Children’s health: Get ahead of seasonal ‘fall back’ to keep kids healthy

Daylight Saving Time will soon end for 2025, sparking the unofficial start of fall and winter and making it more difficult to drag ourselves out of bed. This can be even more difficult for children, who need more sleep than adults and who may find sleep changes more challenging to deal with than adults.

And while it only means falling back one hour, those 60 minutes could drastically affect the mood and health of children.

In the week prior to falling back, it could be advantageous to adjust your child's bedtime and nap times by a few minutes a day. If your child normally goes to bed at 8 p.m., start pushing that bedtime by 10 to 15 minutes later every few days before the time changes. By the time you have to fall back, your child will already be going to bed at that time. And if you wake your child in the morning, push that time back gradually as well, allowing for a full night's sleep.

Similar to realigning your child’s sleep schedule, adjusting their other scheduled activities, such as mealtimes and playtimes, could also help your child adjust to their body's natural rhythm with the change in time, helping to keep moods calm and light.

Regardless of the time change, young adults who get less sleep typically have behavioral, learning, and attention problems. They are also at a heightened risk of high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and mental health problems. According to the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, school days after time changes led to sleepier students who had slower reaction times, and were less attentive.

Patience is the most important tenant throughout the time change. Children can be confused by sudden changes to their schedules and the accompanying sleep deprivation, but they're not always well equipped in communicating their frustration. Keep prepared to soothe mood swings and help them adjust to the change.

• Children's health is a continuing series. This column was provided by Ascension Illinois.