The healthiest way to deal with this weekend's daylight saving time change is through a consistent sleep schedule and taking advantage of the extra hour of sleep, according to experts.
Sleep regularity is linked to health more than the amount of sleep a person gets, said Dr. Sally Ibrahim, pediatric and adult sleep specialist with University Hospitals.
"Consistency. Regularity. Our bodies love clocks. The more regular we can be, the better," she said.
This understanding is what drives many sleep experts to call for the end of daylight saving time, Ibrahim said.
"Nobody wants to continue this change twice a year because numerous studies have said seasonal time changes are disruptive to our sleep and overall health when we move to daylight saving time," she said. "When we spring forward, we see more accidents, safety issues, performance challenges and even heart attacks around that week of time change."
Change can upset the body's natural circadian rhythms and the effects of social jetlag, Ibrahim said. Circadian rhythms are the physical, mental and behavioral changes the body experiences over a 24-hour cycle. Social jetlag is the discrepancy between biological time, determined by our internal body clock and social times that are mainly dictated by social obligations such as school or work.
"This could all be eliminated by getting rid of clock change," Ibrahim said.
At the heart of all of this is sunlight. During daylight saving time, people regularly wake up in the dark. That impacts our internal body clocks, which are synchronized by natural time cues.
"The most powerful cue is sunlight. The most critical time we need sunlight is when we wake up. That best aligns us to our circadian rhythm," Ibrahim said.
Consistency is key
One way to ensure consistency is for parents to have their children go to bed at the same time every night, regardless of the time change or if it's the weekend, Ibrahim advised.
"We need to anchor that sleep time or the wake time close to the time we need to get up for school," Ibrahim said. "So, on Sunday morning, I'm not going to let them sleep in because our clock changes. I'm going to wake them up close to that time. We're waking them up and using kind of a very firm circadian rhythmicity going into the school week and keeping that across all weekends."
It's also important to take advantage of the extra hour gained during the end of daylight saving time to make up for insufficient sleep, said Dr. Brian Chen, pediatric sleep doctor at Cleveland Clinic Sleep Center.
"We need, on average, eight hours of sleep, sometimes even nine," he said. "We're a chronically sleep deprived nation, especially for our kids or teenagers in high school. When we're functioning on very little sleep, it's not going to feel good."
Teenagers need more sleep than adults, at least eight to 10 hours, Chen said. While sleeping an extra hour one night will not make much difference, adding an hour each night will be beneficial over time.
“Give it a week or two or three and you're going to see the benefits of getting a good night's rest — your brain waking up more refreshed, your immune system working better and you're overall more healthy, especially in the fall and winter months," he said.
More tips to avoid tiredness
Dr. Rami Abboud, a sleep specialist for Mercy Health in Lorain, added more tips for acclimating to the time change:
- Adjusting the sleep schedule, including going to bed 15 minutes later a few days before the time change.
- Establishing a regular bedtime ritual that includes time to relax and unwind.
- Avoiding long naps — naps longer than 15-20 minutes can affect the quality of nighttime sleep.
- Exercising regularly, as moderate exercise can help with sleep.
- Limiting what you eat and drink before bedtime, avoiding caffeine after 5 p.m. and eating small snacks instead of large meals.
The end of daylight saving time takes place at 2 a.m. Nov. 3, requiring clocks to be set back an hour.
