Throughout most of my adult life Daylight Saving Time meant nothing to me, save for the fact that every fall I got an extra hour of sleep. I was only mildly annoyed that I lost that same hour every spring. That was the case…until I had kids. Our daughter was born in June. Sleepless nights were the joy of our summer this year.
Having a five year old boy running around (reminding us that he doesn’t nap anymore) only made that fuzzy glow around each day that much fuzzier. There were no “nap when she naps.” By the end of September she was finally sleeping through the night. Some parents have looked at us in awe over this. Let me be clear, it was no easy feat.
We aren’t the “cry it out” parents so the Furber method was out. We are not those “extremely patient” parents so the letting-the-child-decide-
Through pure happenstance our method was chosen for us. A seemingly calm woman with three kids was literally schooling me about a book as me as my two-month old son and I were crossing Sunset Blvd. I hung on her every word. While I enjoyed living in our hazy family cocoon those early weeks, I wanted to know how to regain some desperately needed sleep…and sanity. The title, 12 Hours of Sleep by 12 Weeks Old, by Suzy Giordano sounded like fantastical fiction. Our friends with kids snickered at us when we told them about it. It seemed way to good to be true. When you are too sleepy to live in reality, you will believe anything.
I immediately Googled the closest location of the book 15 miles away. I drove there post haste with my little boy in tow. We read it like gossip mongers read the National Enquirer…hanging on every improbable word. We implemented the sleep training immediately afterward. To everyone’s surprise…inclusive of our own…it worked! At 11 weeks old, our boy was sleeping 11 hours! The world began to come into focus again. My husband and I stopped glaring at each other. Our sanity, reclaimed!
We were vigilant with our son’s new schedule for fear it would end at the slightest change of the ticking second hand. When we traveled to the east coast to visit my family, life was even better. We kept our son on west coast time. He was getting up at 9 AM and we were able to take him out to dinner because his bedtime was now 10 PM.
So, don’t judge that parent with a two year old at your favorite French place some late evening. They are probably time traveling as well.
The dream, however, became a nightmare when he was around two years old. With sunlight now dictating his schedule, our contrary-vampire didn’t want to miss a second of daylight. Upon returning from the east coast, we would be awoken at 3 AM because his clock was now 3 hours ahead. By 5, he grew out of this travel unravel.
We have yet to get on a plane with our newborn daughter. I am petrified to do it, I don’t mind telling you. While others are worried about Ebola, I am worried my daughter’s sleep schedule will be lost forever. It’s a parenting thing. I am aware Ebola is scary.
So while I reveled in the extra hour of sleep that Daylight Saving offered me in my youth, I absolutely dread it now. Our girl has been getting up just before 7 this past month. After turning the clock back last Saturday, she is up just before 6. Ugh…that makes wake-up at 5 something. Hello! hazy days of Autumn.
The reasoning behind D.S.T. back in the day was that it would save energy and give more working daylight hours. I’m here to tell you I use more energy…the physical kind and the flip the switch kind… getting up that early. It’s pitch dark at that hour, people! I need a klieg, Phineas and Ferb and copious amounts of coffee to keep the morning balls in the air at that hour.
Our whole days are now about moving our daughter’s naps and feedings forward. We are fighting her urge to keep her old schedule. At the end of the day we struggle to keep our exhausted little girl awake so she doesn’t fall asleep before 5 PM. The witching hour(s) is/are also VERY scary. Show of hands on this?
Some places don’t keep D.S.T. at all. Hawaii, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, most of Arizona, and the Virgin Islands do not follow D.S.T. Further, it gets changed over the years regarding the week and month. To complicate things further, some countries use it at different times. It’s all rather annoying and extremely confusing to us older sleep wary parents. Why are we adding this extra hurdle to our lives? More importantly, why is the government telling my newborn daughter to get up an hour earlier??!
I’m beginning to understand why it’s called Greenwich MEAN time.