What this sleep expert wants you to know about daylight time and its impact on kids

The shifting of the clocks is often paired with gaining or losing an hour of sleep. For parents of young children this small one-hour change can result in a loss of sleep for everyone in the house.

Daylight time, more commonly called daylight savings, is observed in much of Canada and the United States. It runs from mid-March to early November, annually. Daylight time always takes place the second Sunday of March and ends the second Sunday of November.

Daylight time was conceived as a means of pushing back the clock on when darkness falls during the warmer months. While most of us can contend with the transition of time, children aren’t so easily adjustable.

We spoke with Anya McLaren-Barnett, an assistant professor with McMaster University’s Department of Pediatrics and an expert on sleep, about the impact shifting the clocks has on the youngest of observers.

Can you explain the impact the time change has on kids and sleep?

There is more to sleep than sleep and the impact that daylight savings has on our sleep, our bodies and our daytime function is one example of this. The time change in March and November can cause sleep problems for children and parents. In November, when the clocks “fall back” younger children will get up at their regular time which ends up being an hour earlier and so parents of young kids tend to be most impacted compared to parents of older children, who likely enjoy the shift to a later bedtime and wake times because this is more closely aligned with their natural rhythm. With the time change in the spring, however, teens may struggle with earlier wake times and a shift in bedtime that does not align with their intrinsic sleep clock. Of course, in either case, there are downstream impacts on not only the child but the parent. This includes, but is not exclusive to issues with attention, impulsivity, energy levels and mood.

Why is it difficult for young children to adjust to the time change? 

We all have an internal clock or circadian rhythm that regulates sleep as well as other bodily functions such as appetite and mood. The internal clock is dependent on light exposure, specifically natural light in the morning which helps to reset our clock for the day and is important for high-quality sleep. What happens with daylight savings time is that it leads to darker mornings and more evening lights. This basically leads to a lapse in our sleep-wake cycle making us feel tired in the morning and alert in the evening.

The issue with this misalignment in circadian rhythm is that it can contribute to sleep loss or sleep debt and can exacerbate underlying sleep disorders in children. The highest period of vulnerability is in March and even though the loss in time is only an hour, there is evidence that in adults, daylight savings time is linked to an increase in heart issues, mood problems and motor vehicle collisions.

It can take a couple of weeks for children to adjust to the time shift. Is there anything parents can do to aid in the transition? 

For younger kids, the week before the time shift in the fall, parents can move their bedtime by about 15 minutes every night until the bedtime is an hour later from their regular bedtime. So, if a child’s bedtime is 8 p.m., over four or so days, it is moved to 9 p.m. When the change in time occurs, the bedtime will be their regular bedtime of 8 pm. For springtime, the opposite can be done. Bedtime is moved back to an earlier bedtime over the course of the week. This gradual transition can be helpful for parents and an easier adjustment for kids as it allows for a gradual shift as opposed to a sudden change in the sleep times.

Teens on the other hand may welcome the fall back (adults too), but it is important to encourage teens not to intentionally stay up later than normal as this can lead to worsening sleep debt. With “springing ahead” it is again important to encourage teens to get up at their typical time. For example, if the typical wake time is 10 a.m. (essentially an hour earlier than they are accustomed to), a teen should wake at that time on the Sunday marking the start of daylight time. This approach helps them adjust more smoothly to nighttime sleep since their sleep drive – or the natural inclination to sleep – will make it easier for them to fall asleep at a more suitable time.

Some provinces and U.S. states have talked about ending daylight time. Would that be beneficial? 

It likely would be. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine is in favour of permanent standard time and so are many sleep medicine scientists and care providers. Daylight time basically leads to a sleep schedule that does not align with our body’s natural sleep system and this misalignment likely impacts individual and societal health.

A few years ago, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention declared poor sleep health, specifically inadequate sleep time, a public health epidemic. The Public Health Agency of Canada reports that one in three children have difficulty going to sleep or staying asleep, one in four children are not getting enough sleep and one in 10 children do not find their sleep refreshing. I think that poor sleep health in children is a silent public health epidemic and that the focus on sleep in children shouldn’t be exclusive to when we change the clocks, but all the time.