Author Topic: Please help to adjust to a new Time Zone  (Read 1407 times)

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Offline AMJ

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Please help to adjust to a new Time Zone
« on: March 13, 2017, 11:05:42 am »
Hi everyone. Please help me get my DD adjusted to a new time zone. We moved provinces on March 8 and since then DD was going to bed really late (11-12pm) and waking up around 9 am). I assume that her nights were short because of OT after the travel day so one day I gave her a 1.5hr nap to catch her up (which led to only 8.5hrs night). The following morning she woke up at 8:40 am but since it was a Daylight savings day it became 9:40am. I decided to skip the nap so I can put her to bed earlier and bring her day earlier. I gave her a 10hr day and she went to bed at 7:45pm. The following night she was tossing a lot and then was up at 5am for the day. Now I have moved her day way too early. Please help me move her day so that she wakes around 7:30/8:00 am and goes to bed at 9:00 PM.
Her typical day before the travel looked similar to this( although this nap length was starting to cause some short nights so it is soon will need to be shortened a bit)
WU 7:00 A(9hrs)
Nap 4:00 S(17m)
WU 4:17 A(4hrs/4hrs15m)
BT 8:15/8:30

With regards to a 17m nap (I know it's an unusual number) that was the best nap length that would give her the longest nights (10.5hrs). She used to nap 20m (I wake her) but then her nights started to get shorter and shorter so I tried 15m nap but that didn't increase her nights. Dropping her nap just got her OT and she couldn't catch up. And then randomly one day I woke her at 17m and it worked. In the last couple of weeks before our province move, this nap length was starting to cause some shorter nights. I tried going no nap at all again, tried 15,14,13,12m but no luck. Still 17m was giving us the longest night.
Thanks to all in advance.



Offline jessmum46

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Re: Please help to adjust to a new Time Zone
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2017, 19:45:45 pm »
That 17 minute nap is a little precise ;) but if you feel it works, by all means stick with it.  Sounds to me like the nap may be on the way out soon though....if it were me I would just at this age set bedtime where you want it - jump there straight away today - and then ride it out until things settle.  It may be you need to adjust the nap length a bit or maybe go to alternate day naps?  Can work well if she can't handle a no nap day every day just now :)

Offline AMJ

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Re: Please help to adjust to a new Time Zone
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2017, 20:08:54 pm »
Yes I know but that's my DD, always not like most kids with regards to her sleep. Ok then I'll try just setting the bedtime and nap time at the time I want and see how it goes. She usually is not very good at catching up on her sleep unless I tweak things in her schedule. She is also always been an early riser do you think I should set the BT later on purpose to get the morning WU where I want it and then slowly bring the BT earlier?
« Last Edit: March 13, 2017, 20:57:01 pm by AMJ »



Offline jessmum46

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Re: Please help to adjust to a new Time Zone
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2017, 20:28:19 pm »
It might help if she is one to eventually crash through OT? In general though at this age I think letting them do some of the regulating/catching up themselves often works better than constant tweaking x

Offline Katet

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Re: Please help to adjust to a new Time Zone
« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2017, 20:31:45 pm »
Time zone travel is usually  one sleep for every hour of time zone change & so if you travelled 5 hours different zone then in 3 nights & 2 naps she should be back to normal, so it's really more that you haven't found your normal rather than the zone changes.

I agree with Katherine, but bedtime where you want it & then stick to it. I think at the age she is, at 17min naps, I'd be looking at two days on one day off & also with the self regulating. 

IMHO the only thing you can really control is bedtime, which means you can work out when wake up is & adjust bedtime more to fit that & then naps, but the naps will then control the night sleep. I think at 3yo you are better to offer a nap every few days rather than regular short ones.
dc1 July 03, dc2 May 05

Offline AMJ

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Re: Please help to adjust to a new Time Zone
« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2017, 20:56:29 pm »
Katherine, DD has never caught up on her own unless I adjusted her nap and/or BT and she is almost 4.

Katet, I tried giving her NND every couple of days a week and sometimes she had a good 11hr night but then she'll just get OT and have a lengthy NWU.

She just doesn't self regulate for some reason (even at almost 4) which makes it almost impossible for me to know what she needs. I wish she did!

Thanks ladies I'll let you know how it goes



Offline Katet

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Re: Please help to adjust to a new Time Zone
« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2017, 21:07:58 pm »
She just doesn't self regulate for some reason (even at almost 4) which makes it almost impossible for me to know what she needs. I wish she did!

Are you looking at a day by day basis for her picking up sleep or the big picture, my thought is she does self regulate based on how she changed her sleep with the later sleep ins & the the earlier bed times, it's just it takes 3-4 days for adjustments to happen.

Adjusting to changes can take 2-3 days, a late night often is corrected for 2-3 days later & in small parts. I think because you are someone who times naps to the minute you are being a little to analytical on a day to day basis rather than giving her body a chance to show you what she can deal with.
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Offline AMJ

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Re: Please help to adjust to a new Time Zone
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2017, 01:48:35 am »
Maybe you are right but I don't know any other way to do it. When talking to all my friends with kids their kids just sleep all night through no matter if they missed a nap or not, no matter if they stayed up passed their BT or not and even if they did they would just sleep in the next morning. My DD has never done that. She either would have a 1.5-2hr long NWU or an EWU. I really wish she would just drop the nap all together.