Thursday, March 4, 2010

Spriiiiiing!

Can it be that we have said goodbye to the last of the extremely cold winter days? Oh, how I hope so! I am soooooo ready to devote long mornings and afternoons to taking walks, feeding ducks, climbing on playgrounds, finding sticks, swinging, digging, exploring, and all the other pleasant outdoor things that come with having a toddler boy. I honestly never thought much about winter besides, "Boy it's cold." But now that we have a toddler that thrives when he is outside and wilts when he is not (much like a plant!), I've been wishing this winter away every since it began. So bring on the spring!

The one thing I am dreading about spring is daylight savings time beginning (or ending- which is it?). I loathe anything that messes with Eli's schedule, and I'm pretty sure most moms of young kids feel the same. Eli already likes to go to bed late (8 or 9pm, which we consider late!) and sleep late (8:30 or 9am). I'd much prefer him to go to sleep around 7pm and wake up around 7am, thus giving Eric and I a decent chunk of time alone together in the evenings. He goes to work at 5am, so he tries to be in bed by 9pm at the latest. Anyway, all that to say that I am dreading daylight savings when Eli will want to go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 10am. Any tips on slowly changing a child's schedule to look more like you want it to look would be greatly appreciated.

And, on that extremely boring note, I will wish you all a happy beginning of spring (unofficially) and head to bed to rest up for the fun day of outdoor activities we have planned for tomorrow!

1 comments:

kate said...

I have never had a problem with daylight savings time. If the clock says 8pm - it's bedtime. They may play or talk in their rooms, but at 8pm - it's bedtime. I'm the bedtime police. When it's 8pm - it's my time and my time to spend with David - something I've waited all day for and I won't give that time up. Of course there are exceptions - if they are sick, etc. But most time the time doesn't change. They may argue alittle, but they adjust.

What would happen if you put him in bed at normal time? Is he crawling out of his crib? Does he cry? If so - try the Ferber method. It really does work! Ferber says if he's crying - go in after 5 minutes and say "Night, it's time for bed (or whatever you wish), go back after 7, then 10, or even increase by 5 minutes, but don't say anything. It may take a few nights - but he will adjust.

Good luck!