Daylight Savings: Tips, Tricks & the Time Change Debate

0:00  
What's keeping you up at night? Hello everyone, and welcome to the bedtime edit, I am your host, Alanna McGinn, and today we are talking about the thing that we dread that happens twice a year, the time change. And that is happening on March 9. We are going from standard time to daylight saving time. Now, a lot of us like this time change, because it means, what does it mean? It means more light in the evening, which we all love, right? It means a signal to me. It's like, okay, spring and summer is on its way when the clocks change. So there are pros and cons to the daylight saving time. Now, let's also keep in mind, I always like to explain this. This is kind of the sleep geek in me, spring time change, daylight saving time, Fall time change, Standard Time. There is a difference. We tend to kind of just coin time change as daylight saving time, but that is just when we're talking about the spring. So this time change can be the harder one though. Yes, we will get more sun in the evening hours, but it's also going to mean a one hour loss of sleep. And so this is the time change that it can be a lot more difficult for us to adjust to. We tend to take a bigger hit to it. Studies actually show that the week after daylight saving time, so the springtime change, there's an increase in car accidents and workplace accidents. We see an increase in heart attacks, so it definitely affects our overall health and well being, just having that one hour loss of sleep on, in my opinion, an already sleep deprived society. So this one hits us harder, but we will get through like we normally do. And I have some great tips, not just for you, but for your kids as well, that I will share with you soon. And if you are listening and you are in some part of the world that doesn't have time change, these tips are also a great transition to go from winter sleep to spring and summer sleep. So stay tuned and listen to those. But first I want to get into the ongoing debate, should we keep time change? This is something that we hear about every time we go through the fall or the spring time change. More and more states are putting in different acts to stop the time change and keep daylight savings time as the permanent time change. So there's actually in january 2025 Florida Center, Rick Scott introduced the sunshine Protection Act. So quote, unquote, locking the clock, and this would keep us on a permanent daylight saving time. So when the clocks change to the springtime, it would stay and it wouldn't shift back again in the fall into standard time. The reason for this is it's going to give us more light in the evening. Therefore it's going to affect individuals moods. Make people a lot happier. It's going to get people out more. So therefore we're going to see a growth in that economy. Less electric consumption push people more to go outside of their homes, go shopping more, eat out more, and therefore using less electrical consumption in their homes. So this is all correct. These are all valid points as to how we could possibly benefit from changing to a permanent daylight saving time. But what isn't pointed out, and what isn't really looked at, that the health and wellness industry and communities are trying to voice more about is if we are going to change to a permanent time change. And I'm all for it, you know, I'm not opposed to sticking to a permanent time standard time, the time in the fall, the clock time change in the fall is where we want to permanently stay, not Daylight Saving Time. So first we're going to look at the science of it all. I like talking science. I'm going to get to the tip soon, I promise. So we all run off of a natural 24 hour clock. This internal clock drives our mood, it drives our sleep patterns, it drives our bodily functions. But for many of us, we run longer than a typical 24 hours? Why? Because we are exposed to devices and lights, meaning, when our body naturally releases our melatonin, this is our natural sleep hormone. It's released later in the night because we are always absorbing some kind of light device, right? Our natural 24 hour clock is perfectly in sync with standard time. This is the fall time change, and it's perfect. Standard Time change is perfectly in sync with our solar environment. So our solar environment is what drives our natural 24 hour clock. So we have our solar environment, we have our 24 hour clock, and they are perfectly in sync together. So when the sun is at its highest, is noon. So think of that as like solar noon. Think of it as a solar internal clock when we move and this clock doesn't change. So when we go through time zones and time changes and we're traveling and things like that, for the shift work community, our solar. Internal clock stays within that 24 hours. It doesn't shift because our schedule shifts. So like I said, it's perfectly in sync with our standard time, the fall time change when we're shifting now to the spring time change that is the daylight savings time, the 24 hour clock of society is now misaligned with our natural internal solar environment. Clock not great. So when we are changing to daylight saving time, not only now are we losing an hour on an already sleep deprived world, but now our clocks are misaligned. What Daylight Saving Time promotes is later bedtimes, because we're likely going to bed later because it's lighter out in the evening, it's going to mean darker morning, so we're likely, perhaps sleeping in more in the morning, so furthering misaligning our natural 24 hour clock. Now I will say studies do show that individuals sleep around 40 minutes less each night. This works against our natural body clock. It doesn't allow our body to suppress our melatonin, and research actually shows it could raise a lifetime risk of cancer up to 70%

6:10  
that is a big number. It also shows that people will be even more prone to developing diabetes and obesity, and in some areas, the sun won't actually rise for the later parts of December until 9am so think about that for a second. You're waking up to darkness. You're driving to work in darkness. You are at work for a certain amount of time still in darkness. So when we look at what time change we should be sticking to permanently in terms of benefiting our overall health and wellness. Daylight Saving Time, the spring time change is not the way to go. Yeah, it's going to benefit our economy, for sure, but when we're looking at long term health benefits, standard time is the way to go. So I am all for a time change to be permanent, but this is not the one we want. We want the one that happens in November each year if you're in an area that has time change. But here we are, March 9, clocks are going to change no matter what. We're losing that hour of sleep. How do we adjust to it that week? Like I said, that week after that time change can hit us hard with that one hour loss of sleep. So I want to share some tips, not just for you, but for your kids as well to help you adjust to this time change. Now, keep in mind, your body naturally takes about a week or so to adjust to a time change. So this is either when the clocks change. It could be when you're going through a different time zone change. I'm doing that soon, going on a trip. I'm going to be going through that. But there are certain steps and things that you can do that can help you sleep better. First thing I want to talk about is our kids. Because let's be honest, if our kids aren't sleeping well, we are not sleeping well. So this is for the little kiddos to help them adjust to that time change. There's two ways you can do it. We have about a week before the clocks change. So what you can do if you want to take the more gradual approach. This is great for like the kids who are a little bit more sleep sensitive, meaning they're more sensitive to the routine. If they miss a nap, they're a gong show. If they go to bed late, they're a bear. So this route can work really well for them, and that's where you're going to adjust their schedule 15 minutes earlier each day, until you get to the clocks change. So what you're doing is you're gradually adjusting their internal 24 hour clock so that when the clocks change, it doesn't have as much effect on them. It doesn't hit as hard, right? So you would have them wake up 50 minutes earlier. You would have them go to bed 50 minutes earlier. You would in terms of naps and when they eat, not just their sleep routines, but meals. Everything throughout the day would be adjusted each day. And you could start, you don't have to do it at full week. You could start if you're listening to this and you only have, like, three days before the clocks change, that's okay. You could start, even if you start midweek. Give yourself a couple of days to gradually adjust their schedule, both sleep, eating everything 50 minutes earlier each day, which will help ease them into that time change. The other way of doing it, the way I've always done it in my house, is just rip that band aid. And when you go down to bed at Saturday, you are waking up Sunday at the new clock time, and you're just gonna allow your body and your child's body to gradually adjust to it. So this is if your child isn't maybe as sleep sensitive, if they're relatively good sleepers, then you can just kind of do it that way. I always say quick and dirty, get it done, adjust and then take whatever steps you need to take the week prior to the time change to maybe help you guys adjust a little bit more. Great tools that you can introduce into your children's rooms could be things like blackout blinds, keeping in mind we're going to be going to bed likely their bedtime, because it could be a little bit earlier, I promote an early bedtime for our kiddos their bedtime, the sun's still going to be out, right? Now you have to convince them that it's bedtime and the sun is shining when they wake up in the morning, the sun is going to be rising a lot earlier. We don't want to encourage those early morning waking so this is where blackout blinds can come

10:11  
in really handy. You don't have to spend a fortune on blackout blinds. It could be garbage bags taped to the to the windows. We've seen it all happen. It could be just affordable, portable blackout blinds that you can put over your already existing window treatments. You don't have to spend a lot of money things like white noise machines, sound machines, one that runs continuously, not just stops after, you know, 15 or 30 minutes, one that runs through the night or through their naps. This is going to help mask out any kind of external sounds, because, let's be honest, the outside gets a lot louder as we head into spring and summer, right? Birds, traffic, people, if you live in a noisier house, again, mask out those external sounds and also help lull your child into that next stage of sleep for older kiddos, when we're looking at like, 18 months and up. So we're talking about toddlers, even preschool, if your child still doesn't know fully how to tell the time, things like toddler alarm clocks can work really well. So these are alarm clocks that don't give the time digitally, but they cue time through pictures or images or colors. So you know, it could be like a little bunny sleeping when it's time to go to bed, and then the clock changes to a bunny being awake when it's time to wake up. There's a lot of great toddler alarm clocks out there. Google toddler alarm clocks. Find the right one for you. Make it fun. This is a great cue for your little one, that even if the sun's out, the bunny's sleeping, therefore it's time to go to bed. Even if the sun's out, the bunny is sleeping, therefore it's still time to stay in bed and wait till mom or dad come and get you in the morning. So toddler alarm clocks could be a really great addition for your little one and bedtime routine. Always keep that consistent bedtime routine, practicing that same routine helps them transition to sleep no matter what time it is, so it signals to them that, Okay, it's time for my body and mind to get sleepy and relax because we're doing the same things every night. Doesn't have to be the exact same things, but similar activities. And then for help prepare them to sleep. If you are struggling with sleep with your little one, and it's not just because the clocks are changing. Maybe there's been long term sleep struggles with your little one. This is something that me and my team can definitely help you with. Not only do I work with adults and midlife women, but we also work with babies and toddlers, because there's probably a bigger sleep issue going on than just the times change. So definitely reach out to me. I can set you up with myself or one of my team members, but I also want you to factor in this time of year, whenever there's a big seasonal shift, and I always use the time change as that shift, because in the fall, we're going from summer into winter, right in the spring, the spring time change, March, we're going from winter into summer. This is a great time to take stock of your sleep health. How much sleep are you getting? What is your quality of sleep like? What is your sleep environment like? Where do we need to audit our sleep health and environment in order to sleep better, regardless of the time change? This is a great time of year to do it. So if you are listening, time change doesn't affect you, these tips are going to help you as well. So first thing we want to do is make sure that we are keeping those consistent sleep patterns. Like I said, we tend to and for our kids as well, we tend to let bedtime slide a lot in the spring and summer one, because it is lighter out later. So you might not realize how late it is and how maybe late your kid's bedtime has been pushed back, or your own bedtime has been pushed back. You're also busier, you're out more, you're doing more activities, all of these things that's going to promote a later bedtime. So while a later bedtime every now and then isn't a big deal, you do want to make sure that you are keeping things as consistent as you can. So think of like the 8020 rule, 80% of the time you want to protect your sleep patterns as best you can. 20% of the time life happens. You're going to be out. Naps are going to be missed for our kids, bedtimes are going to be later for both of us. All of these things happen just because of life and the environment that we're in, and that's okay. But if you can keep consistent sleep patterns and environment at least 80% of the time, you can live a well rested life moving forward, no problem. So really focus on those sleep patterns. Take stock of that bedtime, even with the sun out a lot later. This is also a great time of year, and this is something that I'm actually doing a lot more focus and research on. So there'll likely be an episode just on nature and sleep and how nature affects our sleep, because I personally find it fascinating. Again, that's the sleep science geek in me, but this is a great time of year where you can turn to nature to help us sleep better. Really easy way of doing that is just by immersing yourself in that natural light. Remember when I talked about our internal 20? Four o'clock our solar environment clock, right? Both of them go hand in hand. So the great way to help sync our 24 hour clock to the time that we're at is by immersing yourself in that natural light. So in the morning, opening up those blinds, immersing yourself on that natural light using you can use things like a natural sunlight simulator, alarm clock, but we're also going to a season where the sun's going to be rising a lot earlier, so it's going to be easier to do that, going for a short walk, just opening up the windows, having your coffee by the window, is a great thing to do. We can also bring in nature into the bedroom through things like grounding mats and grounding bedding. And this is what I'm actually doing more and more research on. So there'll be further episodes on this as well. We are a society where we are around a lot of electrical devices, and because of that, we have a lot of excessive electrons that we internally hold and we have no ways of releasing those electrons, right? And this affects our cells. It affects our internal functions. So when we connect with nature, and that could be through going barefoot on the ground, it could be through using things like grounding bedding, grounding mats, earthing is a great concept too. We are now connected to nature's natural electric charge, so it helps to neutralize those electrons that we're holding on to, and it helps to release them. This can help our mood, it can help our sleep patterns. It can help our stress. It helps to lower cortisol. It helps to increase blood circulation.

16:44  
It reduces pain and inflammation. I mean, there's so many benefits to connecting with the nature, with nature, not just in terms of sleep, but again, just in terms of your overall health and well being. But I think it's a really cool concept, and I actually just got myself a pair of grounding sheets, so I don't want to speak to it too much yet. I want to wait until I've I've tried them myself, but I'm pretty excited to use them. So forest bathing, getting out in nature. There is something that's a Chinese practice called forest bathing, where, when you are surrounding yourself by the sights, the sounds, the smells of nature, again, it brings you into a more calming and relaxing mind. So if you are looking to better your sleep patterns, if you're looking to better your stress because stress management and sleep, as we know, go hand in hand again, being around nature can can definitely help you. So like, five minutes a day, guys, 10 minutes a day, 30 minutes a day, if you can do it, it's also going to increase your physical activity, your physical movement and help you fall asleep a lot better. So turn to nature, if you can. We talked a little bit about bedding by using crowning sheets, but let's really get into bedding and what we are sleeping in. I'm going to tell you something that might gross you out a little bit. Do you know that it could be within 24 months where your pillow can double its weight in allergens and dust mites. Dust mite feces is what you're sleeping in. So let's audit our pillow. How long have you had your pillow for? When's the last time you've washed it? Right? So seasonally is a good idea every time the clocks change, or every time the season turns, it's a good idea to wash your duvets, to wash your pillows or replace them weekly. We should be washing our bedding and our pillow cases, but this is also a time of year where we might need to switch out our bedding. So if you you know in the winter months, maybe you sleep with a thicker duvet, maybe you sleep more with flannel sheets. This is a great time of year to switch that out if need be, especially if you're a hot sleeper, especially if you're listening to this and you're a woman who is in perimenopause or menopause and experiencing a lot of night sweats and hot flashes at night. You know, maybe we need thinner fabrics to sleep. US in. Always audit your side of the bed. And I'm going to say this a lot in this podcast, your side of the bed should be what meets your personal sleep needs, not necessarily your partners. So if you need to use different blankets because he's more of a cold sleeper, where you're more of a hot sleeper, you need thinner fabrics. You need more natural wicking fibers. You need like a sheet or a quilt, whereas he still needs his thick duvet in the month of July, this is what you need to change it to, right so your side of the bed should always be what works for your personal sleep needs. And this is a great time of year to again, take stock to all of that. We also want to look at our environment, and how can we make it more conducive to sleep? So, you know, in the winter time, our room kind of becomes the room in which we do everything but sleep well in it, you know, if you're looking at your treadmill because you haven't really gone to the gym because it's been too cold out, and now you're looking at your hand weights and your treadmill and the laundry you haven't folded, and just your room has accumulated all this clutter, this winter clutter, this hibernation clutter, this is where we want to now we're. Move that clutter and really create a calming and relaxing space. If we are sleeping amongst chaos, that's going to promote a more chaotic sleep, even going as far, and I will say this, even going as far to what are you sticking under your bed? We all shove shit under our bed, let's be honest, right? So we don't want to be shoving too much we don't want too much chaos underneath our bed, because that's essentially what we're sleeping on. So sleeping on top of chaos is going to promote a more chaotic sleep. So really, just taking the time and like decluttering your space, making it a more calming and relaxing sleep space for you, not just with the time change, but again, it's a great seasonal sleep audit sleep tip to do to help prepare you for the next few months of great sleep, and then revamp your bedtime routine right with more mindful, meditative, calming activities, whatever that might be that might not necessarily be the act of meditation or mindful breathing. Although I'm a huge advocate of mindful breathing. There's a lot of great apps that you can use if you don't know proper breathing techniques, proper meditation activities that you can do. There's a lot of great apps that you can download that can kind of guide you through that, but incorporating some great calming activities. It could just be reading, it could be talking to your partner, right? We are so busy throughout the day that often, especially if you have kids, you and your partner are like two ships in the night, not being able to really talk much. Night time is a great time to connect in talking or other ways, but it's a great way to relax before you go to bed. So it could just be having time for yourself, doing your skincare, doing your self care, getting prepared for bed, having that quiet time, so really focusing on again, keeping to those consistent sleep patterns, and then really focusing on a calming and relaxing bedtime routine to encourage better sleep, maybe when the sun is still out too. So all of these tips are great ways to adjust to the time change, but they're also really just great ways of bettering your sleep as we go into a new season like spring and summer, which personally I'm super excited about. But listen this time change is rough, and it even hits me hard, so be gentle with yourself. Don't pack in a lot of activities and things to do that week after the time change, go in easy, take care of yourself and give your body time to adjust. And I hope that these tips help for more information about the science of time changes, check the show notes over at the Bedtime edit.com and thank you so much for listening. You