Daylight Saving Time, four round-faced analog alarm clocks are gathered on a table
(Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)The steady chill of Fall seems to be upon us. That brisk feeling that creates thoughts of hot chocolate and hot apple cider has kicked in. It arrived just in time for the most dreaded of the two annual time changes. The end is near for daylight saving time for East Coasters like us in the Garden State.
We first began daylight saving time when Congress established it over a century ago. The Calder Act, also known as the Standard Time Act of 1918, was altered a bit by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
In America, daylight saving time begins at 2 am on the second Sunday in March when we spring ahead one hour on the clocks. We fall back again at 2 am on the first Sunday in November. It seems like such an obvious thing to do, but it took until 2007, when the Energy Act went into effect, to ultimately move it to after Halloween. For the past twenty years, kids have been safer and able to trick or treat with more daylight.
The exact day and time is this Sunday, November 2nd, at 2 am to set the clock back and get that extra hour of sleep. With the change, it will get darker earlier in Jersey and throughout the country.
How the Help Kids Adjust to Daylight Saving Time
It’s a common issue that kids have a more difficult time adjusting to the time change. However, there are things you can do starting today to help them cope with it.
According to HappiestBaby, it’s best to alter your child’s routine by about 15 minutes each day leading up to the change. Dr. Harvey Karp also says, “Lowering the lights in your home by 50 to 75% about 45 minutes to an hour before bedtime helps start the release of the wonderful melatonin.” It is also helpful to turn off and end screentime about a half hour before bedtime.
Don’t just move the bedtime, try and move everything. This includes naps, dinner, snacks, and homework a little bit each day to help them acclimate.
The best part about daylight saving time is an earlier sunrise each morning. It’s nice to wake up with more light. However, I say the same thing in Spring. “It’s nice to have more light in the evening.”
If it were up to me, we would leave it the same year-round. My brother lives out west, where they never have to adjust their clocks. That's a true time saver.
