Twice a year, Americans shift the clock — an hour forward in the spring, an hour back in the fall — in a well-known practice known as daylight saving. Originally introduced during World War I as a means of conserving fuel and power by extending the amount of daylight each day, the tradition has persisted in some capacity since 1966. This year, most of the country (except for Hawaii, Arizona, and Alaska) shifts from standard time — which runs from early November through mid-March — to daylight saving time on Sunday, March 10.

The premise is simple: shift the clocks so people can get the maximum amount of daylight. In the spring, the one-hour change means more daylight in the evening and darker mornings; in the fall, the sun sets earlier while mornings are lighter. But this transition can be more disruptive beyond just losing one hour of sleep. Whether you’re a parent (to humans or pets) or an early riser who hardly enjoys waking in the dark, you can make the transition into daylight saving a little less painful.

“It’s not just a loss of an hour asleep, but we’re getting our light at a whole different time of day,” says Beth Malow, the director of the Vanderbilt Sleep Division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “Everything is off by an hour.”

Changing the clock confuses the body

Every process within the body, from sleep to metabolism, runs on an internal clock, known as circadian rhythm. Various cues, like light, trigger the release of hormones alerting the body to wake up, feel sleepy, get hungry. Even if you wake at the same time every day, the shift from standard to daylight saving time means it’s suddenly dark in the morning and your circadian rhythm is disrupted. “The body releases sleep-time and wake-time hormones at a particular time,” says........

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