Did the time change and falling back allow you and extra hour of sleep or did your children awaken at their usual hour? I expect that many parents were up an hour earlier than they wanted to be, the only difference being that it was light outside at 6:30 a.m.
It is hard to explain to a toddler or pre-schooler that it is not really 7:00 a.m. any more! Their biological clocks awaken them, and they are ready for breakfast. Children need routine bedtimes and typically awaken at around the same time everyday, at least until they are adolescents, when they want to sleep during the day and stay up half the night.
Many children will have some difficulty adjusting to the time change and it may take several weeks to get back to a normal routine. The key is to try and stay on the same schedule and let their clocks slowly re-adjust.
Bedtime may be harder for a few days as well. Since it will be getting darker earlier, some children will be worn out and cranky and it will only be 6:00 p.m. You may need to have an earlier bath and story time for a while and put them to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual as well.
Don't despair, it doesn't take that long before your child's circadian rhythms will be on standard time and you won't find yourself making pancakes an hour before you wanted to.
For us adults, our brains have to adjust as well, we may be going to work in the morning light, but it will be really dark for the drive home. I think bedtime may be a bit earlier for me for a week or two as well!
Dr.
Sue Hubbard is an award winning pediatrician and medical editor for
www.kidsdr.com. She is a native of Washington, D.C. who travelled south
to attend the University of Texas at Austin and never left. 
