as babies or younger ages.  I don't have an issue with it either. 

[Not_a_Number]

10 minutes ago, katilac said:

Sounds like a natural light lamp would be a worthy investment! 

Your kids are really young to have to have such a tight schedule. If they consistently struggle with the the time change, I'd make the change more gradually, say a 10-minute adjustment per day. You won't lose any more time than you already due to tiredness and such - and really, losing a bit of time each day for a couple of weeks isn't worth stressing over at their ages. 

It won't go better at 10 minutes a day. It'll just get dragged out. 

And I don't need input on my kids' schedules, thanks 🙂 . 

[PeterPan]

3 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

Yeah, I couldn't put them to bet early without getting them up early if I tried, no matter how ragged I ran them. And even with getting them up early, that's not how it works for us. 

Or don't do it. Just have summer bedtime and winter bedtime. 

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, PeterPan said:

Or don't do it. Just have summer bedtime and winter bedtime. 

Doesn't work so well with outside activities. Like, say, DH's work 😛 . 

[Not_a_Number]

1 hour ago, Amethyst said:

I really don’t have much problem adapting. Dh does but to me, sure I miss ONE hour of sleep ONE night. So, the next night I’m tired, sleep normally, wake up and it’s all over as far as I’m concerned. Dh complains for weeks. 

I really wish I could adapt like you do! I'm zonked for at least a week myself, and the kids are zonked up to 2 weeks 😞 . It's a disaster. 

[Ali in OR]

It's a very real thing and we see it vividly with our disabled dd. Usually it's increased seizure activity (sleep deprivation is her number one trigger for seizures), but this year it's been extreme grumpiness. Dh put her to bed tonight and she commenced screaming for 15 minutes--she doesn't ever do that. Now she's humming. Should be sleeping. Oregon, Washington, and California all voted to stay on Daylight Savings Time permanently, but we can't do it unless Congress approves. We could vote to stay on Standard Time permanently, but apparently to stay on DST permanently we have to have congressional approval. I'm really hoping that happens soon.

[klmama]

Thank you for this thread.  We have been off since the change, and I didn't connect the dots.

[Wheres Toto]

14 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

By the way, the one time we managed a time change effectively was when we could do light therapy. It was when we flew to SF in the summer, and it was really light in the evening, so we stayed out and got as much sunlight in the evening as possible. 

The kids went to bed at the normal California time and... slept until a normal California time, not the 4 am I was expecting. It was amazing. I should have done that this time change -- got them out of the house in the morning. Light therapy does wonders for resetting one's circadian rhythms. 

I think extra exercise outside would help but our weather is still mostly winter-crappy with a few random days that aren't awful.  I was running around like crazy yesterday, got over 11,000 steps in and still didn't sleep well.  

I've been having trouble sleeping since the change.  Today I woke up with a pounding headache but the weather is also not helping any.  

I hope it settles down soon. 

[RootAnn]

I sure am. Glad to see I'm not the only grumpy adult. My kids have been fine. We do 15 min gradual shifts over the week before if I remember.

It has been crazy here though. I've been in bed by 8:45 every night. DH is zonked by 9 at the latest. I'm up on new time but I have been missing my vitamins so I've had lots of insomnia & anxious wakefulness. I finally gave up last night & got up to watch a movie. So now I'm double exhausted.

[hippymamato3]

15 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

Hmmm, whereas we're on a tight schedule, designed carefully to make sure that everyone can get their work done. So the day starts at 7:15 😛 . And that's 7:15 new time, sigh. 

We don't make it miserable by doing that. For a few days we sleep in till the old time and just gradually transition over. 

[Not_a_Number]

53 minutes ago, hippymamato3 said:

We don't make it miserable by doing that. For a few days we sleep in till the old time and just gradually transition over. 

We’ll have misery whenever we move to a new time. If we delay this misery, we will ALSO be off-schedule. It’s not a win.

[Not_a_Number]

2 hours ago, Wheres Toto said:

I think extra exercise outside would help but our weather is still mostly winter-crappy with a few random days that aren't awful.  I was running around like crazy yesterday, got over 11,000 steps in and still didn't sleep well.  

I've been having trouble sleeping since the change.  Today I woke up with a pounding headache but the weather is also not helping any.  

I hope it settles down soon. 

For what it’s worth, for time changes like this (going to bed and waking up earlier), what you want is to drag everyone out in the early morning and get TONS of sunlight. It’s not so much exercise as circadian rhythms. I kind of didn’t believe it until I tried it enough times, and it really works... people understand it fairly well, in fact.

DD4 went to bed early yesterday and actually fell asleep, so I think we’re getting over the hump!! I didn’t sleep enough, but mostly because I had too much to do. But I think I’ve shifted, finally. We’ll see about DD8, but she seems to have again remembered how to divide fractions, so that’s a good sign!!

[jrichstad]

4 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

For what it’s worth, for time changes like this (going to bed and waking up earlier), what you want is to drag everyone out in the early morning and get TONS of sunlight. It’s not so much exercise as circadian rhythms. I kind of didn’t believe it until I tried it enough times, and it really works... people understand it fairly well, in fact.

Ok, but how does this work if you live in a climate where it's been cloudy in the morning for 90% of days since the time change???

[Not_a_Number]

3 minutes ago, jrichstad said:

Ok, but how does this work if you live in a climate where it's been cloudy in the morning for 90% of days since the time change???

Even a cloudy day gives you a jolt if you go outside in the morning!! A few hours is optimal. As long as it’s past sunrise it should help.

[hippymamato3]

21 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

Both my kids are having issues, and DD8 isn't even that little anymore. But her focus is absolutely shot. And today, she managed to forget how to divide fractions, which she's known how to do for more than a year and does ALL THE TIME, including with variables!  

I'm really hoping next week will be back to normal, because wasting two weeks on this nonsense is ridiculous. 

That seems really odd. 

[Not_a_Number]

12 minutes ago, hippymamato3 said:

That seems really odd. 

Not for my kids 😂. They’ve been like this since they were teeny — very sensitive to sleep. As you can see on this thread, I’m not alone.

Not at all sensitive to food, though! They never get grumpy from hunger.

[hippymamato3]

33 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Not for my kids 😂. They’ve been like this since they were teeny — very sensitive to sleep. As you can see on this thread, I’m not alone.

Not at all sensitive to food, though! They never get grumpy from hunger.

I think when kids are highly pushed and highly scheduled, they do need more sleep just to keep up. 

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, hippymamato3 said:

I think when kids are highly pushed and highly scheduled, they do need more sleep just to keep up. 

Right. It's the fact that they are highly pushed and highly scheduled, and not, say, their personality since they've been (utterly un-pushed and not particularly scheduled) babies 😂. And my almost 5 year old has, like, 30 minutes of work in her day, so yes... she's extremely stressed out, all day long 😂.

Come on. I didn't ask for advice. If this isn't a problem you have, good for you! You can move right along and not comment and thank your lucky stars that you don't have kids as sensitive to sleep as mine are.