Q&A: TIme change and its evil spawn

So now that those of us in North America and Europe are done with this fall time change, it's all starting to hit the fan. Some of the problems are kid-related: kids waking up too early, going to sleep too late, or just being all screwed up.

The solutions to those problems are, as with all things parenting, a choose-your-own-adventure. Some people just go cold turkey to the new ("new"?) time. So if your child has been going to bed at 8 pm (or 6:30 pm if you live in Seattle), even though 8 is 9 to the kid, keep them up until 8. After a week or so they'll adjust. Others bump the kid up to the new bedtime 10 minutes a night. So you'd start with 7:10 tonight, then 7:20 tomorrow night, etc. until the kid is going to bed at 8 by the weekend. Others will seize the opportunity and start putting the child to bed at 7.

If it's the morning that's particularly screwed up, you could try blackout shades, or "blackout shades": cardboard and/or aluminum foil over the windows.

The older I get, and the older my kids get, the more I find that the time change messes with me more than it does them. And it's not the time part, but the light part. For some reason, it doesn't much bother me how light or not it is when I wake up in the morning. But it makes me truly and seriously sad when it's so dark so early at night.

I've been trying to figure out how to deal with this, as it's an actual problem. And what I'm coming up with is trying to work things so that I can just coast through the hours that feel too dark to me (for me, now that daylight savings time is over, here at the eastern end of the time zone in NYC, that's about 5:30-7:30 pm). I'm going to do as much dinner prep ahead of time as possible, and make sure I have things all set up for the kids to go to bed, so I'm not doing any scrambling when it's time to get them down for the night.

Does anyone else have this issue? It almost feels like SAD (which I sometimes get a touch of, and which my aunt has seriously and has described to me). If so, how do you manage it? Does anyone else have the opposite problem, of being depressed by getting up in the dark? How do you cope?

Comments

[Lex]

Get one of those full-spectrum lights they use for SAD - apparently they rock. I haven't used one (I live in Australia so the last thing I need is more light!) but I hear great things from my friends in Europe and Northern USA.

[Lex]

... although I just realised how much they COST! Ouch. Sorry. Very pricey.

[Heather in Texas]

OOOOhhh!! My first Ask Moxie post, and I think I'm actually the first comment for today (unless someone posts before I do)!

I can comment on both subjects. We've been dealing with the 4:00 a.m. wake up for about a month now. (Little Dude will be 1 year on Friday). Now it's a 3:00 a.m. wake up. This site and coffee will see me through. With Little Dude there is no slowly bumping him towards anything. When he's tired, he sleeps, when he's not, he doesn't. I've tried everything and now I just roll with it and try to see the good in it. Admittedly that's pretty hard when his total night is only 9 hours now and he wakes up at least 5 times, but usually closer to 7. Hey! I just realized that's an improvement!! When his night was 11 hours long he would wake up about 10 times, so he's waking up fewer times at night now, right?...Right?...Yeah, we'll go with that...

As for the SAD symptoms when it gets dark earlier, YES! I can totally relate! Over the last two years I've handled it by getting out in the sun as much as possible during the day. That really seems to help, but is probably easier to do in Texas during the winter than, say, Michigan.

-Heather

[Shalini]

Yeah I had a friend out in Anchorage, and she ended up getting the lights, and said that they really do work well, but with it only being a few hours, I agree with Heather and would say try to be out in the sun as much as you can.

In Anchorage I think the sun doesn't show for months...

I also live in Australia, so I usually can't WAIT for the dark so it will cool off (we're actually in the outback, so we escape from the heat at night).

Wish I could send you more sun!

[paola]

I much prefer waking to light. I hate leaving in the morning when it is still dark. Hate it. On weekends I hate the fact that it gets dark early as that is when we do things as a family and yesterday for example when we were on the bikes with the kids, it was awful coming home with the twilight. But you can't have it both ways, hey?

My 22 month old woke at 5.45 this morning and did not want to go back to sleep. She was all 'up, up, mummy', and I was all 'down down, under your blanket'. No, she doesn't get it and I don't think she will. She goes to bed at 7.00, so the old 8.00 ( which is an hour later for her), but that makes no difference. I have mentioned recently that I have started night-weaning (as I have to get up for work early and I was hoping to get a bit more sleep), but well, she is fine about not getting booby, but just wants to get up and 'go in kishen (kitchen)'. I am giving her till Friday. If there is no change, she's going to get booby back, and I'll get some more sleep ( she has always slept another couple of hours with a full tummy). Tonight I'm goign to try putting her to bed later to see what happens, although I suspect she'll still wake up at the usual time or even earlier, but I'm not giving up on this one.

A couple of observations:

We have metal shutters on our windows that do not let any light in whatsover. And so, light can not be a factor in her waking up.

Last year, we had no trouble with the end of DLS. DD was 9 months old and adapted easily to the change over. In my case, the younger the child, the easier the transition.

[Becca Colao, MA, Senior Certified ADHD Coach]

I've been up for a couple of hours because the wee one (12 months) doesn't know time changes from tuna fish. I have to say this is another one of those I-had-no-idea-before-I-had-a-kid moments. It's one thing to have to adjust; it's another to um, explain? to a pre-verbal human that they really should wait a few more minutes before collapsing in clumsy, fretting, nurse-a-holic exhaustion because they need to "adjust to the new time." Since he's been waking up pre-dawn for the last month or so, the blackout shades we already have seem humble and irrelevant. All I know is that maybe I can wait for a window of opportunity when he is slightly less teething-miserable to nudge up the bedtime? Hope for a spontaneous reshuffle? OR...moving to point 2, SAD and non-daylight-savings,
meanwhile try to take advantage of getting up early to get more daylight.

Last year I had the least trouble I've ever had with the shift to "standard" time. I live in New England, where winter means super-early darkness. Now I know that nursing last winter probably added to the happy chemicals, but I think that walking every single day (even in blistering cold) for really at least an hour (shorter in subzero temps) kept me feeling better as well.

Just now I'm wondering about vitamin D, if it is relevant; I didn't know about the depression and vitamin D research until recently.(Maybe that's part of why the outside time helped last year? It wasn't exactly aerobic exercise.) I have a SAD therapy lamp (an led one, I don't know if they work as well) but I wasn't actually convinced that it helped ME though I know a lot of people who use them and have clear benefit. But I think the real challenge this year is to keep going outside for considerable chunks of time and early enough in the day.

[Jill]

I love the time change, though it does take a few days to get adjusted. But I like it getting dark early, and then in the spring the days are longer when it is warmer. One trick I learned from my mom to ward off the glooms - candles. They add light at night but not a glare, and it makes the early darkness a treat. And even though they don't put out UV rays, they also help me with SAD.

[Slim]

And as an add-on to the SAD discussion, can anyone recommend a therapy light? I go over the recs on Amazon and my head swims and I lose consciousness.
I want something I can put on my desk at the office, if that matters.

[Jess]

I knew this time-change thing would be a problem. My consistent 5:20 am waker is now waking at 4:20. We have "blackout shades" too, but since she's waking pre-dawn, the light isn't a factor in this.
I actually let her cry (just to see) this morning, and 30 minutes later she was still crying. So I guess I'll be up at 4 from now on.
Moxie, maybe you could automatically set up postings for 4, so all of us mamas who are up pre-dawn can feel a little consoled.

[eep]

Oh, I dread this afternoon. I leave work at 4, but last week that still felt like afternoon. Today the sun will be low enough in the sky that it will feel like evening. Before I had my kid I left work at 5, and by January it was full on dark when I left. I know that our feet have been pointed towards the land of the dead since midsummer, but the time change always marks the beginning of the end of the year for me, a time of ancient sadness. It helps me to think of the winter season as part of a journey that will ultimately lead me back to the rebirth of spring. It also helps to try to think about the wonderfulness of winter: fuzzy sweaters, hot cider, cuddling with loved ones, and bright-hard days that dazzle the eyes.

But on a more practical note, I agree that spending as much time in the sunshine as possible is beneficial.

[stacy]

This was something that didn't bother me too much in my earlier life, but now that I have a child it's a Huge Stinking Issue.

Like everyone else said, outside time is about the best (and only) thing you can do. Even if its cold. Even if you have too much work to take off for an hour and walk, hop down to the coffee shop for 10 minutes. Whatever daylight exposure you can hobble together.

[Jen L.]

My grandmother who, for all intensive purposes, is a shut-in, gets horrible seasonal depression this time of year. My parents take her dinner each night, so they've started doing so earlier so she can eat before it's completely dark. She also tries to adjust her bedtime so she's going to bed earlier and getting up earlier, thus making the most of her daylight hours.
I wish I'd thought about the time change earlier than I did this year--it's my first time doing it with a baby! He's adjusting pretty well. We just kept him up an hour later on Saturday (or tried to...poor little guy finally just gave out!). His naps were a bit screwy yesterday and his dinner was later than usual, but he seems bright-eyed and bushy tailed this morning!

[Mogget]

Oh my word, I'd much rather it be dark in the morning, than have it get so dark so early. I've never been diagnosed with SAD, but the lack of sunlight really gets to me.

And both of my wonderful children do not get the idea of the changing of the clocks. I think I may go crazy with the lack of sleep of it all! I'd like to kick in the shins the person who thought DST was a good idea!! (I think that's the lack of sleep talking).

I'm sitting in my office now, and the sunlight is flooding the room, and I am grateful for that, at least. It's hard to be mad when it is so beautiful outside!

[SarcastiCarrie]

Why can't we "spring ahead" in the fall to make it lighter in the evening? Since I am at work when it's light out, I don't care. Give me some evening sunlight. Twilight even. I'd like to spring ahead 2 hours right now. It's dark at 4:30. That is so not cool. It's dark when I am going to work and when I am coming home. So depressing.

And, it's one thing to be awake at 4:30 AM on a weekday. It's an entirely different thing to be awake that early on a Sunday.

[Fran]

I second the walking outside, and cardio exercise in general, as often as you can; I've always had problems with depression, especially in the winter, and the endorphins from exercise really help.

As for my baby, she already wakes up screaming from teething or else excitement about crawling every few hours at night, so Daylight Savings is just like a really bad joke on top of everything. (How come they don't tell you about Daylight Savings in the baby books?) On the bright side, we probably won't notice when the nine-month sleep regression hits. Unless it could possibly get MORE horrible. Shudder.

[Christina]

I have been getting SAD for the past several years, last year was the worst when coupled with PPD.
This year I am trying to embrace it when it feels right, light a fire and candles and make the house feel warm and cozy and try and go with the flow. Other nights when it's feeling like too much I turn on all the lights and don't slow down until around 8 or 9 just as I would have done in the summer time. For me its just paying attention to how I feel- not easy with a 1 year old in addition to everyday life but I try.

[julianne]

RE: SAD lamps. The SADelite is excellent. For something smaller, the HappyLite Mini is all right, but it is only 5000 lux, so you need it on for twice as long to get the same effect as the SADelite. And this not objective, but the SADelite's light seems more full spectrum to me than the HappyLite's.

My almost 13-month-old has dealt with the time change so far by waking up more in the night. Bleh.

[heather]

I lived in Austria for 5 years and "light therapy" is a big deal there. Don't know exactly what type of lights are used, but it was comforting to know that being cranky and sad when it's dark and gloomy outside isn't "just me".

I second the recommendation to get outside as often as possible. Even a quick trip to the bank or a walk around the block at lunch will make a world of difference in moods.

As for DST, with Halloween on Friday it was too easy to get my 22-month-old to sleep an extra hour Saturday night. Of course, that meant she didn't nap on Sunday, but at least she slept until her usual time Monday morning!

[Amanda]

I am just amazed that people have "bedtimes" for their little ones that could even theoretically be altered in 10 minute increments.

My 23-month-old's bedtime is between 9:00pm-1:00 am. My 4-month-old goes to bed whenever she falls asleep at the boob and doesn't wake upon transferring to a different surface!

[TodayWendy]

I really hate getting up in the dark, but I absolutely don't mind it being dark in the evening. When I was younger the time change always meant the end of evening sports which was sad, but an extra hour in the day which is the best thing ever.

I love the suggestion of lighting candles in the evening. I find that sometimes my problem is being too cold, in the morning I don't want to drag myself out of a nice warm bed, at night it is so lovely to snuggle under the warm blankets.

[Meri]

Can you get outside at lunchtime for a few minutes? I've found that helps me.

[vanessa]

Lightbox Inc. These are lifesavers.

[Shannon]

Just talked to my doctor about the lamps recently, and he said the spec you're looking for is 10,000 LUX. I got the Day Light off of Amazon and I like it.

[caramama]

I have very serious SAD, which I've treated with light therapy for years (although this year I decided to try medication, which was a great decision for me). I have three different lights, all of which have worked really well for me for my different needs. They are expensive, but really worth it if you have a real issue that can't be solved by being in the sun more (which is great if you can). I ordered them from http://www.lighttherapyproducts.com and http://www.lighttherapy.com (used to be Apollo Light), both of which have been very good companies to work with and have research information on their sites.

For my regular light at home, I have the basic SunLight Jr., which is small enough to fit on the desk next to me while I read or am on the computer. Just keep in mind, as a previous poster said, that the smaller the light, the longer you need to sit in front of it.

For my desk lamp at work, I got the SunnyDays desk lamp. There are others out now that look even better. They look like normal lamps sitting on your desk. But let me warn you, they are REALLY bright. When you turn them on, you will likely want to be somewhere you can shut a door so as not to light up the whole place like you are "landing a plane" (a quote from a coworker of mine).

For traveling, I got the goLITE BLU, which using the blue spectrum of the light based on research that that might be the most affective part of the light spectrum. To be honest, it doesn't work as well for me as the regular spectrums, but it's really small and easy to travel with. And I hear it works great for other people.

For those who don't like getting up in the dark, I highly recommend getting a dawn simulator, which starts to light up the room using a soft lamp about 30 minutes prior to your alarm going off. That way, when the alarm goes off, the room is light and it is SO MUCH EASIER to get up.

I actually know a lot about this stuff, being the research fanatic I am, and I am happy to talk about it and share my knowledge. If anyone wants to ask me further questions or wants more information, feel free to email me at caramamamia at gmail dot com.

As for the time change, Saturday was the only time in the Pumpkin's life that I was glad she refused to take a nap all day. We just put her to bed early and we're keeping with that. Of course, we had a horrible night Saturday night, but Sunday day and night was better.

[Jan]

Hate hate hate hate HATE getting up in the dark. So much so that I have used my (much appreciated, as always) job flexibility to adjust things so that I don't have to. I just sort of shift things later and later until the time change, and then jump back an hour. There are a couple of months in the middle (Seattle here) where I can't manage it (I'd be getting off work just about the time I need to start putting the kids to bed ...) but I do what I can.

I've got one of the dawn simulation lights on my Christmas list -- I'm hoping that will help me in the morning.

I've always found that moving my exercise to later in the day helps me with the evening doldrums. I don't know whether it's the exercise itself, or the break, or the bright lights at the gym, but a 5:00 workout in winter keeps me going on into the evening.

[caramama]

I had links to all the products, but typepad thought I might be spam. So I put in the product names of the ones I use without the links and the two sites where I order them.

[hush]

Amen to what Amanda said: "I am just amazed that people have 'bedtimes' for their little ones that could even theoretically be altered in 10 minute increments." Ha!

And I 3rd, 6th, 9th all of those who've recommended spending time outside & being physically active during the day. To that end, I found some secondhand snowshoes that I am going to bust out this winter.

About light therapy, no one has mentioned those tanning booths found in nearly every US strip mall (no surprise - as everyone here seems so healthy & aware of the dangers of skin cancer). Your skin will also age prematurely, so please don't go there.

[AmyinMotown]

I LOATHE getting up in the dark. Best thing about the time change actually, is the time between me getting up and there being actual sunshine is much shorter. As far as what helps? Um, coffee, a hot shower, and two little morning sunshine children (HOW did two anti-morning people spawn two little larks? I do not know) is what helps--although the kids are kind of a "must not snarl, I love them" kind of thing.

I guess we've gone cold turkey-ish so far--we tried to keep the baby up last night but he finally just could NOT do it anymore about 6:30 (normal bedtime is 7) so we went ahead and put him down, and girlfriend crashed at her normal time of 8 pm (the old nine pm) but that was more because she'd had a good nap and I was late getting dinner together.

[caramama]

Tanning booths: In addition to the health issues that hush pointed out about tanning booths, I wanted to let everyone know that those are NOT the same as light therapy. They do not have the same light spectrum. Light therapy lights work by your eyes receiving the light of a certain spectrum that mimics the sun WITHOUT you dangerous UV rays. There is some early research about sunlight being absorbed by the skin, but the recommended treatment is still through the eyes. And in tanning booths, it's dangerous to look at that light. It's just not the same, so don't think going to one is going to treat SAD or winter blues.

[peaceinyourcrib]

the dark AND the cold weather.
ug.
sad.

oh- and DD...
why did i not prepare for this doing the 10 to 20 minute nightly changes the week before?
double ug.

me?
i 'surrender' is much of my transitional strategy.
i go to bed earlier knowing she's whacked.
i even do that when she's back 'on schedule' to live more in sync with mother nature.
easier being a SAHM for sure.

[Mom2Boys]

In our house 5:30 is the new 6:30 until further notice. My sympathies for the mom with a 4:30 riser - ugh! And I hate to say it but after the one night of CIO, he's been sleeping so much better. Coincidence or one night and his spirit is broken? I honestly don't know.

Bean spent a lot more time outside this weekend - we finally got a decent cool spell - and it seemed to do wonders for him.

[Charisse]

I also am miserable with getting up in the dark--it just feels completely wrong. Dark in the evening feels cosy and conspiratorial and seasonal, but morning dark is for sleeping. I also get a touch of depression at the other pole of the year--I grew up in Seattle with light until 10:30 in midsummer, and now I live in California where the evening never extends past 9:30. As soon as we start to swing back to shorter days and my body realizes the real long ones aren't coming, I have a week or two of sadness. (I eat well and get as much light as I can and that seems to take care of it.)

[Charisse]

Oops, didn't finish my post--I really try to adjust our schedule so that I don't have to get up in the dark. Next year, with Mouse in Kindergarten, we will probably have to get up 1/2 hour to an hour earlier so we'll have to deal with this more. I'm pretty much not considering schools that start at 7:50 (several of the local ones do) because it would just be too hard. Anyway, when I do have to get up in the dark, I try and use my shower as a motivation and use good aromatherapy stuff in there and so forth, followed by a good breakfast and tea rather than coffee (for me, coffee specifically can increase anxiety if I'm low--tea doesn't).

[Zoe]

I know I'm going to be the odd one out here... but growing up in the far north (FAR north! close to the arctic circle) I just got used to daylight all summer, and darkness all winter. Sure, sometimes it gets a little overwhelming when you go to school/work and it's dark, go outside for a break and it's still dark, happen to look out the window to see that it's not dark but cloudy, and then the next time you look out the window it's dark again... or when you suddenly realise that you haven't seen the sun in two months, but it's just The Way Things Are to me. The flipside is that the sun shines aaaalll day and night long in high summer (when it's not cloudy, that is). And we have no daylight savings. Adjusting things back and forth for an hour just seems a little pointless when the actual sunset fluctuates by 8 hours or more.

I try to think of the darkness as a comforting blanket. That way, I turn it into something positive.

[andrea2]

All I know is somehow we've gone from waking up between 7 and 7:30, to getting up at 5. How a 1 hr change makes a 2 hr difference to an 18month old is beyond me, but I dont like it one bit!

[Diane]

I am amazed that there are kids who will wake up an hour later because they got skipped a nap or were put to bed later. I want one of those! My daughter will wake up at the exact same time (was 6:30 for milk and snuggles with mama, then 7:30 for the day ... which is now 5:30 and 6:30 ACK) every single day, and it doesn't matter how well she's been sleeping, what time she was put to bed, how much she napped the previous day. I can't seem to find another variable to tinker with. HATING the time change. Pre-kids, I loved it. I'm some sort of freak who likes it to get dark earlier in the evening. Maybe it's because I live in FL, land of the ever-present shiny shiny hot hot sunshine, and changing the clocks always came with the more bearable temperatures.

[r+k+mama]

My sympathy to all dealing with early waking and SAD issues! This can be a huge transition for a lot of people and I think so many of us our so busy worrying about our kids transitions we forget to nurse ourselves through our own. Just stepping back and acknowledging them can do yourself a lot of good.
We just skipped the kids (3 & 11mo) afternoon naps yesterday and put them both down at 6:30pm and they were so tuckered they slept until their normal times. I have no idea if this will backfire on me tonight but here's hoping!!

[ACJ]

With a 17 month old who has handled the transition just fine 2 years in a row now, can I say I am terrified of #2, due in 8 weeks? Reading about 4:30am wakings, I think I want to quit this pregnancy. Everyone keeps telling me #2 can not possibly be like #1 and will teach what "real" parenting is like (another post another day about threats like these - so not helpful or necessary or kind).

Yikes. T. is playing with sharp pointy sticks of firewood. Guess I should go parent her good-sleeping self.

Late-sleeping good wishes to all you waking too early.

[meggiemoo]

I don't mind the dark mornings, but dark evenings are the worst. Not being able to run around with the toddler outside to wear him out is also the worst!

I have mild SAD, and my DH also gets it pretty badly. I've used all-spectrum lights in the past, and I've also used tanning beds (sparingly). I know a few other PPs have warned against using tanning beds, but for me, they do help. In the winter, I would do a 12-minute session maybe once a month or so. It helped my skin, and it boosted my mood. I know they're not the healthiest, but it does make me feel better.

Otherwise, I make sure to have lots of bright lights on in the house when I'm home. We installed recessed lighting in our family room last year, which helped. Somehow it's not so depressing if there are a lot of bright cheery lights on. Candles are nice...warm, soothing food is good.

The best thing that gets me through is looking forward to the holidays. Knowing that Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming helps me with November and December. It's January and February I have a problem with. If we could afford it, I'd travel to someplace sunny in February every year!

[Mom2Boys]

ACJ - My cousin has three "great sleeping" boys. Seriously, they all sleep and nap well, I've seen it. It can happen. Maybe it'll happen to you, too. :)

[Karen]

I can give a second recommendation for www.lighttherapyproducts.com Lightboxes are pricey to start, but I have used mine (a SunRay with all the accessories) for years. I especially recommend it if you find you consistently hit a can't-deal-anymore low point in January, and find your mood buoying in the springtime. It took me years to actually see this pattern. I have found mine harder to use consistently since having a child.

I'm adding vitamin D supplements this winter. http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/31320469.html?elr=KArksUUUU

If I had all of the options open to me that I did before I had a kiddo, or more specifically, the disposable income, I'd travel to Mexico, oh, twice a winter.

[Cloud]

Lat year, we moved bedtime incrementally. This year, that just didn't happen, so we moved it in one fell swoop. Luckily for me, Pumpkin had just decided to start sleeping until 7. This is huge- to the PP with the baby up at 4:30, that used to be us. She moved to 5:30 at about 5 months, then 6, then 6:30- and now we're back to 6. But that's OK, because I have to get up and get ready for work, anyway.

Anyway, it has been a non-event for our 19 month old so far. We'll see how day care pick up goes- I might make it there before it is fully dark.... The day care center has warned us that getting picked up after dark freaks some of the kids out.

[hydrogeek]

ACJ - I was due last week (LAST WEEK) with baby number 2, and the next time someone tells me that they will never be as good a sleeper as baby number 1, they may likely get punched.

As you all may imagine, DST in regards to my sleep is secondary to this child who insists on staying here on top of my bladder, day after day. I am glad my daughter (23 months) seemed to do ok with it, even if her schedule was a little off.
I woke up easier this morning with it being daylight outside, but I know I will hate that I don't have any daylight to take a walk in after work. Walk, walk, walk...come out, come out, come out...

[Sarah]

Ugh. Mr. Sunshine (17.5 months and working on his 18 month sleep regression) popped out of our bed this morning at 3:45 AM and ran to the window to look out. Thankfully, the enticement of nursing lured him back to bed. I'm getting by right now with Moxie's mantra of by whatever means possible.

I usually get the blues this time of year. Not enough to fork out for a light box, but enough to want to hide in bed on some days. I've been working out for the past week or so, and I'm amazed at the difference in my mood. (I'm using 30 Day Shred, which has been touted all over the place, but I like that it's got cardio, strength and abs). I really think it's the cardio that does it for me as yoga never had quite the same effect.

[Moxie]

If there's actual sunlight, I try to get as much as I can. On a day like today, though, that's completely overcast and gray, I'm sunk. One January at home (northern Ohio) there was something like 20 hours of sunshine total by January 15...

Candles, though! One of my favorite things ever is to have the lights off and the Christmas tree on with the little lights. I'm betting candles will make the dark cozy instead of bleak. So thanks for that suggestion!

[Jojo]

I was diagnosised with SAD when I was 17. My primary solution has been medication. But, now that I am older, I actually have a job that requires me to get up very early in the morning. I've had to shift my whole day to start at 5:00am, and I head to bed by 10:00 pm. It makes a big difference in those short winter days. I at least feel like I'm making the best use of my daylight hours.

I did once ask my doctor if he thought my insurance would cover a move to Australia each winter, but he didn't think they would go for it.

[ramy]

We usually go cold turkey with the older kid and just deal with it. She's never believed in sleep anyway so it hasn't made too much of a difference. the baby is still too young to really notice I think (3mo).

I always get through these first few months of winter focusing on the holidays as well and february is just the worst (add in my 39th birthday this year and I'll be all smiles and giggles. yuck). but I'm starting to wonder if I'm not dealing with some SAD/PPD issues at the moment. things have been a little rough in the ramy household. maybe I'll try candles tonight and exercise tomorrow.

[Anna]

I'm with the group who HATES getting up in the dark. I have to get up at 6 am and am dragging until the sun comes up.

And I'm also blown away by the people who can adjust their children's bedtime by 10 minute increments. Who are these punctual children?

I suppose having a nonsleeper with bedtime roughly between 7 and 8 pm and wakeup roughly between 5 and 8 am can have some upsides. DST? Not an issue...

[anon-anon]

If you're lucky enough to have a great sleeper the first time, don't think number two is necessarily going to be a sucky one. Sure no.2 is no way as good as her bro, but I had her sleep 7 hours in a row at 2 weeks, and then 12 hours for 10 whole weeks from 6 to 16 weeks. And that is the 'bad' sleeper. Then of course everything went pear-shaped for those awful months from 4 to 7 months. Still she is pretty good even now, despite the early wakings. Now, trying for number three would scare the bejesus out of me. I mean 3 good-sleepers would be really pushing my luck.

[Laura]

I HATE getting up in the dark but have no problem with dark at night, so the spring forward is actually worse for me than the fall back. My roommate thinks I am crazy but it really makes a difference for me - I have several weeks of exhaustion and depression. I begin to feel like one of the mole people since I leave for work before it's light and come home after dark. I really appreciate all of the suggestions and will try some of them in the spring.