Daylight Saving Ends: A Time To “Fall Back”

MADISON, Wis. (CIVIC MEDIA) – It’s almost time to turn back the clocks as daylight saving time ends but your kids, pets and health may struggle with the change.

On Sunday we will get an extra hour of sleep when clocks “fall back” an hour at 2 a.m. resulting in earlier sunrises and earlier sunsets. Some immediate downsides are leaving work in the dark or trying exercise while there’s still enough light. And people with seasonal affective disorder suffer with the shorter days and less sunlight of fall and winter.

So just exactly why do we even have it?

Daylight saving time became an established law in the U.S. in 1918 with the passage of the Standard Time Act. The time change was made as a way to maximize daylight hours to help save on energy consumption during World War I.

For several decades later, legislators made efforts to repeal daylight saving time nationally, but were unsuccessful.

Then in 1966, Under the Uniform Time Act states that observe daylight saving time were ordered to follow the federally-mandated start and end dates.

But some states exempt themselves from observing it. Arizona and Hawaii, refuse to roll their clocks forward and backward every year. And they get to do so because of a loophole in a 58-year-old federal law.

The push to stop changing clocks was put before Congress in the last couple of years, when the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022. This was a bill to make daylight saving time permanent across the country. However, the U.S. House of Representatives did not pass it and President Joe Biden did not sign it.

While this change gives us an extra hour of sleep, the time difference can still cause confusion and disruptions to the schedules for kids and pets. 

Just last year the American Academy of Sleep Medicine formed a coalition to advocate for state and federal legislation making standard time permanent across the U.S. 

The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine says the shift in time change has been associated with increased heart attacks, strokes, abnormal heart rhythms, sleep disruption, mood disturbances, and even suicide.

Experts recommend to begin to alter your bedtime now, gradually to accommodate for the change.

People tend to feel more tired with less light due to the brain hormonal changes that occur with a change of season or less light. A common chemical that regulates that is called serotonin. And that comes from the sun.

So it’s important to increase your exposure to sunlight during the day, especially in the morning. And to limit your intake of alcohol and caffeine. Be sure to get plenty of rest, get exercise, be active and make sure to eat a well-balanced diet full of fruits and veggies to regulate your mood cycle. And you can also consider a light therapy lamp. They are designed to simulate natural sunlight and help you. 

Experts say it’s also OK to take naps if you feel fatigued but limit the nap to 30 minutes and take it before 3 p.m.

It’s also a time to test your smoke detectors and change out the batteries. With colder weather settling in now and the nights getting longer, remember to keep safety in mind when using heating in your home. Keep portable heaters at least three feet away from anything flammable. Always plug a space heater directly into a wall outlet and never use an extension cord.

Standard time will last until March 9th when we will again “spring forward” with the return of daylight saving time.